Lady Griz at home Friday for Hornets
1/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Montana women???s basketball team will host Sacramento State Friday at 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena in the team???s only game of the week. Through two weekends of Big Sky Conference play, the Lady Griz (7-9, 2-2 BSC) are sitting in fourth place. The Hornets (4-10, 0-2 BSC) are in ninth place.
This is the first of two straight single-game weeks for Montana. The Lady Griz will play at Montana State on Saturday, Jan. 23, in their only game next week.
At a glance: Friday???s game will feature two teams with opposite approaches toward achieving wins. The up-tempo Hornets, who are under first-year coach Jaime Craighead, are averaging a Big Sky Conference-leading 76.7 points per game, which is over six points better than any other league team. That Sacramento State is shooting just 37.0 percent, the second-lowest total in the league, indicates the Hornets have been playing games with a high number of possessions.
Sacramento State is also giving up 86.6 points per game, the worst in the league by over 17 points.
Sac State lost its first two Big Sky Conference games by scores of 90-85 to Eastern Washington and 95-86 to Portland State.
Montana on the other hand is allowing just 60.0 points per game on .376 shooting. Both figures lead the Big Sky Conference.
In their last game, the Lady Griz limited Portland State to 49 points, just 20 in the second half, at Portland State???s gym. That was nearly 20 points below the Vikings??? season average.
???Sac State has a new coach and is running a different system than before,??? UM coach Robin Selvig said. ???They are creating very fast-paced, up-tempo games and scoring a lot of points. They are a really good transition team with a lot of kids who can score and shoot the three.
???I???m not sure yet how we???ll play them, but we certainly don???t want somebody scoring that many points against us. We???ll try to defend them and get good shots ourselves, so it won???t really change our approach to the game.???
Most recently: Montana dropped both games on the Eastern Washington-Portland State road trip last weekend by a combined total of five points. The Lady Griz lost to the Eagles, 67-64, in overtime Friday. Montana gave up a seven-point lead in the final three minutes of regulation, then gave up a six-point lead in the final three minutes of the overtime session.
Against the Vikings, Montana took the lead with 2:13 to play but didn???t score another point. With a chance to win late or force overtime, the Lady Griz had two turnovers in the final nine seconds.
After opening Big Sky Conference play at home against Eastern Washington and Portland State on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, Sacramento State went on the road and won at San Francisco, 77-74, behind 32 points from Charday Hunt, the most points scored by a Big Sky Conference player this season.
The Hornets have not played since, giving them a 10-day break before facing Montana Friday.
Media: Friday???s game will be aired locally on KENR 107.5 FM, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater on the broadcast. The pregame show begins 30 minutes prior to tip. The postgame show features an interview with Montana coach Robin Selvig.
The broadcast will also be streamed through the station???s website (energy1075.com).
Free video streaming of all Montana???s Big Sky Conference games (home and away) will be available through b2 Networks (b2tv.com).
Baker done for the year: Freshman forward Katie Baker, who was averaging a team-leading 11.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, was lost for the season after suffering an injury in the final minute of regulation in Friday???s loss at Eastern Washington. In three Big Sky Conference games, Baker was averaging 19.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
???We lost a really good player,??? Selvig said. ???She was our leading scorer and rebounder and was still getting better every day. She was a treat to coach. But injuries are one of the things athletes and teams have to deal with. Knowing Katie, she???ll come back stronger and better than ever next season.???
Baker???s absence reduces Montana???s list of active players to 10. Sophomore forward Misty Atkinson and redshirt freshman guard Ashley Ferda are both recovering from their own pre-season injuries, and freshman guard Kelsey Hildal is redshirting this season.
In Saturday???s game at Portland State, junior forward Jessa Loman Linford was moved into Baker???s starting spot, and senior center Shadra Robison (18 minutes) and redshirt freshman forward Alexandra Hurley (15 minutes) both saw increased minutes off the bench from their season averages of 11.3 and 8.2 minutes, respectively.
???I was happy with the play of Shadra, who moved into more minutes, and Ali got time on the court that she hadn???t been getting,??? Selvig said. ???Other kids are going to have to step up, which they did at Portland State.
???We???ll try to be as good as we can be our next game out and just try to keep getting better with the players we have available.???
Lady Griz look to continue home dominance: Though Montana is 0-8 this season away from home, the Lady Griz are 7-1 at Dahlberg Arena, with only an 86-81 loss to Oregon back on Nov. 22 marring their record.
Montana is 56-3 at home since the start of the 2006-07 season.
Sacramento State has actually done better on the road this season than at home, picking up three of its four season wins away from home, including an impressive 74-71 win at Washington and last week???s victory at USF.
Around the Big Sky Conference: Through two weekends of league play, only Eastern Washington and Portland State, both 3-0, are undefeated. Sacramento State is the only Big Sky team without a league victory. This week???s schedule:
Thursday: PSU at UNC, EWU at NAU
Friday: SAC at UM, ISU at WSU
Saturday: SAC at MSU, EWU at UNC, PSU at NAU
Montana drops two tight ones: Friday at Eastern Washington, Montana trailed the Eagles by 10 early in the second half, 34-24, but came back to go up seven, 53-46, on two free throws by junior Sarah Ena with 3:13 to play.
EWU closed regulation on a 7-0 run, with Montana going 0-for-5 from the field with a pair of turnovers down the stretch. The Lady Griz had the final possession of regulation and got off a pair of shots in the final seven seconds.
Montana went up by six in overtime, 60-54, on a pair of free throws by senior Lauren Beck at the 2:58 mark. Eastern would close the game on a 13-4 run.
Montana had two possessions down a point in the final 30 seconds and came away with two turnovers.
Ena led Montana with 19 points and nine rebounds. Baker had her second straight double-double with 11 points and 12 boards.
In Saturday???s tight, low-scoring game at PSU, Montana took the lead, 47-46, when freshman Kenzie De Boer converted a transition three-point play with 2:13 remaining. The Lady Griz would not score again, turning the ball over three times in the final 67 seconds.
Beck led both teams with 13 points and seven rebounds.
???We had shots to win both games, so it???s disappointing to be two baskets away from what could have been a great weekend and come away with two losses,??? Selvig said. ???There were a lot of good things in both games, our defense in particular, but we didn???t close those games out very well.
???Late turnovers were our downfall.???
Sacramento State notes: Senior forward Charday Hunt, a second team All-Big Sky selection last year, leads the Hornets in scoring (18.6/g) and ranks 32nd nationally. ... Sac State is averaging 8.3 3-pointers per game, two better than any other team in the Big Sky and ninth nationally. ... The Hornets are coming off one of their most successful seasons in recent history, going 9-21 last year and finishing tied for fourth in the Big Sky at 7-9. ... No. 5 Sacramento State lost in the Big Sky tournament quarterfinals to No. 4 Idaho State, 78-76 in overtime. ... Sac State will play at Montana State Saturday night. ... The Hornets allowed Eastern Washington and Portland State to shoot 48.3 percent and score 92.5 points per game. ... Sacramento State???s other wins on the season came at Seattle and at home against the Academy of Art. ... The Hornets have a 0-26 record against Montana since the teams??? first meeting in 1996-97.
