Lady Griz back in action Tuesday
12/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2010
The University of Montana women's basketball team will end an eight-day break from games Tuesday when the Lady Griz host Wyoming at Dahlberg Arena at 7 p.m. Montana has not played a game since dropping a 62-55 decision to Portland on Sunday, Dec. 12.
Openers: Montana will try to put an end to a three-game losing streak Tuesday. The Lady Griz have dropped five of their last six - the last three to Gonzaga, 80-62, Idaho, 69-56, and Portland, 62-55 - to fall to 3-7 on the season. The team is off to its slowest 10-game start since the 1976-77 season, two years before 33rd-year coach Robin Selvig took over the program.
Wyoming, which is 0-2 in road games this season, will enter Tuesday's game with a record of 7-3. Most recently the Cowgirls lost at home in overtime to Wisconsin, 63-59, last Wednesday, then rebounded with a 20-point defensive dismantling of Washington State at home Saturday afternoon, 63-43.
Coverage: Tuesday's game can be followed by live stats or audio and video options. ... Live stats will be available through the women's basketball schedule/stats page at MontanaGrizzlies.com. ... The game will be aired locally on 107.5 FM with Tom Stage (play-by-play) and Dick Slater (color). The broadcast is also streamed at Energy1075.com. ... Free video is available through America One with Shaun Radley (play-by-play) and Toby Meierbachtol (color). A link to the video service is available through the women's basketball schedule/stats page at MontanaGrizzlies.com.
Storyline No. 1: When is Montana's breakout offensive game coming (or: When will we see the team score 75 points on 48-percent shooting)? The Lady Griz' offensive struggles have been well documented, mainly because that's been the ongoing story of the non-conference season. Montana shot 28.0 percent in a pair of season-opening losses in California and didn't shot over 35 percent against a Division I opponent until shooting 36.4 percent in its seven-point loss to Portland its last game out.
In that game 25 turnovers allowed the Pilots to rally back after falling behind by five at the break (as did Montana's 24.1-percent second-half shooting after hitting 13 of 26 shots in the first half).
"Besides not making baskets down the stretch against Portland, we turned it over too much," Selvig said. "So that's been our emphasis since, getting a little better organized and getting a better feel for what we're doing."
Montana has held a combined lead of 13 points its last two games - 36-28 over Idaho and 31-26 over Portland - but has a 0-2 record to show for it because of shooting 26.2 percent over the second half of those games.
"Both the Idaho and Portland were games that were decided in the last three minutes," Selvig said. "Those teams made plays, and we didn't. Hopefully that's a hump we can get over."
Storyline No. 2: Will that breakout be possible against Wyoming, one of the best defensive teams in the region? The Cowgirls are limiting their opponents to a mere 56.9 points per game this season. Washington State scored only 43 points Saturday and shot less than 30 percent in both halves. For the season Wyoming is allowing its opponents to shoot 38.7 percent.
The Cowgirls won last year's meeting in Laramie, 68-38, when Wyoming limited Montana to 24.6 percent shooting.
Not only does Wyoming lock down its opponents, the team does so cleanly. The Cowgirls rank fourth in the nation in fouls, averaging just 12.4 per game.
"When you play against someone like Wyoming, good shots are going to be hard to get," Selvig said, "so you need to make them. Each possession is important."
Storyline No. 3: Despite its 3-7 record, Montana is still playing pretty salty defense. The Lady Griz' opponents are shooting 38.7 percent - the same as Wyoming's - and scoring 63.3 points per game, which is just above the team's traditional top-of-the-Big-Sky average of the upper 50s.
Montana limited Denver to 45 points in a 50-45 victory in early December, three days before the Pioneers put 70 on Vanderbilt in their upset victory.
"The way I look at it is we've been playing good people, and in most of our games we've been in a position late to have a chance to win," Selvig said. "We have not been shooting the ball well, so something's keeping us in those games."
Storyline No. 4: Will Montana's defense be able to do the job against a tough-to-defend Wyoming offense? Selvig describes the Cowgirls as both "patient and aggressive offensively." The numbers back up his claim.
Wyoming ranks 16th in the nation at just 14.5 turnovers per game, and the Cowgirls also get to the line in big numbers, almost 20 times (19.7) per game. Wyoming has made 24 more free throws than its opponents have attempted this season.
"Wyoming is hard to guard, because they run really good stuff," Selvig said. "They are very balanced, so you can't zero in on anybody."
Storyline No. 5: Does hot shooting have a trickle-down effect? Senior Sarah Ena shot 31.1 percent the team's first eight games, averaging 7.0 points per game. In Montana's last two games against Idaho and Portland, Ena shot 65.2 percent and averaged 17.5 points per game.
"Sarah really struggled early on shooting the ball. I mean really struggled. She was taking a lot of bad shots, plus she was missing her good ones," Selvig said.
"All of a sudden she's playing very good basketball, and she's shooting the ball great. And she's passing the ball better. She just seems a little more relaxed."
When asked if that type of shooting can impact the entire team, Selvig said, "Good shooting can be contagious, just like bad shooting can.
"We just need to get a little more consistent as a team. We don't need two or three kids lighting it up. We just need all our shooting percentages to creep up."
An odd home-court feeling: Montana entered the season with a 32-year home-court record under Robin Selvig of 442-48. The Lady Griz are 2-2 at Dahlberg Arena this year and have back-to-back home-court losses (to Gonzaga and Portland) for the first time since 1998-99.
More on Wyoming: The Cowgirls have an effective inside-outside, one-two punch with 6-3 senior forward Hillary Carlson and 5-11 senior guard Aubrey Vandiver. Carlson averages 17.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 51.2 percent. Vandiver averages 16.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and ranks second on the team in assists with 31. ... Wyoming's four players who have started all 10 games this season are all seniors. ... Wyoming has more assists (155) on the season than turnovers (144) and is out-rebounding its opponents by 6.7 boards per game. ... The Cowgirls went 21-12 a year ago, tying for fifth in the Mountain West Conference at 9-7. Wyoming was selected to the WNIT and advanced to the third round with wins over Nevada and Texas Tech. The postseason run ended at the hands of BYU. ... Coach Joe Legerski is 143-84 in his eighth season.
Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Wyoming, 8-4. The Lady Griz are a perfect 6-0 at home against the Cowgirls.
The last time out: Montana shot 50 percent in the first half to jump out to a 31-26 halftime lead on Portland, but the Lady Griz made just seven baskets and turned the ball over 13 times in the second half to lose 62-55. The Pilots grabbed the lead for good with 1:31 remaining.
Senior Sarah Ena went 7 for 10 from the field and was Montana's lone double-figure scorer with 18 points. Sophomore Katie Baker just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Montana's freshmen point guards, Torry Hill and Lexie Nelson, had 14 of the team's 25 turnovers.
Montana notes: Senior Sarah Ena is within 63 points of scoring 1,000 for her career. ... Freshman Jordan Sullivan had perhaps her best game of the season the last time out against Portland. Sullivan had eight points and five rebounds and hit all three of her shots. ... Hot and cold: Senior Stephanie Stender went 1 for 9 from 3-point range the four games leading up to Gonzaga, went 3 for 3 against the Bulldogs and is 0 for 5 the last two games. ... Sophomore Katie Baker ranks second in the Big Sky in rebounds at 9.2 per game, and Montana ranks first in rebounding margin at +3.8 per game. ... The Lady Griz rank last in the Big Sky in both scoring (58.8) and shooting (.346).
