Montana
Northern Colorado
Defense sends Montana to Big Sky championship game
3/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 11, 2011
Box Score
No. 4 Montana rode another strong defensive performance to a 55-46 victory over No. 2 Northern Colorado Friday evening in the opening semifinal of the 2011 Big Sky Conference tournament at the Stott Center at Portland, Ore.
The Lady Griz advance to their 17th Big Sky Conference tournament championship game in 23 seasons, where they will meet No. 1 Portland State. The Vikings knocked off No. 6 Eastern Washington, 73-62, in Friday's second semifinal.
Saturday's championship game tips off at 3 p.m. (MT) and will be aired regionally on Altitude.
One night after holding Idaho State 14 points under its season scoring average in a 66-53 quarterfinal victory over the Bengals, Montana limited Northern Colorado to nearly 20 points under the Bears' season scoring average of 65.8.
The Lady Griz (17-14) took a 19-18 lead with 15:10 remaining in the first half and held the lead the rest of the way.
Northern Colorado (17-13) forced Montana into 17 second-half turnovers and trimmed what had been a 12-point, second-half lead to one with three minutes remaining, but the Bears were never able to find enough offense to complete the comeback.
"We definitely played our hearts out on defense," UM coach Robin Selvig said. "The zone was good, and the kids just played so hard."
The Bears had little trouble with the zone early on, building a 17-7 lead just over nine minutes in on a Jayne Strand jumper, but Northern Colorado would not score a basket the final 10:52 of the half.
Freshman Jordan Sullivan put Montana up 19-18 at the 5:10 mark. It's a lead the Lady Griz would never give up.
Montana had a 25-20 lead at the break despite shooting 34.8 percent.
Northern Colorado closed the half missing its final seven shots and turning the ball over eight times in 10 minutes.
Montana had a comfortable 12-point lead with eight minutes to play, but a 10-0 run by the Bears over the next three minutes quickly cut the lead to an uncomfortable two points.
The Lady Griz had five of their 17 second-half turnovers in that three-minute stretch.
"You'd like to think we could play a little more composed and go burn (their full-court press), but they got it into a scramble in the second half. Give them credit," Selvig said.
One night after scoring a career-high 18 points against Idaho State, senior Stephanie Stender was huge once again.
She scored all 11 of her points in the second half, many of them key to holding off Northern Colorado's rally.
Her finish in the paint stopped UNC's 10-0 spurt and put Montana up 45-41 with 4:26 to play.
When Northern Colorado's Courtney Stoermer drilled a three with 3:11 remaining, Stender answered right back to extend the lead back to three, 47-44.
Stoermer once again got the Bears close when she scored with 1:21 to play to cut the lead to 48-46.
On Montana's next possession, freshman Jordan Sullivan, who is showing no signs of being a first-year player in her first tournament, scored inside for the game's decisive basket with 58 seconds to go.
On the other end Stoermer missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and two free throws by sophomore Katie Baker pushed the lead up to six, 52-46, with 27 seconds remaining.
After a zero-point, three-rebound first half, Stender came on to finish with her first career double-double: 11 points, 10 rebounds.
Rebounding would be one of the keys to the game.
Northern Colorado out-rebounded its opponents during the regular-season Big Sky schedule by nearly seven per game. The teams were even at the half, 16-16, then the Lady Griz grabbed 22 second-half rebounds to the Bears' 12.
"I told the team going into this that we needed to win the battle of the boards," Selvig said. "That's how (Northern Colorado has) been winning games.
"And we got them by 10."
Baker came off the bench to lead both teams with 16 points. She went 10 for 10 from the line, improving her season percentage to 83.9, as part of Montana's 19-of-24 (.792) performance.
The Lady Griz outscored the Bears by 11 from the line.
Sophomore Kenzie De Boer had 10 points and four rebounds, while Sullivan finished with seven points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting and a team-high four assists.
D'shara Strange, the Big Sky's Outstanding Freshman, led Northern Colorado with 10 points, seven steals and six rebounds.
