MISSOULA — Trailing by one with 0.9 seconds left, Idaho State's Camryn Collman drew a foul by Montana's Sammy Fatkin and sank two free throws to lift the Bengals to a 55-54 win over the Lady Griz in front of 2,418 fans at Dahlberg Arena on Thursday evening.
The Bengals inbounded the ball with 7.7 seconds remaining in the game after forcing a shot clock violation on Montana's last possession, and after working it up the court, Collman caught the pass and shot the ball while leaning into Fatkin as the UM senior leaned away with her arms in the air, but the referees whistled it a foul and sent Collman to the line for the game-winning shots.
In a physical contest between the two teams, Callie Bourne led the way for ISU (10-13, 5-7 Big Sky Conference) with 26 points while Laura Bello added 18 for the Bengals who shot 39.7% from the field and 3 for 12 from deep. Idaho State forced UM into 17 turnovers and out-rebounded the Lady Griz 34 to 28.
Gina Marxen led Montana with 17 points and Carmen Gfeller added 10 points as the Lady Griz (12-12, 8-5) saw their four-game winning streak snapped. The teams split their meetings in the regular season after UM beat ISU in Pocatello back in January.
Montana led by nine, 46-37, to start the fourth quarter after a layup by Keeli Burton-Oliver. The Bengals responded with a 10-0 run to take a 47-46 lead after a layup by Bourne, and from there it was back-and-forth the rest of the game.
Mack Konig ended the drought for UM with a 3-pointer, and UM eventually led 54-50 with 2:25 to go after a three from Marxen, but didn't score again as the Bengals escaped Missoula with the win.
UM shot 43.5% from the field and went 8 for 25 from deep.
It was another night for a cause for the Lady Griz as they wore custom warmup shirts in partnership with the American Heart Association, an organization Burton-Oliver works closely with after her own battles with a heart condition. On Saturday, the Lady Griz will host Weber State at 2 p.m. as they officially unveil the new court name after former UM coach Robin Selvig.
