
Lady Griz face Bobcats Saturday in Bozeman
1/27/2016 6:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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The Montana women's basketball team will attempt to snap a three-game losing streak Saturday when it plays Montana State at MSU's Worthington Arena in Bozeman. The Lady Griz and Bobcats tip off at 2 p.m.
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Coverage: Saturday's game will be available to much of the state on Cowles Montana Media stations. In the Missoula, Bozeman, Butte and Kalispell markets, the game will air on FOX. In Billings it will be on SWX. ... Radio coverage in the Missoula area will be on KGVO 101.5 FM/1290 AM, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater calling the action. ... The game can be watched on Eversport.tv or monitored through live stats. Links to both services can be found at gogriz.com.
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Where they stand: Montana (11-8, 4-4 BSC), which has lost four of five after opening league 3-0, is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big Sky Conference standings with Northern Colorado (9-9, 4-4 BSC) and North Dakota (8-11, 4-4 BSC).
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Montana State (14-5, 7-1 BSC) is alone in second place, half a game behind first-place and unbeaten Eastern Washington (13-6, 7-0 BSC). The Bobcats lost 81-69 on the road to the Eagles last Thursday.
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What's at stake: It's still not quite the midpoint of the league schedule, so there are still a lot of games to be played, but with four league losses, Montana is at least two games in the loss column behind the top five teams in the Big Sky.
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That matters because a top-four finish ensures a team a bye to the quarterfinal round at March's Big Sky tournament in Reno. Teams seeded 5-12 will have to play a first-round game and win four games in six days to win the tournament.
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Montana State has put itself not only in contention for a top-four finish and tournament bye, but the Bobcats have a team that should challenge for the regular-season Big Sky championship.
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The Bobcats have three times shared the regular-season title -- once with Montana (1992-93), twice with Weber State (2001-02, 2002-03) -- but have never won it outright. And if they did, it would come in the first year the regular-season champion does not earn the right to host the tournament. #unfair
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Unusual territory: Montana's current three-game losing streak is just the 15th time the Lady Griz have been on a losing streak of that length under coach Robin Selvig. What makes that noteworthy is that Selvig is in his 38th year. (Bonus jaw-dropper note: Montana went 13 straight seasons, from 1985-86 to 1997-98 without once losing three straight games.)
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Just four times in those 37-plus seasons has one of those losing streaks reached four games. Montana has never lost five in a row under Selvig, which is another jaw-dropper.
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The good news: Of the four games Montana has lost in league, only one, last Thursday at Idaho, was a thumping, 78-61. The Lady Griz lost in overtime at Sacramento State, lost on a buzzer-beater to North Dakota, and lost on a rebound putback with 0.9 seconds left on Saturday at Eastern Washington.
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What it's led to: Montana is 4-4 through eight league games. It's just the second time that has been the case since 1979-80. The 1998-99 Lady Griz team was 3-5 through eight games. Every other Montana team since 1979-80 started 5-3 or better through eight games.
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If the season ended today (unbalanced schedules make this a misleading note at best, since teams have played between six and eight games, and it is still January): Montana would be the No. 7 seed at the tournament and face No. 10 Northern Arizona on Monday of tournament week.
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Montana-Montana State: The Tale of the Tape
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Momentum: Montana is on a three-game losing streak. Not an ugly losing streak, since two of the games were decided in the final second, but a three-game losing streak nonetheless. Montana State has lost just once -- Thursday's setback at Eastern Washington -- since Dec. 19. Advantage: Bobcats.
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Venue: Montana State is 8-1 at Worthington Arena this season, its only setback a 62-49 loss to rock-solid San Diego (now 18-2 and atop the West Coast Conference standings). Montana is 1-6 this season in games on an opposing team's court. Advantage: Bobcats.
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Coaching: Montana's Robin Selvig has 856 career wins (which takes the tale of the tape in almost every matchup, no matter the opponent) and has led his team to a 73-18 record against Montana State. He is 17-6 against the Bobcats since they've been under coach Tricia Binford. Advantage: Lady Griz.
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Point guard: Montana's Haley Vining, who has the Big Sky's best assist-to-turnover ratio, is the less error-prone of the two, but Lindsay Stockton provides more consistent scoring punch. Advantage: Even.
