MISSOULA — Montana point guard Mack Konig was named the Big Sky Conference co-player of the week on Tuesday by the league office after the junior had some of her best performances of the season as the Lady Griz played their final three regular-season games.
In home wins over Sacramento State and Portland State last week and a three-point loss at Eastern Washington on Monday night, Konig averaged 16.3 points on 65.4% shooting, 8.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds as Montana averaged 74 points per game.
“It was some vintage Mack performances in terms of her shot creation and her ability to control the game,” said Montana interim head coach Nate Harris.
Konig had 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds in Thursday’s 71-63 win over the Hornets and Benthe Versteeg, who shared co-player of the week honors with Konig.
She had 17 points on just six shots and seven assists in Saturday’s 74-61 win over the Vikings, going 5 for 6 from the field, including 2 of 3 from the 3-point line, and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
In Monday’s 80-77 loss to the Eagles, Konig recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 11 assists, the latter matching a career high. She also added six rebounds.
Montana was +27 in point differential in the three games when Konig was on the court. She now ranks 31st nationally in assists per game (5.2).
The award-winning performances came after Konig finally freed herself of a splint that was safeguarding a broken finger on her right hand and a protective tape job that limited her effectiveness.
“When you’re a point guard and you don’t have your dominant hand, it’s going to make your life harder,” said Harris. “Beyond feeling more comfortable with the ball, she looked like she was more in control of what we were trying to accomplish.
“We rededicated ourselves to a little more five-out, which opens up the paint for her to be aggressive and make plays for other people. That’s why you saw her assist numbers go up.”
Going into last week’s games, Konig was shooting 35.5% overall and had gone 18 for 82 (.220) this season from the 3-point line.
Over Montana’s last three games, Konig went 17 for 26 from the field, 5 for 6 from the 3-point line and 10 for 12 from the free throw line while posting a 2.9:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“She looks like vintage Mack in terms of controlling the game, getting the ball where it needs to go and scoring as well as creating for other people,” said Harris.
“She is shooting it better, and she credits her hand being hurt for her moving the ball around and why she is shooting it so well now.”
Montana finished the regular season 12-17 and tied for fifth in the Big Sky with an 8-10 league record.
The Lady Griz will take the No. 6 seed into the upcoming Big Sky Conference Championship in Boise, where they will face No. 3 Idaho on Monday at 2:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal game.
“Getting this version of Mack going into the conference tournament is a really good thing for us,” said Harris. “If you need someone to make a decision in a big moment, Mack is a kid I’m going to trust 10 times out of 10.”
