Conference favorites square off Thursday in Laramie
11/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Montana women's basketball team will travel to Laramie, Wyo., to face Wyoming Thursday at 7 p.m. at UW's Arena Auditorium (15,028). The Lady Griz improved to 3-2 on the season with victories over Oregon State, 57-42, and Richmond, 86-81, last weekend to win the UNLV Lady Rebel Shootout at Las Vegas, Nev.
The Cowgirls are off to a 4-0 start this season. Wyoming won its last game, 67-66 at Wisconsin in overtime, on Tuesday, Nov. 20. UW has won 10 straight games dating back to last season and is 18-1 at home since the start of the 2006-07 season.
Region Powers Collide: Montana and Wyoming, which were both picked to win their league titles this season, are both coming off excellent 2006-07 seasons. The Lady Griz went 27-2 during the regular season, a program record for regular-season wins. The Cowgirls also won 27 games in 2006-07, which included a six-game sweep through the WNIT to win the tournament title. All six of the Cowgirls' WNIT victories were at Arena Auditorium.
Wyoming has won 10 straight games dating back to last season and is 18-1 at home since the start of the 2006-07 season.
The Lady Griz defeated the Cowgirls twice last season, 70-59 and 79-72, with both games at Missoula.
Both teams returned all five starters this season.
"Wyoming has got a great team," Montana coach Robin Selvig said. "They return everybody from last year, and they are extremely well-coached. They were picked to win their league, and they should have been.
"The fact that we got them twice last year is a credit to us. They are very good defensively, I mean really good defensively, but we managed to shoot the ball well against them. Offensively they have a lot of weapons.
"I think with what they did in the tournament last year they've started drawing good crowds, so we should have a good environment."
Media: Thursday's game will be broadcast on KLCY-AM (930) in the Missoula area, with Tom Stage (play-by-play) and Dick Slater (color) on the call. Wyoming's Web site, WyomingAthletics.com, will have live statistics available through CSTV's GameTracker.
MontanaGrizzlies.com will provide links to the KLCY audio broadcast and Wyoming's live stats.
More on Wyoming: The Cowgirls are off to a 4-0 start this season. After opening the season with home victories over Idaho State, 76-50, and Kansas State, 56-44, Wyoming went on the road last week for a 61-57 victory at St. Louis and a 67-66 overtime win at Wisconsin.
With five starters back, Wyoming was picked by its league's media and coaches to win the Mountain West Conference title after tying for second last year. The Cowgirls picked up 24 of the 30 first-place votes. They were trailed in the preseason poll by TCU (two first-place votes), BYU (one), New Mexico (three) and Utah.
Through four games this season, Wyoming is limiting its opponents to 36.1 percent shooting and has a rebounding advantage of 7.0 boards per game.
Senior Justyna Podziemska is averaging 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game this season, both team highs. Senior forward Hanna Zavecz averages 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and has a team-high 17 assists. Sophomore guard Aubrey Vandiver is the team's third double-figure scorer, averaging 12.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
Wyoming went 27-9 in 2006-07. The Cowgirls went 20-8 in the regular season, tying for second in the MWC at 11-5. After defeating San Diego State in the conference tournament quarterfinals, UW lost to New Mexico, 65-53, in the semifinals.
Passed over for an NCAA Tournament spot, Wyoming made the most of its WNIT selection, defeating Nevada (84-56), Missouri (73-67), Oregon (64-62), South Dakota State (70-59), Kansas State (89-79 in three overtimes) and Wisconsin (72-56) to win the title. After getting a crowd of 2,644 for their opening-round win over Nevada, the Cowgirls enjoyed progressively larger crowds as the tournament advanced, peaking out at a capacity crowd of 15,462 for the Badger game.
Zavecz was a first-team All-MWC pick last year, while Podziemska was named second team and the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Wyoming is coached by Joe Legerski, who is 79-48 in his fifth year.
Series History: Montana leads the all-time series with Wyoming, 7-2. The teams have split their four meetings at Laramie, Wyo. The Lady Griz picked up a 77-48 win during the 1983-84 season and a 79-62 victory during the 1985-86 season. The Cowgirls won a WNIT game, 76-74 in overtime, in 2002-03 and a 50-45 decision in 2005-06.
Mandy Morales averaged 28.5 points per game for the Lady Griz in the teams' two meetings last year. Justyna Podziemska averaged 21.5 points per game for Wyoming.