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Shooting guard: McCalle Feller is the Big Sky's third-leading scorer and has three 30-point scoring games since mid-December. At 43.9 percent (38.8 percent from 3-point range) she is enjoying a career year shooting the ball. Montana State counters with Delany Junkermier (5.4 ppg). Advantage: Lady Griz.
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Small forward: Kayleigh Valley, who ranks second in the league in scoring (20.1/g) on 54.0 percent shooting, is on a very short list of Big Sky MVP candidates. Riley Nordgaard, in her first year after transferring from Augustana (S.D.), has been the X factor in Montana State's success and is a shoe-in to be named the Big Sky's Top Newcomer at season's end. Advantage: Lady Griz.
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Power forward: Alexa Dawkins fills her role well for the Bobcats, averaging 6.6 points on 56.7 percent shooting and 3.7 rebounds in 22-plus minutes. Mekayla Isaak is averaging just 1.6 points in league games on 22.2 percent shooting, though she has better rebounding numbers than Dawkins: Advantage: Bobcats.
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Center: Montana State's Jasmine Hommes, at her best in the low post with her back to the basket, joins Valley and Eastern Washington's Hayley Hodgins on the Big Sky MVP watch list. She is averaging 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, and is a more consistent scorer than Montana's Alycia Sims, who is averaging 7.7 points and a Big Sky-leading 8.9 rebounds per game, and prefers her shots facing the basket. Advantage: Bobcats.
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Bench: Montana only goes three deep on its bench in its regular rotation. None average more than six points. Peyton Ferris, a lock for the Big Sky's Top Reserve award, ranks second on Montana State in scoring (13.9/g) while leading the Big Sky in shooting percentage (.600). Point guard Hannah Caudill comes off the bench and still leads the Big Sky in assists (5.5/g). Advantage: Bobcats.
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Three questions for Montana:
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1. Can the Lady Griz score consistently on Saturday? In their six road losses this season, Montana has shot 35.8 percent and scored less than 60 points per game. That's right in line with what Montana State, the Big Sky's top defensive team, is allowing (.355, 60.7).
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Offensively, Montana State is averaging 73.7 points on Big Sky-leading 43.7-percent shooting and hasn't been held to fewer than 62 points since a 65-52 loss at Gonzaga on Dec. 6.
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2. Which McCalle Feller will show up? Feller, one of the Big Sky's most explosive scorers -- she scored 25 second-half points against North Dakota, 16 in the fourth quarter -- could win the game for Montana if she gets rolling. But she's had a tough time getting on track away from Dahlberg Arena, where she has had five of her six 20-point scoring games. In Montana's six road losses, Feller is averaging 11.7 points, while shooting 31.0 percent from the field, 28.2 percent from 3-point range.
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3. Who is going to step up and provide unexpected scoring? Kayleigh Valley and McCalle Feller typically get their points. Through eight Big Sky games, their lowest combined output was 33 at Sacramento State. Their most: 55 against Northern Arizona.
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Montana is at its best when one or, even better, more players step up and help fill the scoring column. Hannah Doran had 18 at Sacramento State, Haley Vining had 10 at Eastern Washington, Alycia Sims has scored 11 or more three of the last five games. Somebody is going to have to repeat it Saturday.
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History: Montana leads the all-time series 76-23 and has a 28-13 advantage in games played in Bozeman.
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In last year's matchups, Montana rallied from a 43-35 second-half deficit in Missoula to win 62-48, holding Montana State more than nine minutes without a field goal. In the rematch in Bozeman, played on the final day of the regular season, after Montana had wrapped up the regular-season title and tournament hosting rights, the Bobcats raced out to an 11-0 lead, never trailed and won 65-57. It was MSU's first win at home over Montana since 2007-08.
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Idaho 78, Montana 61: Simply put, the Lady Griz struggled to score in the first half -- they trailed 31-22 at the break -- and struggled to stop the Vandals in the second half -- Idaho put up 47 second-half points. Kayleigh Valley had 22 points and 11 rebounds for her third career double-double.
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The Vandals shot just 37.1 percent but still managed to score 1.11 points per possession, the third-highest figure allowed this season by Montana. The reason? Idaho went 13 for 30 from the arc, including an 8-for-15 performance in the second half to pull away for its first win over Montana since 2010.
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Eastern Washington 67, Montana 65: The Lady Griz led for more than 32 minutes, and the Eagles never held a lead of more than two points, but EWU came away with the win when Delaney Hodgins rebounded her sister's miss and scored with 0.9 seconds left.
