MISSOULA — In what's been a whirlwind 48-hour news cycle for the Montana Lady Griz, the team needed a moment to rally around after news surfaced of head coach Brian Holsinger going on leave from his position.
The team had lost seven of its last eight games, and was riding a three-game losing streak heading into Thursday, but a tide turned as UM defeated Weber State 74-70 with associate head coach Nate Harris leading the way. UM improved to 6-10 overall and 2-3 in the Big Sky.
"All we care about as a staff is taking care of those young ladies and helping them find whatever success and whatever success we can go grab together and just try to make their experience great for the remainder of whatever we have together," Harris said after the game.
It was a game with plenty of adversity, as both teams started fast.
Montana took control in the third and fourth quarters, only for Weber State to rally back furiously to make it a one-possession game in the final seconds, but the Lady Griz held on for the much-needed victory, with Harris crediting his more seasoned players for taking the reins.
"I think that our upperclassmen, our kids who have played in a lot of games, our kids who have done stuff in big moments," Harris said. "We have kids who have played a lot of games here, and I think those upperclassmen who have the experience did a tremendous job of just leading the way and being people that our kids who maybe haven't been through harder things can count on. They set the tone."
For Harris, it was a return to the head coach's chair for the first time in four years — he was previously the head coach at Division II Angelo State in Texas — and included a lot of scrambling with the rest of the staff to prepare for the game and program changes.
"I was more than happy to celebrate with them," Harris said. "We talked in the last 24 hours that all we care about is all of us against all of them, find a way to get it done together."
The win was a step in the right direction for the Lady Griz amid these midseason shakeups.
The road ahead is a challenging one with plenty of uncertainty, and Harris and the rest of the group know there's plenty in front of them if they want to still accomplish their goals the remainder of the season.
"I'm just naive enough to think we're going to prepare to win every game we ever play and we're going to get after it and it doesn't matter it's not about me, it's not about any single person, it's not even about any single girl in that locker room, it's about all of them and what we're trying to do for them as a group and what they're trying to accomplish as a group," Harris said.
