MISSOULA — Kylie Frohlich's college basketball career has been defined by her patience and her willingness to wait for an opportunity.
Of late, that's exactly what has happened for the Montana Lady Griz senior as she's carved out a role off the bench to make a big impact as the season winds to a close.
But Frohlich's senior year has had it's challenges up to this point. An ankle injury early in the year forced her to limited playing time after a junior season where she broke out down the stretch as a role player in 2020-21.
But through fluctuating minutes, Frohlich stayed positive with plenty of support from her teammates.
"Everyone here is here for the same goal. We all just want to win," Frohlich said. "And so you do that in whatever way you can and whatever role that you fill on the team. And so that can change throughout the season and so it doesn't matter if you're starting one day or coming off the bench the next, or if you get more minutes as the season goes or less, you do whatever you can for your team and so everyone is always really encouraging of everyone else."
Frohlich had a season-high 13 points at Southern Utah off of the bench back on Feb. 7, as the Lady Griz beat a team that at the time was the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Despite limited playing time in the two games before that contest against the Thunderbirds, Frohlich stayed ready for when her number was called.
"I think just making sure that you're always mentally checked in because if you're not playing as many minutes you might doubt yourself but there's little things you can do like cheering on the bench and staying engaged in the game," Frohlich said. "If you feel like you're part of the game, it's a lot easier to hop into the game. If you are paying attention to what offenses or defenses are going on then you're going to be a lot more ready and engaged."
Ever since the New Year, Frohlich has seen her minutes increase after not seeing the court much in December. But the former Missoula Sentinel Spartan has made a name as a spark off the bench throughout her career with the Lady Griz, and that is on display once again this season.
"I think it starts with who she is as a person. She has high character," Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger said. "If you talk to her, you wouldn't know if hard things were happening or great things were happening. She just has high character no matter what. She's a great teammate, she's very consistent with who she is. And no matter what, ups or downs, she just kind of plays that way and she was ready to go."
Frohlich, who is currently working on a masters degree in exercise sciences, said it's been an honor representing her hometown school during her Lady Griz career.
"It's just been a huge honor more than anything because I obviously grew up around the Lady Griz and watching them play and knew how much pride and tradition there was especially from the community, how much people love the Lady Griz and that support just means the world," Frohlich said. "You go through the ups and downs with whoever you're around and you make the most of it but playing for the name on the front of the jersey is just the most important thing because the Lady Griz have a lot of pride and we want to do that name justice."
