Lady Griz open three-game homestand Thursday
2/13/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2013
The Montana women's basketball team will play its final regular-season home games in the coming days. The Lady Griz open their final three-game homestand Thursday when they host Weber State at 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.
Montana will face Idaho State Saturday at 2 p.m., then take a long layoff before hosting Southern Utah in the team's final regular-season home game on Thursday, Feb. 28.
The Lady Griz will close the season with road games at Montana State (Saturday, March 2), at Northern Arizona (Thursday, March 7) and at Sacramento State (Saturday, March 9).
Coverage: Thursday's game will be aired in the Missoula area on KMPT 930 AM, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater. ... The women's basketball schedule page on GoGriz.com has links to the audio broadcast, the free Big Sky TV video stream and live stats.
On the spectrum: Montana (17-6, 11-3 BSC) sits in first place in the Big Sky Conference by a slim half-game margin over Northern Colorado (13-9, 10-3 BSC) with four weeks of regular-season games remaining. ... The Lady Griz are the Big Sky's top-ranked team in the NCAA RPI at No. 79.
Weber State (0-22, 0-13 BSC) sits in last place in the Big Sky Conference by a wide margin. Every other league team has won at least five conference games. The Wildcats have lost 41 straight games dating back to last season and its last 31 Big Sky games.
Weber's last win came on Dec. 10, 2011, against CSU Bakersfield, 85-72. That win came two days after the Roadrunners won at Montana, 64-56. WSU's most recent Big Sky win came over Sacramento State, 81-68 on Feb. 26, 2011.
The Wildcats have an RPI of 329 out of 345 NCAA Division I women's basketball teams and are one of three winless teams, along with North Carolina Central (0-23) and Jacksonville State (0-24).
Historically speaking: Weber State's losing streak is the sixth-longest in NCAA women's Division I history and is approaching Sacramento State's Big Sky Conference record of 44 set during the 2001-03 seasons. Brooklyn (now LIU Brooklyn) holds the NCAA record at 58 from the late 80s.
With all that being said: Montana coach Robin Selvig should have little difficulty getting his team's attention for Thursday's game. It was just 18 days ago that Weber State led Montana by three points with seven minutes to go and was tied with the Lady Griz at the two-minute mark before Montana pulled away for a 61-53 victory.
The Wildcats have since played North Dakota to a five-point game, and two games ago were up on Northern Colorado by four in the second half.
"We had a very tough ballgame at their place, so it shouldn't be a problem getting us ready to go Thursday," Selvig said.
Most recently: Montana split the Northern Colorado-North Dakota road trip last week. On Thursday the Bears moved within a half game of first place with a 54-41 victory over the Lady Griz in Greeley. UNC limited Montana to 27.1 percent shooting and used a 35-point second half to pull away in a game that had been tied at 30.
The Lady Griz improved to 6-0 this season following a loss when they led almost the entire way in a 61-42 victory at North Dakota Saturday. Montana missed its first seven shots, then connected at 47.8 percent the rest of the game. The Lady Griz led 24-14 at the break and by at least nine the entire second half.
Weber State had a single game last week. The Wildcats traveled to Cedar City, Utah, and lost to Southern Utah Thursday, 72-54.
How they got here: How does a team lose 22 straight games to open the season? The numbers don't lie. Out of 343 ranked teams in the NCAA statistics, Weber State sits last in field goal percentage defense (.457) and 335th in its own shooting (.325).
That converts to a scoring average of 52.5 points per game while giving up 74.6 and a scoring margin of -22.1.
On top of their shooting woes, the Wildcats have turned the ball over 461 times this season while recording just 176 assists. That assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.38 ranks 341st.
In comparison, Montana has 351 assists this season and just 287 turnovers. The Lady Griz' 1.22 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks seventh nationally. Montana ranks sixth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game at 12.5.
History: Montana owns a 61-11 all-time series advantage over Weber State and has won the last five meetings. The Wildcats' last win came at Ogden in the 2009-10 season. Their most recent win at Dahlberg Arena was a 50-49 victory in 2005-06.
Bracketology: For the first time this season ESPN.com's Charlie Creme sees Montana in the NCAA tournament field. But instead of placing the Lady Griz at the four-team Spokane first- and second-round site, he's shipping them off to Iowa City, where No. 15 Montana will face No. 2 California.
Game notes:
* Kenzie De Boer is 30 for 34 (.882) from the line the last seven games. She had a consecutive-makes streak of 21 snapped when she missed her fourth of six attempts Saturday at North Dakota.
* Alyssa Smith had two assists and no turnovers at North Dakota. That upped her season total to 50 assists against just 16 turnovers. In Big Sky games she has 37 assists and 12 turnovers.
* Torry Hill shook off a four-game 3-for-12 streak from 3-point range with a 2-for-3 effort at North Dakota. Both makes came in the first half when Montana gained early separation from UND. She scored 10 points after being shut out at Northern Colorado.
