MISSOULA — The New Year is almost here, and the break officially over for the Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz, as these two programs get started with Big Sky Conference play this week.
The Griz men completed their nonconference stretch 7-6, with some key wins over D1 teams at home, but some road blocks and challenges on the road at larger schools, including at now current No. 1 Tennessee. UM also lost at Oregon, Utah State and San Francisco and picked up wins over Utah Tech, Denver and CSUN among others.
Now, the focus turns to the opening week of conference play with Montana starting on the road at Eastern Washington on Thursday and at Idaho on Saturday.
"We just go one game at a time," Griz senior guard Brandon Whitney said. "We know every game in this conference counts. We know that even if you lose a game, you got to bounce back. So kind of just going one game at a time, letting them know that every game matters."
Head coach Travis DeCuire said they try not to overlook anyone now that the familiarity is there for conference opponents, but instead the larger goal is playing for a common mission.
"Every game counts. The standings add up," DeCuire said. "The records are more meaningful right now, it's hard to compare anyone in conference, because we played so many different teams. But the most important thing about when conference starts is you actually have a common goal that you're playing for, which raises the intensity and obviously increases your fan base."
The Lady Griz exit a rugged nonconference slate at 4-7 to begin the year, having played some of the top teams in the region and country including Gonzaga, Michigan State, Minnesota, and South Dakota State while UM also beat teams like Washington and North Dakota.
They're home against the Eagles and Vandals this week, as they look to start off on the right foot.
"I feel like teams are a lot more familiar with you. They scout harder," UM senior forward Dani Bartsch said. "So when you get an opportunity to really take it, and then just, we have a lot of new people on this team, and so just helping them as much as possible, getting prepared for that game will be big."
"I think our team has honestly just grown a lot," senior guard MJ Bruno added. "I think people forget that we have a ton of new players on this team this year. This year we're a lot younger, and we're having to build new chemistry and gel together. And so I'm actually really proud of our team of we're building that chemistry, we're beginning to gel, and our younger players are getting a better feel of the game and are stepping up for us, and so that's why I would say I'm like most proud of so far."
Despite the challenging start, for Montana, their goal is to stay positive, with no better time than now to begin turning things around.
"I think the girls are encouraged to get into conference play and have the consistency play teams that are a little bit more like us, which will be which is fun," UM head coach Brian Holsinger said. "I think they're ready to go. We had a good, long break, actually the longest break I've ever had in 26 years, during Christmas. So that was good for all of us, I think."