Lady Griz Pick Up Tournament Title: Montana traveled to Las Vegas, Nev., over the Thanksgiving weekend and won the UNLV Lady Rebel Shootout, posting a 57-42 victory over Oregon State and an 86-81 win over Richmond. The back-to-back victories followed UM's 87-71 loss at Gonzaga on Monday, Nov. 19.
In the opener, Montana forced the Beavers into 29 turnovers and held OSU to 23.6 percent shooting. Oregon State didn't reach double figures in the game until the 4:50 mark of the first half, with the Lady Griz ahead at the half, 23-11.
Junior Sonya Rogers had 17 points, going 6-for-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Junior Mandy Morales had her second double-double of the season and the ninth of her career with 10 points and 10 assists.
In the title game against the Spiders, Morales scored 30 points and added six assists in a tight game that went back and forth throughout. Rogers scored 17 points again, hitting 4-of-7 3-point attempts, including the three with 1:33 to play that broke a 77-77 tie and sent the Lady Griz to victory.
Senior Johanna Closson had her second career double-double in the win, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior Britney Lohman scored 11 points, her first double-figure scoring effort of the year.
"I feel great about (the tournament), especially the way we bounced back after getting beat pretty good at Gonzaga," Selvig said. "We beat Oregon State in a game where our defense was our strong point, which was good to see since our offense has carried us more times last year and this year than our defense.
"Then we beat a very good Richmond team in a heck of a ball game. It went back and forth, but we had a lot of kids make big plays down the stretch."
Morales MVP, Rogers All-Tournament: Juniors Mandy Morales and Sonya Rogers were both honored for their play at last weekend's Lady Rebel Shootout. Morales earned MVP honors after averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds in Montana's two victories.
Rogers was named all-tournament after averaging 17.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. She shot 50.0 percent from the field and went 7-for-12 (.583) from 3-point range in the wins.
"Mandy and Sonya both had great tournaments," Selvig said. "Sonya shot it well, which we know she can do, and Mandy had a huge championship, putting up 22 by the half. Richmond was playing well, so we needed to out-score them, and Mandy stepped up and had a big game."
The Cowgirls are off to a 4-0 start this season. Wyoming won its last game, 67-66 at Wisconsin in overtime, on Tuesday, Nov. 20. UW has won 10 straight games dating back to last season and is 18-1 at home since the start of the 2006-07 season.
Region Powers Collide: Montana and Wyoming, which were both picked to win their league titles this season, are both coming off excellent 2006-07 seasons. The Lady Griz went 27-2 during the regular season, a program record for regular-season wins. The Cowgirls also won 27 games in 2006-07, which included a six-game sweep through the WNIT to win the tournament title. All six of the Cowgirls' WNIT victories were at Arena Auditorium.
Wyoming has won 10 straight games dating back to last season and is 18-1 at home since the start of the 2006-07 season.
The Lady Griz defeated the Cowgirls twice last season, 70-59 and 79-72, with both games at Missoula.
Both teams returned all five starters this season.
"Wyoming has got a great team," Montana coach Robin Selvig said. "They return everybody from last year, and they are extremely well-coached. They were picked to win their league, and they should have been.
"The fact that we got them twice last year is a credit to us. They are very good defensively, I mean really good defensively, but we managed to shoot the ball well against them. Offensively they have a lot of weapons.
"I think with what they did in the tournament last year they've started drawing good crowds, so we should have a good environment."
Media: Thursday's game will be broadcast on KLCY-AM (930) in the Missoula area, with Tom Stage (play-by-play) and Dick Slater (color) on the call. Wyoming's Web site, WyomingAthletics.com, will have live statistics available through CSTV's GameTracker.
MontanaGrizzlies.com will provide links to the KLCY audio broadcast and Wyoming's live stats.
More on Wyoming: The Cowgirls are off to a 4-0 start this season. After opening the season with home victories over Idaho State, 76-50, and Kansas State, 56-44, Wyoming went on the road last week for a 61-57 victory at St. Louis and a 67-66 overtime win at Wisconsin.
With five starters back, Wyoming was picked by its league's media and coaches to win the Mountain West Conference title after tying for second last year. The Cowgirls picked up 24 of the 30 first-place votes. They were trailed in the preseason poll by TCU (two first-place votes), BYU (one), New Mexico (three) and Utah.
