Lady Griz open regular season Sunday at Boise State
11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Montana women's basketball team opens its 2007-08 regular season Sunday afternoon when the Lady Griz play at Boise State. Game time is 2 p.m. at BSU's Taco Bell Arena (12,000).
Montana, which went 27-4 in 2006-07 and won the Big Sky Conference with a 15-1 league record, won both of its exhibition games, downing both Northwest Sports, 73-55, and Deja vu, 74-57.
Boise State, which opens its season Friday with a home game against Loyola Marymount, went 24-9 in 2006-07 and tied for the regular-season Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title with a 12-4 league record. The Broncos, an NCAA Tournament team last year, won their only exhibition game, 76-62, last Sunday over Lewis-Clark State.
Media: Sunday's contest will be broadcast on KLCY-AM (930) in the Missoula area, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater on the call. Boise State's athletics web site, BroncoSports.com, will offer live stats of the game.
More On Boise State: The Broncos went 24-9 in 2006-07, setting a new program record for single-season wins. BSU went 12-4 in WAC play to share the regular-season title with Louisiana Tech. Boise State defeated San Jose State, Fresno State and home-standing New Mexico State to win the WAC Tournament and advance to the program's second NCAA Tournament. The No. 12-seed Broncos lost to No. 5 George Washington, 76-67, in the opening round.
Boise State also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1994 as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
Three starters return in 2007-08: senior forward Jackie Lee (7.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg in 2006-07), junior point guard Tasha Harris (10.6 ppg, 2.6 apg) and junior guard Jessica Thompson (13.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg). Thompson, who has led BSU in scoring the last two seasons, was a first team All-WAC selection last year and the WAC Tournament MVP.
The Broncos are coached by Gordy Presnell, who is 39-24 after two seasons at BSU.
The Last Time Out: Boise State won its lone exhibition game over Lewis-Clark State last Sunday, 76-62. After shooting just 25.8 percent in the first half to fall behind 34-25 at the break, the Broncos out-scored the Warriors 51-28 in the second half.
Junior Jamia Malone, a transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College, hit 5-of-11 3-point attempts to score a game-high 21 points.
Series History: Montana leads the all-time series with Boise State, 37-11, including a 16-7 advantage in games at Boise. The two teams have not faced each other since Montana's 73-70 victory at Missoula on Nov. 20, 2000.
Montana and Boise State were conference opponents from the 1976-77 season through the 1995-96 season.
Early Schedule Packing a Punch: Non-conference opponents Boise State, Gonzaga, Wyoming and Mississippi all received votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. All four teams, along with Montana, were among those outside of the top 25 but those receiving votes.
Boise State, Gonzaga and Mississippi all advanced to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Broncos and Bulldogs both lost in the opening round, while the Rebels advanced to the Elite Eight.
Montana and Wyoming both advanced to the 2007 WNIT. The Cowgirls went 6-0, with all of their games at home, to win the WNIT title. Montana lost at Utah in the tournament's opening round.
Morales Named Preseason Wooden Candidate: The John R. Wooden Award Committee announced Oct. 31 that Montana junior Mandy Morales is one of 30 preseason candidates for the annual national player of the year award.
Morales was the Big Sky Conference MVP as a sophomore and has earned Kodak honorable mention All-America honors in her first two seasons. She was also one of 11 finalists for the 2007 Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the nation's top Division I point guard.
Three of this year's 30 preseason candidates were honored last season as members of the Wooden Award All-America team, including 2007 Wooden Award winner Candace Parker of Tennessee, Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and LSU's Sylvia Fowles.
Three schools had three players on the list: Rutgers (Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn), Tennessee (Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Nicky Anosike) and Maryland (Marissa Coleman, Crystal Langhorne, Kristi Toliver). Stanford (Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel) and Connecticut (Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery) had two players each.
Lady Griz Top Preseason Polls: Montana, which won the 2006-07 Big Sky regular-season title, was picked by both the league coaches and league media to win the 2008 title. The Lady Griz picked up seven of nine first-place votes in the coaches poll and 24 of 26 first-place votes in the media poll.
The top three were the same in both polls, with Idaho State and Montana State picked second and third. The Bengals, who won the 2007 Big Sky Conference Tournament, received the other two first-place votes in both polls.
Weber State and Northern Arizona were picked four-five in the coaches poll and five-four in the media poll. WSU (42) was just two points and NAU (41) just three points behind the Bobcats (44) for third place in the coaches poll.
In order, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado rounded out spots six through nine.
Montana Sweeps Exhibition Opponents: The Lady Griz won both of their exhibition games this week, defeating Northwest Sports 73-55 on Sunday and Deja vu 74-57 on Monday.
Against Northwest Sports, Montana shot just 24.2 percent in the first half but still held a 30-21 lead at the break.
Northwest Sports tied it at 34-34 early in the second half, but Montana exploded with a 33-9 run to pull away.
Junior Mandy Morales scored 14 points and freshman Sarah Ena added 13 as the Lady Griz out-scored their opponents 24-4 from the free throw line and had a 57-39 rebounding advantage.
After shooting just 5-for-23 (.217) from 3-point range against Northwest Sports, Montana went 10-for-21 (.476) in its win over Deja vu. UM scored the game's first 10 points and never trailed.
Deja vu was within two points with just over five minutes to play, but the Lady Griz scored 18 of the game's final 21 points to pull away for the victory.