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It spoiled a nice bounce-back effort by Montana, which got solid contributions from Haley Vining (10 points, six assists, no turnovers) and Alycia Sims (11 points and 13 rebounds, her second career double-double).
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Montana led by 14 points in the third quarter, but Eastern Washington closed stronger. The Lady Griz went 3 for 15 in the fourth quarter, with five turnovers. The Eagles were 10 for 14 in the final period and finished at 50.9 percent for the game, the first time this year an opponent has shot 50 percent against Montana.
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The race to 1,000: Barring injury, McCalle Feller and Kayleigh Valley will both reach 1,000 career points this season. They will become the 32nd and 33rd players in program history to reach that milestone. Valley has 909 points, Feller has 891. Both have 42 double-figure scoring games in their careers.
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Kayleigh Valley, efficiency expert: It's a nonscientific formula, but it does at least a rudimentary job of showing Kayleigh Valley's efficiency as a 20-points-per-game scorer.
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Of the top eight point producers in the Big Sky, nobody is scoring more points per shot attempt than Valley. That simple formula not only factors in shooting percentage but a player's ability to get to and score at the line, since those points come without a statistical field-goal attempt (unless it's an and-one).
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Using that formula, Valley is averaging 1.46 points per shot attempt this season.
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The other seven leading scorers in the Big Sky: Delaney Hodgins, EWU (1.37); Hayley Hodgins, EWU (1.25); Geraldine McCorkell, UI (1.21); Regina Okoye, WSU (1.20); McCalle Feller, UM (1.15); Jasmine Hommes, MSU (1.08); Adella Randle-El, SAC (0.99).
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In addition to being efficient, Valley also has been extremely consistent. Since Dec. 1, her lowest scoring game is 15 points.
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Kayleigh Valley, road warrior: Though Montana is 2-6 away from home this season, Valley is hardly struggling on foreign courts. She is averaging 22.1 points in those games while shooting 56 percent.
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Three-dot notes: Montana's top ranking in the national statistics is 10th in turnovers at 12.4/game. Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky at 12.1, Villanova the nation at 7.9. ... The Lady Griz rank 32nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.16). That only ranks fourth in the Big Sky. ... Nonconference opponent Colorado State, which defeated Montana 75-43 in December in Fort Collins, is now 16-1. ... The Lady Griz led at Eastern Washington by 14 points in the third quarter on Saturday before losing by two. It was the third time this season Montana has held a double-digit lead and lost. Montana led Seattle by 12 before falling 58-44 and Wyoming by 10 before losing 68-61. ... Over the last four games Haley Vining has 18 assists and three turnovers. ... Vining also added 10 points at Eastern Washington, the second game of her career reaching double figures. ... McCalle Feller's 155 3-pointers rank sixth on the UM career list. Her 54 threes this season have her on pace to challenge Sonya Rogers' record of 72, which she hit in 2007-08. ... A positive development: Alycia Sims has scored nine or more points five of the last six games. ... Sims had a pair of double-digit rebounding games last week, giving her 10 for her career.
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Thursday in the Big Sky: WSU at NAU, ISU at SUU, EWU at PSU, UI at SAC
Saturday in the Big Sky: UM at MSU, UNC at UND, ISU at NAU, WSU at SUU, UI at PSU, EWU at SAC
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Series to watch: Third-place Idaho plays at Sacramento State on Thursday, unbeaten Eastern Washington plays at The Nest on Saturday. The Hornets, who made an NCAA-record 25 3-pointers in their win Saturday at Portland State, are tied for fourth in the Big Sky, sitting 4-2 in league, and could shake up the league standings with a home sweep.
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Former Big Sky coaches getting it done: Former Northern Colorado coach Jaime White has Fresno State atop the Mountain West Conference at 7-0. Former Southern Utah coach JR Payne has Santa Clara off to a 15-5 start. The Broncos are 6-3 and tied for fourth in the ultra-competitive West Coast Conference.
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For what it's worth: Not that Charlie Creme puts a lot of thought into it other than seeing who is currently atop the Big Sky standings, but the bracketologist has Eastern Washington making the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed and facing No. 2 Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz., in a first-round game.
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Upcoming: Montana will play five of its next seven at Dahlberg Arena, starting next week with home games against Sacramento State and Portland State. The Lady Griz lost to the Hornets in overtime on the road and won 79-58 over the Vikings in Portland.
