Victory at EWU gives Lady Griz outright crown, hosting rights
3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Montana women's basketball team clinched the outright league title and earned hosting rights to the 2008 Allegiance Life and Health Big Sky Conference Women's Basketball Tournament with a 62-48 victory at Eastern Washington Thursday night in Cheney, Wash. The Lady Griz will host the six-team tournament next Thursday through Saturday, March 13-15, at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.
Montana, which improved to 23-5 overall with the win, 13-2 in Big Sky play, will close out its regular season Saturday afternoon at Portland State. The Vikings (20-8, 10-5 BSC) lost at home for the first time this season Thursday night when PSU fell to Montana State (15-12, 10-5 BSC), 74-70. Both teams have already clinched spots in the tournament.
Northern Colorado (13-15, 7-8 BSC) earned the fifth of six bids to the league tournament Thursday night, defeating Northern Arizona (10-19, 6-10 BSC) at Greeley, Colo., 85-67.
The final spot in the tournament will be either Weber State (12-15, 6-9 BSC) or NAU. The Wildcats need to win Saturday afternoon at Idaho State (19-8, 11-4 BSC) to get in. A loss would send the Lumberjacks to Missoula next week.
The Bengals can claim the No. 2 seed in the tournament with a home-court victory Saturday. The tournament's No. 1 and No. 2 seeds earn a bye to the semifinal round of games Friday night.
Montana won Thursday night with its play in the first half. The Lady Griz jumped out to a 34-20 halftime lead on the strength of 45.5 percent first-half shooting, then survived a second-half rally by the Eagles that allowed EWU to close within four points, 51-47, when Eastern's Sydney Benson hit one of two free throws with 5:33 to play.
After two missed free throws by Montana on its next possession, the Eagles had the ball down just four, but Benson turned it over, senior Johanna Closson hit two free throws, and the Lady Griz would close things out scoring 11 of the game's final 12 points.
Montana scored 27 of its points from the line, going 27-for-32 (.844).
Closson and junior Mandy Morales both finished in double figures, both scoring most of their points from the line after combining to shoot 3-for-16 from the field.
Closson had a game-high 13 points, hitting 11-of-12 free throw attempts while going 1-for-6 from the field. Morales was 2-for-10 from the field but hit 6-of-8 from the line to score 10 points.
Morales led the Lady Griz in rebounding with nine, while Closson had eight, helping UM to a 40-26 advantage on the boards. Morales also added four steals and three assists.
Sophomore Lauren Beck came off the bench to score seven points and add five rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes. Freshman Sarah Ena was also productive off the bench, hitting all three of her shot attempts to finish with six points and five rebounds in nine minutes of work.
Montana cooled off to 31.8 percent shooting in the second half, finishing at 38.6 percent for the game.
Eastern Washington was led by Julie Piper and Tatjana Sparavalo, who both finished with 10 points.
The Lady Griz limited the Eagles to 32.0 percent shooting.
Montana, which improved to 23-5 overall with the win, 13-2 in Big Sky play, will close out its regular season Saturday afternoon at Portland State. The Vikings (20-8, 10-5 BSC) lost at home for the first time this season Thursday night when PSU fell to Montana State (15-12, 10-5 BSC), 74-70. Both teams have already clinched spots in the tournament.
Northern Colorado (13-15, 7-8 BSC) earned the fifth of six bids to the league tournament Thursday night, defeating Northern Arizona (10-19, 6-10 BSC) at Greeley, Colo., 85-67.
The final spot in the tournament will be either Weber State (12-15, 6-9 BSC) or NAU. The Wildcats need to win Saturday afternoon at Idaho State (19-8, 11-4 BSC) to get in. A loss would send the Lumberjacks to Missoula next week.
The Bengals can claim the No. 2 seed in the tournament with a home-court victory Saturday. The tournament's No. 1 and No. 2 seeds earn a bye to the semifinal round of games Friday night.
Montana won Thursday night with its play in the first half. The Lady Griz jumped out to a 34-20 halftime lead on the strength of 45.5 percent first-half shooting, then survived a second-half rally by the Eagles that allowed EWU to close within four points, 51-47, when Eastern's Sydney Benson hit one of two free throws with 5:33 to play.
After two missed free throws by Montana on its next possession, the Eagles had the ball down just four, but Benson turned it over, senior Johanna Closson hit two free throws, and the Lady Griz would close things out scoring 11 of the game's final 12 points.
Montana scored 27 of its points from the line, going 27-for-32 (.844).
Closson and junior Mandy Morales both finished in double figures, both scoring most of their points from the line after combining to shoot 3-for-16 from the field.
Closson had a game-high 13 points, hitting 11-of-12 free throw attempts while going 1-for-6 from the field. Morales was 2-for-10 from the field but hit 6-of-8 from the line to score 10 points.
Morales led the Lady Griz in rebounding with nine, while Closson had eight, helping UM to a 40-26 advantage on the boards. Morales also added four steals and three assists.
Sophomore Lauren Beck came off the bench to score seven points and add five rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes. Freshman Sarah Ena was also productive off the bench, hitting all three of her shot attempts to finish with six points and five rebounds in nine minutes of work.
Montana cooled off to 31.8 percent shooting in the second half, finishing at 38.6 percent for the game.
Eastern Washington was led by Julie Piper and Tatjana Sparavalo, who both finished with 10 points.
The Lady Griz limited the Eagles to 32.0 percent shooting.
UM vs Weber State Highlights
Saturday, April 04
Griz Softball vs. Seattle Highlights - 3/24/26
Monday, March 30
2026 Griz Softball Hype Video
Monday, March 30
2006 Griz Basketball Flashback: NCAA Tournament Win Over Nevada
Monday, March 30
