by Zachary Knecht
Featured Image: Photo by Weber State Athletics
Weber State Basketball Recap
The Weber State Wildcats suffer a grueling defeat as they fall to the Montana Lady Grizzlies 67-64 in overtime. With the loss, the ‘Cats drop to 0-4 in conference play and 4-12 on the season, but they showed that they won’t go down lightly.
Despite leaving with the L, there were a lot of positive signs from the Wildcat team that has struggled in their eight-game losing streak.
Inspiring Offense
Although this game was not the highest scoring, especially accounting for overtime, the Wildcats’ offense showed a lot of promise against the Lady Grizzlies. Four Weber States starters broke the double-digit mark on the night, and their bench players made an impact with a combined 15 points.
Jadyn Matthews was the commander of this offense with her 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, adding three assists to her stat line. Laura Taylor had a respectable 11 points in the contest, including her three shots from deep, with Daryn Hickok and Kaiija Lesane following close behind with ten-point performances.
Though the offense didn’t shoot incredibly efficiently against a shaky defense, they limited their turnover (14) and dispersed the ball well to get everyone involved.
For the Lady Grizzlies, Carmen Gfeller took over with her 24 points to lead them to a conference victory. Gina Marxen’s 11 points were the second-best from Montana’s starting rotation, and Mack Konig’s ten points from the bench played a major factor in the win.
Stout Defense
Thursday displayed one of the more impressive defensive showings from the Wildcats team. Coming into the game, Montana was averaging 69.7 PPG, so limiting this offense to 53 points in regulation and disrupting their rhythm was impressive to watch.
The ‘Cats kept the Lady Grizzlies to shooting 31.1% from the field and 23.1% from three. Unfortunately, Montana saw themselves at the free-throw line 27 times on the night, making the most of their chances. They shot 85.2% from the line giving them just enough to edge out Weber State.
Aggressive Play
Despite Weber State’s 21 fouls, the aggressive play from this team, especially the defense, was inspiring. The Wildcats forced 20 turnovers en route to winning the turnover battle and stole the ball 14 times, doubling the total of the Lady Grizzlies.
Their gritty, tough play is encouraging moving forward as the Wildcats still need to get back in the win column.
Next in Line
The Wildcats will stay home to face off against the Montana State Bobcats where they will have their hands full against a tough conference opponent.
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| Weber State Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | MIN |
| Jadyn Matthews, F | 14 | 11 | 3 | 5-16 | 1-3 | 43 |
| Laura Taylor, G | 11 | 7 | 2 | 3-11 | 3-9 | 36 |
| Daryn Hickok, F | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4-15 | 0-3 | 37 |
| Kaiija Lesane, G | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4-8 | 0-1 | 23 |
| Vicky Parra, F | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 16 |
| Bench | ||||||
| Ava Williams, G | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 22 |
| Tamalii Fonoti, C | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Aaliyah Ellis, G | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 12 |
| Amelia Raidaveta, F | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Nakila Johnson, G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 5 |
| Emri Lovell, G | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0-3 | 0-1 | 16 |
| Charlotte Hegvold, G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 6 |
| Team Total | 64 | 45 | 15 | 24-75 | 5-20 |
| Montana Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | MIN |
| Carmen Gfeller, F | 24 | 4 | 0 | 8-15 | 2-4 | 41 |
| Gina Marxen, G | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1-7 | 0-5 | 39 |
| Sammy Fatkin, G | 6 | 12 | 3 | 2-17 | 0-7 | 40 |
| Kelli, Burton-Oliver, F | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 22 |
| Haley Huard, G | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 10 |
| Bench | ||||||
| Mack Konig, G | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4-9 | 2-4 | 26 |
| Dani Bartsch, F | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 24 |
| Lisa Kiefer, F | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Libby Stump, G | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0-5 | 0-2 | 19 |
| Katerina Tsineke, G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1 |
| Team Total | 67 | 50 | 14 | 19-61 | 6-26 |