Junior Sonya Rogers led both teams with 16 points, while Morales had 12 points and eight assists.
Montana, which went 27-4 in 2006-07 and won the Big Sky Conference with a 15-1 league record, won both of its exhibition games, downing both Northwest Sports, 73-55, and Deja vu, 74-57.
Boise State, which opens its season Friday with a home game against Loyola Marymount, went 24-9 in 2006-07 and tied for the regular-season Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title with a 12-4 league record. The Broncos, an NCAA Tournament team last year, won their only exhibition game, 76-62, last Sunday over Lewis-Clark State.
Media: Sunday's contest will be broadcast on KLCY-AM (930) in the Missoula area, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater on the call. Boise State's athletics web site, BroncoSports.com, will offer live stats of the game.
More On Boise State: The Broncos went 24-9 in 2006-07, setting a new program record for single-season wins. BSU went 12-4 in WAC play to share the regular-season title with Louisiana Tech. Boise State defeated San Jose State, Fresno State and home-standing New Mexico State to win the WAC Tournament and advance to the program's second NCAA Tournament. The No. 12-seed Broncos lost to No. 5 George Washington, 76-67, in the opening round.
Boise State also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1994 as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
Three starters return in 2007-08: senior forward Jackie Lee (7.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg in 2006-07), junior point guard Tasha Harris (10.6 ppg, 2.6 apg) and junior guard Jessica Thompson (13.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg). Thompson, who has led BSU in scoring the last two seasons, was a first team All-WAC selection last year and the WAC Tournament MVP.
The Broncos are coached by Gordy Presnell, who is 39-24 after two seasons at BSU.
The Last Time Out: Boise State won its lone exhibition game over Lewis-Clark State last Sunday, 76-62. After shooting just 25.8 percent in the first half to fall behind 34-25 at the break, the Broncos out-scored the Warriors 51-28 in the second half.
Junior Jamia Malone, a transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College, hit 5-of-11 3-point attempts to score a game-high 21 points.
Series History: Montana leads the all-time series with Boise State, 37-11, including a 16-7 advantage in games at Boise. The two teams have not faced each other since Montana's 73-70 victory at Missoula on Nov. 20, 2000.
Montana and Boise State were conference opponents from the 1976-77 season through the 1995-96 season.
Early Schedule Packing a Punch: Non-conference opponents Boise State, Gonzaga, Wyoming and Mississippi all received votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. All four teams, along with Montana, were among those outside of the top 25 but those receiving votes.
Boise State, Gonzaga and Mississippi all advanced to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Broncos and Bulldogs both lost in the opening round, while the Rebels advanced to the Elite Eight.
Montana and Wyoming both advanced to the 2007 WNIT. The Cowgirls went 6-0, with all of their games at home, to win the WNIT title. Montana lost at Utah in the tournament's opening round.
Morales Named Preseason Wooden Candidate: The John R. Wooden Award Committee announced Oct. 31 that Montana junior Mandy Morales is one of 30 preseason candidates for the annual national player of the year award.
Morales was the Big Sky Conference MVP as a sophomore and has earned Kodak honorable mention All-America honors in her first two seasons. She was also one of 11 finalists for the 2007 Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the nation's top Division I point guard.
Three of this year's 30 preseason candidates were honored last season as members of the Wooden Award All-America team, including 2007 Wooden Award winner Candace Parker of Tennessee, Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and LSU's Sylvia Fowles.
Three schools had three players on the list: Rutgers (Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn), Tennessee (Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Nicky Anosike) and Maryland (Marissa Coleman, Crystal Langhorne, Kristi Toliver). Stanford (Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel) and Connecticut (Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery) had two players each.
Lady Griz Top Preseason Polls: Montana, which won the 2006-07 Big Sky regular-season title, was picked by both the league coaches and league media to win the 2008 title. The Lady Griz picked up seven of nine first-place votes in the coaches poll and 24 of 26 first-place votes in the media poll.
The top three were the same in both polls, with Idaho State and Montana State picked second and third. The Bengals, who won the 2007 Big Sky Conference Tournament, received the other two first-place votes in both polls.
Weber State and Northern Arizona were picked four-five in the coaches poll and five-four in the media poll. WSU (42) was just two points and NAU (41) just three points behind the Bobcats (44) for third place in the coaches poll.
In order, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado rounded out spots six through nine.
Montana Sweeps Exhibition Opponents: The Lady Griz won both of their exhibition games this week, defeating Northwest Sports 73-55 on Sunday and Deja vu 74-57 on Monday.
Against Northwest Sports, Montana shot just 24.2 percent in the first half but still held a 30-21 lead at the break.
Northwest Sports tied it at 34-34 early in the second half, but Montana exploded with a 33-9 run to pull away.
Junior Mandy Morales scored 14 points and freshman Sarah Ena added 13 as the Lady Griz out-scored their opponents 24-4 from the free throw line and had a 57-39 rebounding advantage.
After shooting just 5-for-23 (.217) from 3-point range against Northwest Sports, Montana went 10-for-21 (.476) in its win over Deja vu. UM scored the game's first 10 points and never trailed.
Deja vu was within two points with just over five minutes to play, but the Lady Griz scored 18 of the game's final 21 points to pull away for the victory.
Junior Sonya Rogers led both teams with 16 points, while Morales had 12 points and eight assists.
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