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The Montana women's basketball team will attempt to snap a three-game losing streak Saturday when it plays Montana State at MSU's Worthington Arena in Bozeman. The Lady Griz and Bobcats tip off at 2 p.m.
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Coverage: Saturday's game will be available to much of the state on Cowles Montana Media stations. In the Missoula, Bozeman, Butte and Kalispell markets, the game will air on FOX. In Billings it will be on SWX. ... Radio coverage in the Missoula area will be on KGVO 101.5 FM/1290 AM, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater calling the action. ... The game can be watched on Eversport.tv or monitored through live stats. Links to both services can be found at gogriz.com.
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Where they stand: Montana (11-8, 4-4 BSC), which has lost four of five after opening league 3-0, is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big Sky Conference standings with Northern Colorado (9-9, 4-4 BSC) and North Dakota (8-11, 4-4 BSC).
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Montana State (14-5, 7-1 BSC) is alone in second place, half a game behind first-place and unbeaten Eastern Washington (13-6, 7-0 BSC). The Bobcats lost 81-69 on the road to the Eagles last Thursday.
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What's at stake: It's still not quite the midpoint of the league schedule, so there are still a lot of games to be played, but with four league losses, Montana is at least two games in the loss column behind the top five teams in the Big Sky.
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That matters because a top-four finish ensures a team a bye to the quarterfinal round at March's Big Sky tournament in Reno. Teams seeded 5-12 will have to play a first-round game and win four games in six days to win the tournament.
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Montana State has put itself not only in contention for a top-four finish and tournament bye, but the Bobcats have a team that should challenge for the regular-season Big Sky championship.
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The Bobcats have three times shared the regular-season title -- once with Montana (1992-93), twice with Weber State (2001-02, 2002-03) -- but have never won it outright. And if they did, it would come in the first year the regular-season champion does not earn the right to host the tournament. #unfair
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Unusual territory: Montana's current three-game losing streak is just the 15th time the Lady Griz have been on a losing streak of that length under coach Robin Selvig. What makes that noteworthy is that Selvig is in his 38th year. (Bonus jaw-dropper note: Montana went 13 straight seasons, from 1985-86 to 1997-98 without once losing three straight games.)
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Just four times in those 37-plus seasons has one of those losing streaks reached four games. Montana has never lost five in a row under Selvig, which is another jaw-dropper.
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The good news: Of the four games Montana has lost in league, only one, last Thursday at Idaho, was a thumping, 78-61. The Lady Griz lost in overtime at Sacramento State, lost on a buzzer-beater to North Dakota, and lost on a rebound putback with 0.9 seconds left on Saturday at Eastern Washington.
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What it's led to: Montana is 4-4 through eight league games. It's just the second time that has been the case since 1979-80. The 1998-99 Lady Griz team was 3-5 through eight games. Every other Montana team since 1979-80 started 5-3 or better through eight games.
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If the season ended today (unbalanced schedules make this a misleading note at best, since teams have played between six and eight games, and it is still January): Montana would be the No. 7 seed at the tournament and face No. 10 Northern Arizona on Monday of tournament week.
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Montana-Montana State: The Tale of the Tape
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Momentum: Montana is on a three-game losing streak. Not an ugly losing streak, since two of the games were decided in the final second, but a three-game losing streak nonetheless. Montana State has lost just once -- Thursday's setback at Eastern Washington -- since Dec. 19. Advantage: Bobcats.
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Venue: Montana State is 8-1 at Worthington Arena this season, its only setback a 62-49 loss to rock-solid San Diego (now 18-2 and atop the West Coast Conference standings). Montana is 1-6 this season in games on an opposing team's court. Advantage: Bobcats.
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Coaching: Montana's Robin Selvig has 856 career wins (which takes the tale of the tape in almost every matchup, no matter the opponent) and has led his team to a 73-18 record against Montana State. He is 17-6 against the Bobcats since they've been under coach Tricia Binford. Advantage: Lady Griz.
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Point guard: Montana's Haley Vining, who has the Big Sky's best assist-to-turnover ratio, is the less error-prone of the two, but Lindsay Stockton provides more consistent scoring punch. Advantage: Even.
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Shooting guard: McCalle Feller is the Big Sky's third-leading scorer and has three 30-point scoring games since mid-December. At 43.9 percent (38.8 percent from 3-point range) she is enjoying a career year shooting the ball. Montana State counters with Delany Junkermier (5.4 ppg). Advantage: Lady Griz.
