Game 7: Gophers host Montana (11-24-24)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Montana’s non-conference season may have already delivered its high and low moments. After a loss to Gonzaga 69-82, the Lady Griz were defeated at home by Cal Poly 55-65. Montana’s fourth year head coach, Brian Holsinger, was disappointed:

"Offensively, we were out of sync all over the place. You have to give some credit to them. They are physical and tough, and we weren't. They came in here and really took care of business. We were on our heels all game. We've got to make some changes because we struggled on both sides of the ball tonight."

Also, Cal Poly shot 9-19 from three while Montana was 5-25.

Then three days later, B1G newbie Washington arrived in Missoula and Montana hit a high note with a 82-68 victory. Montana out rebounded the taller Huskies 42-33 and outshot them from three 6-17 to 2-14.



Lady Griz vs Washington Highlights 11/17/24



Brian Holsinger was pleased:

"It's one of the bigger wins since I've been here, but beyond that, from what happened the other night to today is what I'm really proud of. To be able to execute against a good team that has beaten a lot of people badly is pretty special."

On their way to Minnesota, the Lady Griz knocked off North Dakota 71-59. Montana was 10-28 from three warming up to face their second undefeated Big Ten opponent,

Last season the Lady Griz finished 3rd in the Big Sky Conference with a 13-5 record (23-10 overall). In the WNIT they defeated Boise State before losing to North Dakota State. Montana was projected 3rd in this season’s pre-season polling behind Northern Arizona and Montana State.

Players to know:

5’9” junior guard Mack Konig put up 24 points and 4 assists versus Washington. The former Big Sky Freshman of the Year averages 12.4 points in 30 minutes per game.

6’3” junior forward Alex Pirog scored 9 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in a foul restricted 14 minutes versus Washington. We can say Pirog is foul prone-5 fouls in 8 minutes at North Dakota.

6’3” freshman guard Avery Waddington had 8 points and 7 rebounds and 4 fouls in 22 minutes against Washington.

6’2” senior forward Dani Bartsch grabbed 10 rebounds in 29 minutes versus Washington. The preseason Big Sky all conference selection averages 8 points and 6 rebounds in 26.6 minutes. She’s 10-24 from three.

5’11” senior guard M J Bruno averages 5 points and 3 rebounds in 27,6 minutes. She had 11 points and 3 assists versus Washington.

Montana has a good mix of experience and youth with dash of roster height.

How new B1G member UCLA became the Bruins thanks to Montana

UCLA football originally adopted the nickname Cubs in deference to big brother Cal. Tired of the second fiddle nature of Cubs, UCLA received permission from Cal in 1923 to use Grizzlies as a nickname. Then in 1926 UCLA joined the Pacific Coast Conference. PCC conference member Montana “Grizzlies” objected to another team of Grizzlies. Subsequently, UCLA received permission from Cal for use of “Bruins”. From this we learn that UCLA and Cal could cooperate and that athletic conferences were no better at geography in the twenties than they are today.
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This is likely going to be a good test for the Gophers. I believe this team, even without Braun, can still do well. Looking forward to seeing how coach P handles the rotations. The more the gophers can get Holloway, Johnson, Czinano in the mix the better earlier here, the better they will be ready for Big 10 play.
 

drewhaus7 said:
This is likely going to be a good test for the Gophers. I believe this team, even without Braun, can still do well. Looking forward to seeing how coach P handles the rotations. The more the gophers can get Holloway, Johnson, Czinano in the mix the better earlier here, the better they will be ready for Big 10 play.
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The nice thing about having hired a great coach in Dawn Plitzuweit is that she is experienced and knows what it takes to win. She alone will decide what the player rotations will be. She knows how to judge talent and put the pieces together for success. She won't be listening to any outside noise.
 

gogriz.com

Lady Griz get their shot at unbeaten Gophers - University of Montana Athletics

The Montana women's basketball team, riding a two-game winning streak, will get a chance to face an unbeaten opponent from the Big Ten when it plays at Minne...
gogriz.com gogriz.com

A note from the Montana WBB preview:

Montana played South Dakota twice in back-to-back seasons while Plitzuweit was coaching the Coyotes. Facing two loaded South Dakota teams that would go 58-8 during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Montana lost 64-41 in Missoula and 96-64 in Vermillion
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Dominant win. Overall looked really good.
1. Best games of year from Battle and Rose in my opinion
2. McKinney is going to be a star by the time she graduates
3. Heyer does all the little things.
4. GG getting a ton of open looks; needs to start connecting
5. Until Johnson learns to pass the ball her minutes will be limited

Just some of my observations! Go Gophs!
 





I thought Rose played an amazing defensive game. The steals, forced bad passes, and just general pressure, were valuable. She got fouled on some of her shots, and I think with more experience under this system, I see her being a very valuable asset off the bench for the second half of the season.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
McKinney guarded the Montana point guard most of the time. I also found it interesting that Rose and Battle were on the court together for long stretches
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The B1G+ announcers alluded to Coach P wanting Rose to play more PG with Braun out so we might be seeing more of this. Was also watching UCLA thump South Carolina so might've missed some info when they were talking about it...

Holloway was a menace on defense in her 4th quarter minutes. I wish GG would've posted up more with her 3s not falling. They weren't really stopping her, or Hart for that matter, in the paint.

Hoping Donarski for Montana isn't severely injured. That play looked really strange and couldn't tell if something popped.
 

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