MISSOULA — The Montana Lady Griz ran past Boise State on Wednesday and into the second round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw led a balanced attack with 20 points and the Lady Griz prevailed 92-66 at Dahlberg Arena. The victory sends Montana, now 23-9, into a WNIT matchup with North Dakota State (21-11) next week. A date and location for the game is yet to be announced.
Espenmiller McGraw shot 7 for 14 from the floor and hit four 3-pointers as the Lady Griz ran away from the Broncos. Four others scored in double figures for UM: Macey Huard came off the bench and had 16 points, Mack Konig also had 16, Gina Marxen had four 3s and finished with 14, and Carmen Gfeller also scored 14 points.
The Lady Griz hit 15 of 25 3-point shots and hit 52.5% of their overall field goal attempts; Huard shot 3 for 4 from beyond the arc. Marxen also had a team-high nine rebounds for Montana.
Espenmiller-McGraw now has 79 3s this year, which is a new single-season school record for 3-pointers made. Espnemiller McGraw, an Iowa State transfer, surpassed the previous mark set by McCalle Feller in 2015-16.
UM led for the majority of the game. Billings Central product Mya Hansen gave Boise State a one-point advantage at 22-21 with a layup at the 8:26 mark of the second quarter, but the Lady Griz were back up by 10 about three minutes later on a 3-pointer by Huard.
The Lady Griz led 72-60 after the third quarter and then outscored Boise State 20-6 in the final eight minutes to close the game.
Natalie Pasco led the Broncos with 21 points while Hansen added 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Dani Bayes came off the bench to score 10 points for Boise State.
