There were 3-4 plays mid-fourth quarter (including the questionable charge on Tsineke) that stymied the Griz, who had gotten within 5. That's hoops.
I thought the refs called a fair and objective game throughout. This was a solid outing by Montana & it's sort of funny, but I think the team was putting a bit too much pressure on themselves at times.... possibly because of a very raucous crowd, and especially because of the noise at the end of the 3rd quarter, when Tsineke didn't hear Holsinger call out to hold back and re-set the offense for a last-second shot. The odd sequence resulted in an 8-point end-of-quarter Gonzaga lead instead of 5 (or less).
Gonzaga has a huge & deep combo front court & part of the game difference was a 12-rebound Zags advantage at 42-30. However... the most significant positive sign to me regarding Montana's play versus Gonzaga is that they batttled a much larger front court to a standoff and were actually more efficient with in--paint offense: Montana netted a 34-30 advantage on points in the paint. Overall, Griz out-shot Zags from the field (42.6% to 41%)... the difference being 5 more points for the Zags than Montana beyond the arc. Lastly: Montana's guards are taking care of the ball pretty well for so early in the season; the Griz had 3 fewer turnovers than the Zags (11-14).
Truly a solid outing by a Montana team getting adjusted to an entirely new style of play. Kudos to Katrina Tsineke for coming in as an outsider and running things at point very capably. Also, the return of Sammy Fatkin is looming huge. I had a feeling today that she's on the verge of a major breakout as a difference-maker (she came a split-second from a breakaway steal & layup with about 2 minutes remaining that could have swung the game). Sophia Stiles had her usual all-out grinder of a game, but was literally beaming at the very loud roar of appreciation after she got her 5th foul. Carmen Gfeller is one tough power forward and really battled against much taller Zags opponents; she took a hard, hard elbow to the bridge of her nose midway through the second half, but was back battling after a minute or two on the bench. Abby Anderson collected two early fouls, and had to sit on the bench for most of the first half & struggled at times battling 4 taller opponents. Kylie Frohlich played a very solid 7-8 minutes & flashed some potential on offense with a hi-post dagger that loosened up the Zag 2nd half matchup Z a bit. Morris-Nelson and Bartsch both had solid rotations on the floor; I think Dani is going to be a difference maker sooner rather than later. Kyndal Keller played a solid 6 minutes of hard-nosed defensive focus.
Montana's next four games are on the road & I think they have a chance at winning three. A huge bummer to me is that (apparently) three of the games will NOT be streamed.
So... the loss to Gonzaga might pay dividends in the realization by these players that the Griz can indeed compete vs. power-ranked teams. Gonzaga is at 18 in the College Insider Poll and just out of the top 25 in the AP and USA Today Polls. The poll I follow most -- The NCAA Women's BAsketball Net Rankings, has Gonzaga ranked 17th. Now we get to see how they play on the road. Go GrizWBB.