Kat Tsineke signs with pro league in Portugal

It's been an exciting offseason for the Montana Lady Griz. The current team filled their roster with six new talented players, and now, the team gets to see a second former teammate join the professional ranks.

Katerina (Kat) Tsineke (pronounced Chee-neck-ay) signed with Clube Desportivo Escola Francisco Franco earlier this week, according to Montana Kaimin Sports Editor Max Dupras' Twitter page.

CDE Francisco Frano (it's not quite as concise as the Montana Grizzlies, huh?) plays for the Portugal Nacional Liga in Portugal's capital city Funchal.

Tsineke's travels

Tsineke's basketball journey has made stops all over the world. Originally from Thessaloniki, Greece, Tsineke graduated from Hellenic College University. The former Lady Griz has already experienced international play when she competed on multiple levels in the EuroCup for team Greece as a teenager.

After her stint in Europe, Tsineke moved to Greenville, North Carolina where she played Division I ball at Eastern Carolina University for two seasons. During her time with the Pirates Kat had the privilege to battle against her twin sister Elena Tsineke at the University of South Florida. It would be a short-lived sibling rivalry as Kat elected to move west to the University of Montana where she spent her final two seasons.

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A special kind of player

Kat's junior season she averaged 18 minutes per game and was a defensive presence. Unfortunately for the Greece native her playing time dropped in her senior season.

But that didn't affect her attitude. I got to know Kat working with the Lady Griz, and she was always kind, cheery and pleasant to be around. She had every reason to become a disgruntled senior due to lack of playing time but she never complained and was a great teammate. Head Coach Brian Holsinger raved about her positive attitude all season and was named winner of the Theresa Rhoads Award for best exemplifying Lady Griz basketball.

It was well deserved, Kat.

Kat is the second Lady Griz from last season's team to sign somewhere overseas. Sammy Fatkin signed in June with the Girolive Panthers Osnabruck in the Damen Basketball Bundesliga.

Big Sky Conference Mascots Ranked on How Easily I Could Beat Them in a Fight

I came up with a random thought the other day. "If I were to get in a fight with every mascot in the Big Sky Conference, how many of those fights could I win?" For clarification: I am fighting whatever animal/person the team's nickname is (Grizzlies, Bobcats, etc.) in a one-on-one setting. No outside weapons being used, just a classic mano e mano fight.

What I've learned is I have very little chance at winning most of these fights.