* It still feels like a Sonya Rogers-like 5-for-7 game is coming from Hill. Maybe Thursday against a team that ranks 340th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.361).
* Maggie Rickman went 6 for 8 Saturday and matched a career high with 13 points. She went 3 for 4 in both halves and looked like a young Katie Baker with her sweet midrange turnaround jump shots.
* North Dakota says good riddance to Montana. In two games against the Lady Griz, UND shot 24.5 percent, turned the ball over 43 times and averaged 43.5 points.
* Montana had 18 assists Saturday. North Dakota had six.
* The Lady Griz have turned the ball over fewer times than their opponent in 21 of 23 games this season.
* Montana's bench has outscored the opponent's reserves the last four games and 17 times this season.
* Saturday's win improved Montana to 9-2 in day games.
* Montana is 16-0 this season when scoring 57 or more points and 12-0 when shooting 37 percent or better. Those are not unrealistic numbers to ask for. Of the 343 teams ranked in the NCAA statistics, 266 average at least 57 points per game, and 245 are shooting 37 percent or better for the season.
Big Sky Conference standings:
Montana (11-3 BSC/17-6 overall)
Northern Colorado (10-3/13-9)
Eastern Washington (9-5/13-10)
Idaho State (8-5/13-9)
Sacramento State (8-5/13-9)
Montana State (8-6/14-9)
Southern Utah (5-8/11-12)
Northern Arizona (5-8/6-16)
Portland State (5-9/11-12)
North Dakota (5-9/10-13)
Weber State (0-13/0-22)
Thursday's games: WSU at UM, ISU at MSU, UNC at NAU, UND at SAC, PSU at SUU
Saturday's games: ISU at UM, WSU at MSU, UND at NAU, UNC at SAC, EWU at SUU
Around the Big Sky Conference: Montana and Northern Colorado have gained a two-game advantage in the loss column over their nearest pursuers, with Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Sacramento State having five losses. EWU suffered a harmful blow when the Eagles let a 12-point, second-half lead slip away in Saturday's home loss to Northern Arizona.
It seems like just a week ago that Montana State was 8-1 in league games and atop the standings, but the Bobcats have lost five straight to fall out of regular-season championship contention.
Big game at Bozeman Thursday night, when Montana State hosts Idaho State. MSU is trying to stop is slide down the standings. ISU, the preseason favorite, is looking to keep alive its bid to climb back atop the standings.
The top six teams in the standings all have at least eight wins, and all six feel like a lock to make next month's seven-team Big Sky Conference tournament. The next four teams in the standings all have five league wins, which should make the chase for the seventh and final spot as exciting as the race for the top spot.
Who has the advantage between Montana and Northern Colorado over the final four weeks? It feels pretty even. Montana plays its next three at home, then its final three on the road. Northern Colorado has four of its final seven on the road, including its next three at Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and North Dakota. Three straight home games follow.
Remaining Big Sky Conference schedules:
Eastern Washington (games remaining: 3 home, 3 away): at SUU (2.16), PSU (2.21), at UNC (2.28), at UND (3.2), ISU (3.7), WSU (3.9)
Idaho State (games remaining: 3 home, 4 away): at MSU (2.14), at UM (2.16), WSU (2.21), NAU (2.28), SAC (3.2), at EWU (3.7), at PSU (3.9)
Montana (games remaining: 3 home, 3 away): WSU (2.14), ISU (2.16), SUU (2.28), at MSU (3.2), at NAU (3.7), at SAC (3.9)
Montana State (games remaining: 4 home, 2 away): ISU (2.14), WSU (2.16), UM (3.2), SUU (3.4), at SAC (3.7), at NAU (3.9)
North Dakota (games remaining: 3 home, 3 away): at SAC (2.14), at NAU (2.16), UNC (2.21), PSU (2.23), EWU (3.2), at SUU (3.9)
Northern Arizona (games remaining: 5 home, 2 away): UNC (2.14), UND (2.16), SAC (2.23), at ISU (2.28), at WSU (3.2), UM (3.7), MSU (3.9)
Northern Colorado (games remaining: 3 home, 4 away): at NAU (2.14), at SAC (2.16), at UND (2.21), SUU (2.23), EWU (2.28), PSU (3.2), at SUU (3.7)
Portland State (games remaining: 2 home, 4 away): at SUU (2.14), at EWU (2.21), at UND (2.23), at UNC (3.2), WSU (3.7), ISU (3.9)
Sacramento State (games remaining: 4 home, 3 away): UND (2.14), UNC (2.16), at NAU (2.23), at WSU (2.28), at ISU (3.2), MSU (3.7), UM (3.9)
Southern Utah (games remaining: 4 home, 3 away): PSU (2.14), EWU (2.16), at UNC (2.23), at UM (2.28), at MSU (3.4), UNC (3.7), UND (3.9)
Weber State (games remaining: 2 home, 5 away): at UM (2.14), at MSU (2.16), at ISU (2.21), SAC (2.28), NAU (3.2), at PSU (3.7), at EWU (3.9)
