MISSOULA, Mont. – A stingy Montana defense led the Lady Griz to a 61-33 win over The College of Idaho on Sunday afternoon in Dahlberg Arena.
Montana (4-3) took a 17-9 lead after the first quarter, with the Yotes (1-7) utilizing nine combined points on 4-of-5 shooting from the duo of
Allie Cannon and
Kiersten Rasmussen in the first 10 minutes to hang around.
The Lady Griz would lock down the clamps defensively in the second quarter though, outscoring C of I 16-3 and taking a 33-12 lead into the locker room.
Montana led wire-to-wire on Sunday, with the Lady Griz building their largest lead of 32 late in the fourth quarter.
While the Big Sky representative stayed in control throughout, the Yotes made things difficult for them on the offensive side of the floor, holding Montana to a 20-of-63 (32 percent) shooting day from the field and a 6-of-22 (27 percent) mark beyond the 3-point line.
The field goal percentage were the lowest mark that C of I has held an opponent to this season, and the Yotes have now held four of their last five opponents to 64 points or less. The Coyote defense has limited Division I opponents to a 15-of-64 (23 percent) mark from the perimeter in three games this year. It was also the third consecutive game with 10 or more steals for the Yotes.
Despite their own offensive struggles, the Lady Griz had a quality effort on the defensive side of things, holding C of I to 12-of-54 (22 percent) shooting from the floor and 3-of-20 (15 percent) from outside.
Montana won the battle on the glass 51-36, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds in the process. The Lady Griz were led by the 10 points of Carmen Gfeller, who was one of 12 Montana players to score in the game.
The Yotes were led by the eight points, six rebounds and a steal of freshman
Emma Anderson off the bench.
Lexi Mitchell had seven points, six rebounds, a block and a steal. Rasmussen posted six points to go along with six boards, a block and a steal, while Cannon finished with three steals on the defensive side of the floor.