Through four games this season, Wyoming is limiting its opponents to 36.1 percent shooting and has a rebounding advantage of 7.0 boards per game.
Senior Justyna Podziemska is averaging 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game this season, both team highs. Senior forward Hanna Zavecz averages 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and has a team-high 17 assists. Sophomore guard Aubrey Vandiver is the team's third double-figure scorer, averaging 12.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
Wyoming went 27-9 in 2006-07. The Cowgirls went 20-8 in the regular season, tying for second in the MWC at 11-5. After defeating San Diego State in the conference tournament quarterfinals, UW lost to New Mexico, 65-53, in the semifinals.
Passed over for an NCAA Tournament spot, Wyoming made the most of its WNIT selection, defeating Nevada (84-56), Missouri (73-67), Oregon (64-62), South Dakota State (70-59), Kansas State (89-79 in three overtimes) and Wisconsin (72-56) to win the title. After getting a crowd of 2,644 for their opening-round win over Nevada, the Cowgirls enjoyed progressively larger crowds as the tournament advanced, peaking out at a capacity crowd of 15,462 for the Badger game.
Zavecz was a first-team All-MWC pick last year, while Podziemska was named second team and the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Wyoming is coached by Joe Legerski, who is 79-48 in his fifth year.
Series History: Montana leads the all-time series with Wyoming, 7-2. The teams have split their four meetings at Laramie, Wyo. The Lady Griz picked up a 77-48 win during the 1983-84 season and a 79-62 victory during the 1985-86 season. The Cowgirls won a WNIT game, 76-74 in overtime, in 2002-03 and a 50-45 decision in 2005-06.
Mandy Morales averaged 28.5 points per game for the Lady Griz in the teams' two meetings last year. Justyna Podziemska averaged 21.5 points per game for Wyoming.
Lady Griz Pick Up Tournament Title: Montana traveled to Las Vegas, Nev., over the Thanksgiving weekend and won the UNLV Lady Rebel Shootout, posting a 57-42 victory over Oregon State and an 86-81 win over Richmond. The back-to-back victories followed UM's 87-71 loss at Gonzaga on Monday, Nov. 19.
In the opener, Montana forced the Beavers into 29 turnovers and held OSU to 23.6 percent shooting. Oregon State didn't reach double figures in the game until the 4:50 mark of the first half, with the Lady Griz ahead at the half, 23-11.
Junior Sonya Rogers had 17 points, going 6-for-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Junior Mandy Morales had her second double-double of the season and the ninth of her career with 10 points and 10 assists.
In the title game against the Spiders, Morales scored 30 points and added six assists in a tight game that went back and forth throughout. Rogers scored 17 points again, hitting 4-of-7 3-point attempts, including the three with 1:33 to play that broke a 77-77 tie and sent the Lady Griz to victory.
Senior Johanna Closson had her second career double-double in the win, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior Britney Lohman scored 11 points, her first double-figure scoring effort of the year.
"I feel great about (the tournament), especially the way we bounced back after getting beat pretty good at Gonzaga," Selvig said. "We beat Oregon State in a game where our defense was our strong point, which was good to see since our offense has carried us more times last year and this year than our defense.
"Then we beat a very good Richmond team in a heck of a ball game. It went back and forth, but we had a lot of kids make big plays down the stretch."
Morales MVP, Rogers All-Tournament: Juniors Mandy Morales and Sonya Rogers were both honored for their play at last weekend's Lady Rebel Shootout. Morales earned MVP honors after averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds in Montana's two victories.
Rogers was named all-tournament after averaging 17.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. She shot 50.0 percent from the field and went 7-for-12 (.583) from 3-point range in the wins.
"Mandy and Sonya both had great tournaments," Selvig said. "Sonya shot it well, which we know she can do, and Mandy had a huge championship, putting up 22 by the half. Richmond was playing well, so we needed to out-score them, and Mandy stepped up and had a big game."
Montana Volleyball Hype Video
Thursday, October 02
Griz Volleyball vs. Sacramento State Highlights - 9/25/25
Wednesday, October 01
Griz Volleyball vs. Sacramento State Postgame Report - 9/25/25
Wednesday, October 01
Griz Football vs. Idaho Juicer
Wednesday, October 01
