Box Score MISSOULA, Montana- The University of Idaho Women's basketball team (13-8,8-4) fell to the Montana Lady Griz, 69-60 on the road. The Vandals led 12-4 early in the first period before falling behind 36-26 at halftime. Idaho outscored Montana 34-33 in the second half but was unable to overcome the deficit, falling 69-60. Gina Marxen led a group of three Vandals scoring in double-figures with a team-high 16 points. Beyonce Bea added 14 points while Lizzy Klinker chipped in 13 and a team-high seven rebounds.

THE GAME

The Vandals opened the contest with six straight points capped with a Gina Marxen three-pointer two minutes into the game. Idaho extended their lead to 12-4 when Chayse Milne converted an and-one layup at the 6:33 mark.
Lizzy Klinker put the Vandals back up by eight, 16-8, at the 3:58 mark in the first with a layup.
Montana cut into Idaho's lead down the stretch of the first period, but the Vandals held a 22-19 advantage entering the second period. Lizzy scored 11 of the Vandals 22 first period points.
The Vandals struggled offensively with just four points in the second period. The Lady Griz carried a 36-26 into the locker room at halftime.
Idaho cut the deficit to single digits three times in the third period but were unable to trim the lead more. Marxen made it a nine-point game, 46-37, with a three-pointer at the 3:23 mark in the period. Montana outscored Idaho 7-3 to finish the period and led 53-40 entering the fourth.  
The Vandals outscored Montana 20-16 in the fourth period. Marxen scored 10 of her 16 total points in the final ten minutes. The Vandals scored their second highest point total of the game in the first but were unable to build on any runs. The largest run of the period was a 4-0 run beginning at the 3:12 mark, which cut the deficit to 10, 64-54, with 2:20 left to play.
At the buzzer Marxen drilled a long three-pointer to make it 69-60, the final score.
 

 

THE QUOTES

HEAD COACH JON NEWLEE
 
"I loved the way we came out in the beginning. I thought we really got after them good and it was probably our best offensive flow in the first quarter that we have had in quiet some time."
"Defensively we didn't do what we wanted to do in the first half. I think the turnovers led to easy breakaways for them."
"That second quarter is really what turned this game around. We have had two bad quarters against these guys. We survived it at home but didn't survive it today. You can't have a quarter like that and think you're going to beat a team like this in this environment. They have a lot of veterans and redshirt upper classman who have been through this before and I thought our youth tonight showed up and I think the Big Sky schedule showed up, playing our fourth game in eight days. I'm not making that an excuse, but the kids can only take so much and that is part of what happened tonight."
"When Lizzy got that second foul it was a killer, but you have to fight through everything. It really slowed us down because she started the game off great."
"They know what they are doing, and it isn't very complicated. We didn't really get the passes that we wanted tonight. We did a good job attacking the basket and getting to the line with 19 free throws but the assists compared to our turnovers was not where it needed to be tonight."
 






THE NOTES

Idaho outscored Montana 34-33 in the second half and 20-16 in the fourth period.
Three Vandals scored in double-figures: Gina Marxen (16), Beyonce Bea (14), and Lizzy Klinker (13).
Montana shot 45.9 percent from the floor on 28-61 shooting while the Vandals posted a 40.4 percent shooting percentage on 21-52 from the floor. Idaho out-shot the Lady Griz from three-point range, 34.8 percent to 28.6 percent.
Montana outrebounded the Vandals 36-31 including a 9-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Lady Griz also won the turnover battle, 13-9 and scored 10 points off turnovers.
There was only one lead change in the contest. The Vandals led for 10 minutes while Montana led for the remaining 28.


THE NAME

Lizzy Klinker returned to her home state of Montana and scored 13 points in the game. Lizzy led the Vandals on the boards with seven rebounds as well. 11 of her 13 points came in the first ten minutes of the game.

UP NEXT

The Vandals will take a few days off before traveling to Eastern Washington Thursday Feb. 13^th. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.