Idaho women’s basketball lost to the Montana Griz Thursday night 79-68, failing to recover from its first-half struggles.
The Vandals’ slow start and inability to stop the three-point shot in the first half led the Griz to victory and moved their win streak to four games.
“I think we dug a pretty big hole in the first half. I don’t think we did a very good job of protecting the three-point line, and they (the Griz) did an excellent job of knocking down open looks,” Head Coach Carrie Eighmey said.
The game began with sophomore Mack Konig knocking down a three-pointer, getting the Griz on the board first. They went on a 7-2 run, stretching the lead to 9-2. Montana outscored the Vandals for the rest of the quarter, taking a commanding 20-9 lead into the second quarter.
The Griz started the second quarter on a 12-2 run and extended their lead to 40-14 later in the quarter. The nightmare first half turned slightly in the Vandals favor at the end of the half when Idaho went on a 7-0 run, cutting the once 26-point lead down to 19.
The Griz ended the half with a 5-0 run of their own and pushed the game to 45-21. Montana showed their strong offense in the first half, shooting 15-for-27 from the field, 9-for-14 from beyond the arc and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.
The Vandals were less efficient but caught their stride at the end. Idaho finished the half 9-for-27 from the field, an ugly 2-for-11 from three-point range and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line.
The Vandals’ intensity ramped up in the third quarter, with Idaho having one of their best offensive third quarters of the season, outscoring the Grizzlies 22-16 and cutting the Griz lead to 61-43 heading into the fourth.
Idaho, still down 18, needed a spark, and with graduate guard Amalie Langer in foul trouble, freshman guard Aspen Caldwell gave the Vandals that very spark.
Caldwell and junior guard Ashlyn Wallace played suffocating defense, forcing the Griz to miss their first three shots of the fourth quarter.
When down 61-45, the ball happened to find the hands of Caldwell, who laced a three-pointer to excite the crowd and give the Vandals new life.
However, the stellar play of Konig and graduate forward Carmen Gfeller led the Griz to hold onto the lead, defeating the Vandals 79-68 and handing Idaho its fifth conference loss of the season.
“In the second half, we did a better job putting pressure on the rim. I felt early in the game we got some good looks that did not go down, and so the natural response is to attack the rim, and I thought the second half we did a much better job at that,” Eighmey said.
Junior forward Kennedy Johnson had a big night both offensively and defensively, and Eighmey praised Johnson for her performance on the offensive end.
” I thought she did a great job of attacking the rim and even in the zone. She did a great job of finding some opportunities to get open looks, she continues to get more comfortable in what she is doing,” Eighmey said.
Johnson finished the contest with 26 points, shooting 11-for-19 and grabbed two rebounds. Despite the huge night, Johnson was not worried about her stats if it didn’t end in a win.
“It feels good, but I’m still disappointed we got the loss, but I’m glad we came back like we did. It makes it feel a bit better,” Johnson said.
The Griz were led by their two-headed monster in Konig and Gfeller. Konig finished with 18 points, shooting an electric 5-for-6 from three.
Gfeller led Montana with 24 points, including ten points in the fourth quarter, to ensure the victory. With the loss, the Vandals fall to an even .500 at 10-10 and 3-5 in conference play. The Griz improved to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
Idaho will be back home on Saturday to face the Montana State Bobcats, and Eighmey told the Vandal fans what to expect.
“It’s going to be a (game) where we will have to (be) creative offensively and play great team basketball and work together to create good shots,” she said.
The Vandals and Bobcats will tip off on Feb. 3 at 2 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss10