Montana
Northern Colorado
Lady Griz ride defense to sixth win in seven games
1/12/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2013
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Montana played 40 minutes Saturday and never got a hot hand. But the rest of its game was a formula for success.
The Lady Griz, who shot 31.5 percent, turned the ball over a season-low six times and held Northern Colorado to 31.6 percent shooting while forcing the Bears into 20 turnovers. The result was a 56-42 win that kept Montana atop the Big Sky Conference standings and gave the Lady Griz eight wins in their last 10 games.
Montana, which held its fifth straight opponent to sub-32-percent shooting, suffocated Northern Colorado's offense in the first half, holding the Bears without a field goal the final 10:35 to go up 28-11 at the break.
UNC cut the lead to an uncomfortable nine points with seven minutes left, but senior Katie Baker, who had her fourth double-double in the last six games with 18 points and 10 rebounds, scored six straight points, and Montana led by at least 11 the rest of the game.
Lauren Oosdyke had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Northern Colorado.
It was a matchup of two of the Big Sky's top defensive teams, but it didn't look like that early. UNC's D'shara Strange collected the opening tip and scored in the paint with just six seconds elapsed. Baker answered at the other end 20 seconds later.
Kim Lockridge gave Northern Colorado a 4-2 lead, and Montana junior Jordan Sullivan knocked down a three from the top of the key to make it 5-4 less than two minutes in, and the track meet was underway.
But then both teams settled in and started playing to their strength, which is on the defensive end. And on this day Montana's would be stronger.
Stephanie Lee pulled the Bears within four at 13-9 with 10:36 remaining, and that would be UNC's final basket of the half. The rest of the half the Bears were 0 for 8 with eight turnovers and finished the opening frame 4 for 19 (.211) with 12 turnovers.
Montana, at 31.0 percent, wasn't much better against UNC's defense, but the Lady Griz only turned it over three times in the first half. That gave Montana 10 more shot attempts, and just a few more makes could have decided the game before the teams evened returned from their locker rooms.
"We were really good the first half defensively. They couldn't get anything going," UM coach Robin Selvig said.
"Our defense was the key, because we did not shoot the ball well today. They are a good defensive team, so you're never going to get many easy ones, but I thought we got a lot of good shots that we missed."
Montana was sluggish offensively to start the second half and was never able to make a decisive run. On the other end, Northern Colorado was doing just enough to keep itself in it.
The Lady Griz scored just 12 points through the first 12 minutes of the second half, and that allowed Northern Colorado to cut a 17-point deficit to nine, 40-31, when Lindsay Mallon hit a jumper at the 7:26 mark.
On Montana's next possession senior Alyssa Smith lobbed a sweet post entry pass to Baker, who was being fronted, and her easy lay-in upped the lead to 11.
Junior Torry Hill stripped Victoria Timm on Northern Colorado's next possession, and Baker made it 44-31. Her two free throws with 6:19 remaining pushed the lead to 46-31, and the Northern Colorado threat was averted.
Montana had more assists (14) than turnovers (6) for the 10th time in 11 games and went 18 for 21 (.857) from the line.
Northern Colorado shot 42.1 percent in the second half and actually outscored Montana 31-28, mostly by getting to the foul line. The Bears were 13 for 16 (.727) in the second half and 16 for 22 (.727) for the game from the line.
"You know it's going to be a physical battle against these guys, so it was a surprise to get a double-digit margin when we only threw up 31 percent," Selvig said.
"The thing we did was take care of the ball. We had just six turnovers against a pretty salty defensive team."
Baker, who also had four steals and three assists, was the only player to reach double figures for Montana, but all 10 players in the team's rotation scored, and nobody had more than a single turnover.
Sullivan had nine points, and senior Ali Hurley added seven and freshman Shanae Gilham six off the bench.
The win snapped Montana's two-game losing streak against Northern Colorado. The Bears, who dropped to 0-8 on the road this season, had won on their previous two visits to Missoula.
"They got us twice last year, so this was a good win for us and a great weekend," said Selvig, whose team whipped North Dakota Thursday night, 77-45.
Montana is not alone atop the Big Sky Conference. There also sits Montana State (10-4, 4-1 BSC), which faces the Lady Griz next Saturday afternoon at Dahlberg Arena.
The Bobcats will first face a tricky game at third-place Southern Utah (9-6, 3-2 BSC) Thursday night. Montana does not play again until Saturday.
In other Big Sky games Saturday afternoon, Montana State won at home against North Dakota 64-49, Southern Utah won at Weber State 74-61, and Sacramento State won at home against Eastern Washington 85-70.
Portland State plays at Northern Arizona Saturday night in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Updated Big Sky standings (minus the PSU-NAU outcome)
Montana (5-1 BSC/11-4 overall)
Montana State (5-1/11-4)
Southern Utah (3-2/9-6)
Sacramento State (3-2/8-6)
Northern Colorado (3-2/6-8
Eastern Washington (3-3/7-8)
Northern Arizona (2-2/3-10)
Idaho State (2-3/7-7)
North Dakota (2-4/7-8)
Portland State (1-4/7-7)
Weber State (0-5/0-14)
