Montana
Weber State
Lady Griz trail early, win again
2/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2011
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Montana fell behind Weber State by nine points early in the first half Thursday night, and the Lady Griz had the Wildcats right where they wanted them.
Montana trailed by at least nine points for the fourth straight game and improved to 3-1 in those games with a 67-59 victory over Weber State Thursday night in a Big Sky Conference women's basketball game at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
The win gave Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig his 750th career victory at Montana.
The Wildcats hit seven of their first 11 shots to go up 17-8 in the game's first six minutes, but Montana had a 33-32 lead by the half and built its lead to a game-high 15 points with a few minutes remaining before a late WSU run cut the final score back to eight.
Senior Jessa Loman Linford matched a career high with 15 points as the Lady Griz won for the fourth time in five games to improve to 10-11 overall and move into a two-way tie for third in the Big Sky with Portland State (12-9, 5-3 BSC).
Both teams trail Northern Colorado (13-9, 8-1 BSC) and Montana State (13-9, 7-1 BSC), which both won Thursday night.
Weber State lost for the ninth time in 10 games to drop to 5-14, 1-6 in league.
The Wildcats are the lowest-scoring team in the Big Sky Conference, averaging just 56.7 points per game in league play entering Thursday's contest, but they came out firing Thursday night.
Weber State missed its first shot of the game, then connected on five straight to go up 11-4.
"Weber played very well," Selvig said. "They came out and just lit it on us to start with. We knew we were going to be in for a battle."
A three by Caitlin Anderson at the 9:39 mark kept WSU's lead at nine, 24-15, but Loman Linford and freshman Torry Hill scored the game's next 10 points to put Montana up 25-24 and force a Weber timeout.
A steal and fast-break layup by the Wildcats' Amanda Hughes in the final 20 seconds of the half cut the Montana lead to 33-32 at the break.
Loman Linford and Hill combined for 21 of the Lady Griz' 33 first-half points. Loman Linford went 5 for 6 from the field for 11 points, while Hill knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and added 10 points.
Sophomore Alyssa Smith scored back-to-back baskets early in the second half, and Loman Linford, Hill and sophomore Alexandra Hurley all scored to push Montana's lead to 12 points with 10 minutes to play.
The Lady Griz led by 14 with a minute remaining, but some sloppy passing in the backcourt turned the ball over, and Weber's Megan Patterson hit a pair of 3-pointers within a seven-second span to cut a comfortable lead to an uncomfortable six points, 63-57.
Sophomore Kenzie De Boer was fouled with 20 seconds remaining, and her two free throws made it a three-possession game put it out of reach.
"We pulled away from them by a pretty good margin, and we shouldn't have had to sweat at all," Selvig said. "We turned it over a few times, and that's how quickly threes can go down.
"That's why coaches don't relax, because the score can go quickly."
Hill finished with a season-high 14 points and appears to have cemented a prominent spot in Selvig's rotation, playing a season-high 31 minutes. She went 6 for 11 from the field, 2 for 3 from 3-point range.
Two other underclassmen joined Loman Linford and Hill in double figures.
Sophomore Kenzie De Boer was a whirlwind, finishing with 11 points, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
Sophomore Katie Baker, who returned after missing last Saturday's Montana State game while recovering from minor surgery, had 11 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
Mikell Woodfield led Weber State with 20 points.
Both teams shot 41 percent and both teams grabbed 36 rebounds. Weber State turned the ball over 22 times and Montana 15, though three of those turnovers came in the final 32 seconds.
"It was a good win for us, as they all are," Selvig said. "We had some good stretches of offense.
"As the fans could see, Weber's got a pretty good team, even though they're 1-6 in league. They're capable of dumping anybody.
"We managed to get them twice (this season), but I'm glad we're done with them."
Montana will host Northern Arizona (7-14, 2-6 BSC) Saturday at 2 p.m. The Lumberjacks led Montana State 27-22 at the half in Bozeman, Mont., Thursday night but gave up 58 second-half points in an 80-64 loss.