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Small forward: Kayleigh Valley, who ranks second in the league in scoring (20.1/g) on 54.0 percent shooting, is on a very short list of Big Sky MVP candidates. Riley Nordgaard, in her first year after transferring from Augustana (S.D.), has been the X factor in Montana State's success and is a shoe-in to be named the Big Sky's Top Newcomer at season's end. Advantage: Lady Griz.
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Power forward: Alexa Dawkins fills her role well for the Bobcats, averaging 6.6 points on 56.7 percent shooting and 3.7 rebounds in 22-plus minutes. Mekayla Isaak is averaging just 1.6 points in league games on 22.2 percent shooting, though she has better rebounding numbers than Dawkins: Advantage: Bobcats.
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Center: Montana State's Jasmine Hommes, at her best in the low post with her back to the basket, joins Valley and Eastern Washington's Hayley Hodgins on the Big Sky MVP watch list. She is averaging 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, and is a more consistent scorer than Montana's Alycia Sims, who is averaging 7.7 points and a Big Sky-leading 8.9 rebounds per game, and prefers her shots facing the basket. Advantage: Bobcats.
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Bench: Montana only goes three deep on its bench in its regular rotation. None average more than six points. Peyton Ferris, a lock for the Big Sky's Top Reserve award, ranks second on Montana State in scoring (13.9/g) while leading the Big Sky in shooting percentage (.600). Point guard Hannah Caudill comes off the bench and still leads the Big Sky in assists (5.5/g). Advantage: Bobcats.
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Three questions for Montana:
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1. Can the Lady Griz score consistently on Saturday? In their six road losses this season, Montana has shot 35.8 percent and scored less than 60 points per game. That's right in line with what Montana State, the Big Sky's top defensive team, is allowing (.355, 60.7).
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Offensively, Montana State is averaging 73.7 points on Big Sky-leading 43.7-percent shooting and hasn't been held to fewer than 62 points since a 65-52 loss at Gonzaga on Dec. 6.
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2. Which McCalle Feller will show up? Feller, one of the Big Sky's most explosive scorers -- she scored 25 second-half points against North Dakota, 16 in the fourth quarter -- could win the game for Montana if she gets rolling. But she's had a tough time getting on track away from Dahlberg Arena, where she has had five of her six 20-point scoring games. In Montana's six road losses, Feller is averaging 11.7 points, while shooting 31.0 percent from the field, 28.2 percent from 3-point range.
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3. Who is going to step up and provide unexpected scoring? Kayleigh Valley and McCalle Feller typically get their points. Through eight Big Sky games, their lowest combined output was 33 at Sacramento State. Their most: 55 against Northern Arizona.
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Montana is at its best when one or, even better, more players step up and help fill the scoring column. Hannah Doran had 18 at Sacramento State, Haley Vining had 10 at Eastern Washington, Alycia Sims has scored 11 or more three of the last five games. Somebody is going to have to repeat it Saturday.
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History: Montana leads the all-time series 76-23 and has a 28-13 advantage in games played in Bozeman.
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In last year's matchups, Montana rallied from a 43-35 second-half deficit in Missoula to win 62-48, holding Montana State more than nine minutes without a field goal. In the rematch in Bozeman, played on the final day of the regular season, after Montana had wrapped up the regular-season title and tournament hosting rights, the Bobcats raced out to an 11-0 lead, never trailed and won 65-57. It was MSU's first win at home over Montana since 2007-08.
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Idaho 78, Montana 61: Simply put, the Lady Griz struggled to score in the first half -- they trailed 31-22 at the break -- and struggled to stop the Vandals in the second half -- Idaho put up 47 second-half points. Kayleigh Valley had 22 points and 11 rebounds for her third career double-double.
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The Vandals shot just 37.1 percent but still managed to score 1.11 points per possession, the third-highest figure allowed this season by Montana. The reason? Idaho went 13 for 30 from the arc, including an 8-for-15 performance in the second half to pull away for its first win over Montana since 2010.
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Eastern Washington 67, Montana 65: The Lady Griz led for more than 32 minutes, and the Eagles never held a lead of more than two points, but EWU came away with the win when Delaney Hodgins rebounded her sister's miss and scored with 0.9 seconds left.
