Long scoreless stretch dooms Idaho women in Big Sky Tournament loss to Montana 65-54

BOISE – The Idaho women’s basketball team begrudgingly affirmed Monday afternoon the coach-speak mantra of “It’s tough to beat a team three times in a season.”

After the Vandals turned in their best season since 2019-20, shocking coaches and pundits alike with their third-place finish in the regular season of the Big Sky Conference, they couldn’t beat Montana for a third time this season, falling to the Grizzlies 65-54 in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament at the Idaho Central Arena.

Idaho (18-12) went nearly 10 minutes without a point during a stretch between the third and fourth quarters, spelling its doom.

“It’s really hard when teams make runs,” Idaho first-year coach Arthur Moreira said. “If you can’t get a stop and then you can’t score, it’s going to be hard to fight back into the game. And I feel like that’s what happened today.”

Montana (13-17), which entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed, found its rhythm offensively from the outside after only hitting 1-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half.

“We just really honed in, having a short-term memory and kept shooting,” said Montana guard Mack Konig, who scored a game-high 20 points. “When you practice all those shots, they just come naturally, so you have to stay focused on what you can do and keep doing it.”

The Grizzlies’ persistence paid off after finding limited success offensively in the paint.

After Montana clung to a two-point lead to start the second half, graduate transfer Jennifer Aadland converted a traditional three-point play to give the Vandals a 34-33 lead on their first possession.

But Montana retook the lead on its next possession–and never lost it again.

Staked to a 44-40 advantage, Montana hit 3-pointers on its next five scoring possessions over a stretch of less than four minutes between the third and fourth quarters. By the time Idaho finally scored, nearly 10 minutes had passed and Montana had stretched its lead to 19, its biggest of the game.

Despite the early exit for the second straight year at Montana’s hands, Moreira was excited about the foundation laid for the program, especially by Aadland and Big Sky newcomer of the year Olivia Nelson.

“(Aadland and Nelson) are super competitive and they laid the foundation for this program,” Moreira said. “If we’re gonna be successful in the future, a lot of it will be because of the competitiveness these two brought to the team. It’s frustrating not to get a chance to compete for the Big Sky championship, but I’m really proud of the work these girls put in. It was truly a very, very special season for us.”

Nelson and Hope Hassmann finished with 17 points each to lead the Vandals, while Aadland chipped in 12.

Avery Waddington added 17 points for the Grizzlies. Tyler McCliment-Call had 10 and pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds.