Lady Griz host Bears in only game of the week
2/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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The University of Montana women???s basketball team, back in a tie for first place in the Big Sky Conference, will host Northern Colorado Thursday in its only game of the week. The Lady Griz (23-4, 12-1 BSC) and Bears (12-14, 5-7 BSC) will tip off at 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.
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Montana closes the regular season with three straight home games. After this week???s game, the Lady Griz will host Eastern Washington and Portland State Thursday and Saturday, March 5 and 7, before taking either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed into the Big Sky Conference tournament, which will be held either in Missoula or Portland, Ore.
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What???s at Stake: With its two-game road sweep of Weber State and Idaho State coupled with Portland State???s single-game week (an 89-71 win at Northern Colorado last Thursday), Montana moved back into a first-place tie with the Vikings. Both teams are 12-1 in Big Sky play with three league games remaining.
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PSU is home for Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon in the Vikings??? only game of the week.
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Northern Colorado, which closes its season with four straight road games, opens play this week alone in fourth place. The Bears (5-7 BSC) are only a half game behind third-place Montana State (6-7), but only a half game in front of four fifth-place teams a half game back with 5-8 league records.
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The top six teams in the final regular season standings advance to the Big Sky tournament.
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Most recently: Montana swept the Weber State-Idaho State road trip last week for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Lady Griz jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead and rolled to a 75-51 victory at WSU Thursday, then put a defensive lid on the Bengals on Saturday in a 73-39 win.
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Co-Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Sonya Rogers averaged 23.5 points per game in the two wins, going 11-for-16 from 3-point range.
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Northern Colorado played a pair of lopsided home games last week, coming up with a split.
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The Bears gave up 52 first-half points in their 89-71 loss to Portland State last Thursday, then held Eastern Washington to 32.8 percent shooting in Saturday afternoon???s 80-58 victory.
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Home and away: Montana is 12-1 at home this season and 44-2 at Dahlberg Arena dating back to the start of the 2006-07 season. The Lady Griz are 5-0 in Big Sky Conference home games, winning by an average of 25.0 points per game.
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Northern Colorado is 2-8 in true road games this season, 1-3 in Big Sky play. UNC has a league road win at Eastern Washington and has dropped games at Portland State, Weber State and Idaho State.
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Crunch time in the Big Sky: While Montana (12-1 BSC) and Portland State (12-1) have a lock on the Big Sky???s top two spots, one game separates teams No. 3 to No. 8 with two weeks of league games remaining. Montana State (6-7) and Northern Colorado (5-7) are currently alone in third and fourth, but Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State all hover in fifth place with 5-8 Big Sky records.
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Only four of those six teams will advance to the Big Sky tournament.
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Remaining schedules:
Eastern Washington: at Portland State (2.28), at Montana (3.5), at Montana State (3.7)
Idaho State: at Sacramento State (2.26), at Northern Arizona (2.28), at Weber State (3.6)
Montana: Northern Colorado (2.26), Eastern Washington (3.5), Portland State (3.7)
Montana State: Northern Colorado (2.28), Portland State (3.5), Eastern Washington (3.7)
Northern Arizona: Weber State (2.26), Idaho State (2.28), Northern Colorado (3.5)
Northern Colorado: at Montana (2.26), at Montana State (2.28), at Northern Arizona (3.5), at Sacramento State (3.7)
Portland State: Eastern Washington (2.28), at Montana State (3.5), at Montana (3.7)
Sacramento State: Idaho State (2.26), Weber State (2.28), Northern Colorado (3.7)
Weber State: at Northern Arizona (2.26), at Sacramento State (2.28), Idaho State (3.6)
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Lady Griz get defensive: Montana has won its last four games by scores of 75-48, 76-48, 75-51 and 73-39. The four opponents have shot a collective 30.5 percent while totaling more than twice as many turnovers (79) as assists (36).
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The Lady Griz have shot 46.7 percent during that stretch and have 65 assists against just 53 turnovers.
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???We???re still getting better defensively, which I???m really pleased with,??? Montana coach Robin Selvig said. ???We are playing really well together on the defensive end right now, and that was the highlight of our weekend. That???s what enabled us to get away from those two teams.
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???The key to being a championship team is that you continue to improve, even at this point in the season.???
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Montana ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense at 34.1 percent. Xavier leads the nation at 32.3 percent.
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Something to keep an eye on: Northern Colorado has taken more 3-point attempts (527) than any other Big Sky Conference team, hitting at a 34.2 percent rate. The Bears average a Big Sky-high 6.92 makes per game.
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Montana has the Big Sky Conference???s top 3-point percentage defense at 29.1 percent.
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Last week Weber State went 4-for-19 (.211) from 3-point range, Idaho State 6-for-24 (.250).
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Finding success on the road: Montana played its final two true road games of the regular season last week at Weber State and Idaho State. The Lady Griz finished with a road record of 10-1, dropping just a 10-point decision at Portland State. It is Montana???s best road record since 1996-97. That Lady Griz team also went 10-1 on the road.
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Montana???s best road team was the 1989-90 Lady Griz, who went unbeaten in a dozen road games.
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???A lot is made of the success we have at home, but we also take a lot of pride in how we play on the road,??? Selvig said. ???We have a great environment here and it???s led to a lot of wins, but we haven???t lost a lot of road games either. I think it???s because we approach home and road games the same way.
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???The key to being a championship team is winning whatever gym you???re in.???
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More on Northern Colorado: The balanced Bears have three players averaging between 11.6 and 13.1 points per game: sophomore guard Courtney Stoermer (13.1), junior guard Whitley Cox (12.4) and sophomore guard/forward Kate Kevorken (11.6). Stoermer also leads the team in assists (81) and steals (61), while Kevorken leads UNC in rebounding (5.6/g) and is the team???s top 3-point threat with 49 made on the season.
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Cox led Northern Colorado against Portland State in Thursday???s loss with 22 points. Kevorken had 29 points and nine rebounds in Saturday???s victory over Eastern Washington. Kevorken went 9-for-16 from the field with four 3-pointers and hit all seven of her free throw attempts.
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History: Montana leads the series with Northern Colorado, 5-0. The series only dates back to UNC???s entry into the Big Sky Conference for the 2006-07 season.
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The first meeting: When Montana and Northern Colorado met in Greeley, Colo., in late January, the Lady Griz held the Bears to 18.8 percent first-half shooting and jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead, 41-26. The final margin remained the same in the 80-65 victory.
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Montana only got five points from its bench, but all five starters scored in double figures, led by Sonya Rogers??? 21.
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Kevorken and Stoermer combined for 39 points, with Kevorken going 12-for-13 from the line and scoring 23.
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Water cooler notes: After scoring 47 points last week at Weber State and Idaho State, Sonya Rogers is six points away from cracking Montana???s career scoring list top 10. Rogers currently has 1,242 points. Doris Deden holds down the No. 10 spot on the career scoring list with 1,248 points. ... Britney Lohman had her third double-figure rebounding game of the season Saturday with 11 boards at ISU. It was the ninth double-figure rebounding game of her career. ... Lauren Beck has averaged 10.7 points per game over the last three games, hitting 15 of 25 shots. ... Misty Atkinson hit her first career 3-pointer at ISU. ... Rogers has upped her career 3-point field goal percentage to 42.1 percent, third best in UM history. She ranks No. 2 in career free throw percentage (.842). ... With 506, Mandy Morales has 83 more made free throws than any other player in UM history. Morales ranks third in Big Sky history behind Portland State???s Kelsey Kahle (576) and Idaho State???s Natalie Doma (522). The NCAA record is 907, which Drake???s Lorri Bauman set in the early 80s. ... Since getting whistled for a season-high 23 fouls at Northern Colorado, Montana has committed 15 or fewer fouls the last seven games. The Lady Griz matched their season low with 10 fouls at Idaho State. ... Montana has 51 assists versus just 36 turnovers the last three games to improve to a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (385:379) for the season. UM???s opponents have 189 more turnovers than assists. ... The Lady Griz have out-scored their opponents in 11 of the last 12 halves played since getting out-scored in both the first and second halves at Portland State.