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It spoiled a nice bounce-back effort by Montana, which got solid contributions from Haley Vining (10 points, six assists, no turnovers) and Alycia Sims (11 points and 13 rebounds, her second career double-double).
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Montana led by 14 points in the third quarter, but Eastern Washington closed stronger. The Lady Griz went 3 for 15 in the fourth quarter, with five turnovers. The Eagles were 10 for 14 in the final period and finished at 50.9 percent for the game, the first time this year an opponent has shot 50 percent against Montana.
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The race to 1,000: Barring injury, McCalle Feller and Kayleigh Valley will both reach 1,000 career points this season. They will become the 32nd and 33rd players in program history to reach that milestone. Valley has 909 points, Feller has 891. Both have 42 double-figure scoring games in their careers.
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Kayleigh Valley, efficiency expert: It's a nonscientific formula, but it does at least a rudimentary job of showing Kayleigh Valley's efficiency as a 20-points-per-game scorer.
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Of the top eight point producers in the Big Sky, nobody is scoring more points per shot attempt than Valley. That simple formula not only factors in shooting percentage but a player's ability to get to and score at the line, since those points come without a statistical field-goal attempt (unless it's an and-one).
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Using that formula, Valley is averaging 1.46 points per shot attempt this season.
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The other seven leading scorers in the Big Sky: Delaney Hodgins, EWU (1.37); Hayley Hodgins, EWU (1.25); Geraldine McCorkell, UI (1.21); Regina Okoye, WSU (1.20); McCalle Feller, UM (1.15); Jasmine Hommes, MSU (1.08); Adella Randle-El, SAC (0.99).
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In addition to being efficient, Valley also has been extremely consistent. Since Dec. 1, her lowest scoring game is 15 points.
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Kayleigh Valley, road warrior: Though Montana is 2-6 away from home this season, Valley is hardly struggling on foreign courts. She is averaging 22.1 points in those games while shooting 56 percent.
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Three-dot notes: Montana's top ranking in the national statistics is 10th in turnovers at 12.4/game. Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky at 12.1, Villanova the nation at 7.9. ... The Lady Griz rank 32nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.16). That only ranks fourth in the Big Sky. ... Nonconference opponent Colorado State, which defeated Montana 75-43 in December in Fort Collins, is now 16-1. ... The Lady Griz led at Eastern Washington by 14 points in the third quarter on Saturday before losing by two. It was the third time this season Montana has held a double-digit lead and lost. Montana led Seattle by 12 before falling 58-44 and Wyoming by 10 before losing 68-61. ... Over the last four games Haley Vining has 18 assists and three turnovers. ... Vining also added 10 points at Eastern Washington, the second game of her career reaching double figures. ... McCalle Feller's 155 3-pointers rank sixth on the UM career list. Her 54 threes this season have her on pace to challenge Sonya Rogers' record of 72, which she hit in 2007-08. ... A positive development: Alycia Sims has scored nine or more points five of the last six games. ... Sims had a pair of double-digit rebounding games last week, giving her 10 for her career.
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Thursday in the Big Sky: WSU at NAU, ISU at SUU, EWU at PSU, UI at SAC
Saturday in the Big Sky: UM at MSU, UNC at UND, ISU at NAU, WSU at SUU, UI at PSU, EWU at SAC
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Series to watch: Third-place Idaho plays at Sacramento State on Thursday, unbeaten Eastern Washington plays at The Nest on Saturday. The Hornets, who made an NCAA-record 25 3-pointers in their win Saturday at Portland State, are tied for fourth in the Big Sky, sitting 4-2 in league, and could shake up the league standings with a home sweep.
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Former Big Sky coaches getting it done: Former Northern Colorado coach Jaime White has Fresno State atop the Mountain West Conference at 7-0. Former Southern Utah coach JR Payne has Santa Clara off to a 15-5 start. The Broncos are 6-3 and tied for fourth in the ultra-competitive West Coast Conference.
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For what it's worth: Not that Charlie Creme puts a lot of thought into it other than seeing who is currently atop the Big Sky standings, but the bracketologist has Eastern Washington making the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed and facing No. 2 Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz., in a first-round game.
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Upcoming: Montana will play five of its next seven at Dahlberg Arena, starting next week with home games against Sacramento State and Portland State. The Lady Griz lost to the Hornets in overtime on the road and won 79-58 over the Vikings in Portland.
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