MISSOULA — Dani Bartsch had a dream to play for the Montana Lady Griz growing up.
With deep roots at UM thanks to her family, Missoula was her dream destination, so Bartsch remembers giving her commitment as if it were yesterday.
"Kind of just took a moment to myself after and I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm doing it,'" Bartsch said. "Every kid's dream is to go D1, let alone play for the hometown state. It was an awesome opportunity and even then I had no idea how great of a life I was about to have."
The Helena native was a three-sport standout at Capital High School but especially excelled at volleyball and basketball.
Bartsch won the 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year in basketball and took five state titles between the two sports, with the Bruins winning the basketball co-championship in 2020 and the outright title in 2021. In volleyball, they three-peated to end her career, and she finished with a 71-game winning streak.
She did so with her twin sister Paige by her side as the duo would dominate at the high school level and also push one another to be better.
"Everything is a competition. Who could eat their cereal the fastest in the morning? Everything you can make competitive, we would make competitive," Bartsch said. "I'd say just almost to an unhealthy point in high school, probably where we would kind of get bitter with each other if one person played better than the other. But, I'd say just the biggest thing, we always wanted each other to do good."
When the pair split, with Paige heading to a decorated volleyball career at Boise State, and Dani to the Lady Griz, it was a first. Bartsch said coming out of high school, Montana and Carroll College were her only offers for basketball.
Dani quickly rose up the ranks as one of Montana's most impactful players.
She saw time as a role player her true freshman year. Halfway through her sophomore campaign, she was inserted into the starting lineup and never looked back. Since, she's played in 115 total games and started in 70, with over 2,600 minutes to her name and career marks of 722 points, 846 rebounds, 199 assists, 112 steals and 85 blocks.
At first, her game was strictly defense and rebounding before she exploded last year as a do-all threat who earned All-Big Sky Conference accolades.
"My junior (year) was really working on my 3-point shot during the summer of that, getting good at that," Bartsch said. "And then I did. And so just slowly find one piece of my game that, you know, I can get better at every year."
Bartsch has battled through injuries throughout her career as a tough, hard-nosed athlete, who now as a senior is the heart and soul who has led the program through an up-and-down season. Now, the Lady Griz are getting set for their second rivalry game of the year with Montana State.
"With how much this community and program’s given me, I really wanted to, you know, go out with a bang for them my senior year and just represent the state better than I have in the past," Bartsch said. "So, really putting that focus what I wanted to do into these upcoming games and really putting it all out there."
Through it all, it's been a dream come true to be a Lady Griz for the Montanan.
"There's so many just great opportunities I've been given in school, community, just as of terms of people in my life who I've made relationships with who I never would have gotten the opportunity to meet," Bartsch said. "There's definitely been challenges with it, but in no way am I even close to having a negative experience. I would wish every Montana kid to come and experience this.
"Really just keep winning with this team, you know? They're awesome girls. I don't want to take any of it for granted. Enjoy the little moments on and off the floor with them."
