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Montana dominates Eastern Washington

Lady Griz come alive from beyond the arc to bounce back in conference play
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MISSOULA -- Coming into Thursday's game, Montana had taken the fewest 3-point attempts in the Big Sky Conference with 181. That changed against Eastern Washington as the Lady Griz bounced back from their first conference loss in convincing fashion with a 92-54 win.

After Eastern Washington built a nine point lead with just over a minute to play in the first quarter, the Lady Griz went on a 13-0 run to take the lead and never trailed again on their way to conference win number four.

Montana finished the first half shooting the lights out. They went 8 for 12 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc and 18 for 31 (58.1 percent) from the field to finish the first half with 51 points. In the first half, it was Lady Griz Gabi Harrington who lead the charge with 14 points on 5 for 6 shooting from the field. Eastern Washington's Jenna Dick had 14 points of her own in the half on 4 for 5 shooting from deep.

In the second half, it was Taylor Goligoski and Jamie Pickens who led the charge for Montana down the stretch. Goligoski finished the half with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field while Pickens got to the line six times, en route to a 12-point half. For the Eagles, Grace Kirscher made two threes in a row to pull within 13 with 6:40 left in the third quarter. Montana went on another run, outscoring EWU 21-6 in the final six minutes of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Goligoski continued to make shots while Pickens and Madi Schoening made a combined seven points from the line.

Goligoski ended the game with 21 points on 8 for 14 from the field and led all scorers. Harrington and Pickens each finished with 14 points while McKenzie Johnston finished with 11 points, 10 assists and two steals. Schoening had one of her best performances of the year, going 2 for 2 from beyond the arc and making all four free throws to finish the night with 10 points.

As a team, Montana finished shooting 29 for 59 (49.2 percent) from the field, 12 for 22 (54.5 percent) from 3-point range and 22 for 25 (88 percent) from the line. Montana also protected the ball well turning it over seven times compared to EWU's 17.

It's the first Lady Griz win over Eastern Washington since the 2014-2015 season, when UM beat EWU in both contests.

Montana (9-5, 4-1) now heads back on the road to take on Portland State (8-6, 2-2) on Jan. 13.