Lady Griz in Mexico for pair of games

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For the fourth time in the last decade, the Montana women's basketball team will play early-season games in Mexico when it competes this week at the Cancun Challenge. Games will be played at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

The Lady Griz (0-3), who are in the Riviera Division, along with Indiana State, Marquette, Oklahoma State, South Dakota and Tennessee, will face Indiana State (0-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m. (MT) and No. 20 Marquette at 7 p.m. (MT) on Friday.

Arizona State, Columbia, Wisconsin-Green Bay and 2016-17 national runner-up Mississippi State are in the Mayan Division.

Arizona State, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marquette, Mississippi State and Tennessee all made the NCAA Tournament last season, while Oklahoma State and South Dakota advanced to the WNIT.

Coverage: All games at the Cancun Challenge will have free video coverage through CBS Sports Digital in addition to live stats. Links to those services for Montana's games can be found at gogriz.com. Locally, the game will air on KGVO (AM 1290, FM 98.3).

Opening tips:

* Montana is making its fourth trip to Mexico in what is the 13th year of the women's edition of the Cancun Challenge. The Lady Griz have gone 2-6 on their first three trips south.

2008-09: Def. Illinois, lost to Maryland and South Dakota State
2010-11: Lost to James Madison and Florida Gulf Coast
2014-15: Def. Charlotte, lost to Princeton and Wake Forest

* Montana will be playing Indiana State and Marquette for the first time in program history.

* Marquette is ranked No. 20 in this week's AP top 25 poll, making it two straight weeks the Lady Griz will face a ranked opponent. Playing No. 25 Kentucky on Thursday in Missoula, the teams were tied at the half before the Wildcats pulled away for a 71-54 victory.

* Kentucky is ranked 22nd this week in the AP poll after improving to 4-0 on Sunday with a 73-68 win at Washington State.

* After falling last week to Wyoming, Kentucky and Gonzaga to open the season, Montana is 0-3 for the first time since 2009-10 and for just the second time in program history. Montana's first three teams are currently 8-1.

* Montana has dropped 17 consecutive games away from home. The Lady Griz opened the season falling at Wyoming, went 0-15 last year and ended their season the year before with a loss to North Dakota in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament in Reno.

Five things to know about Indiana State:

1. The Sycamores are 0-3 after opening the season with a home loss to Saint Louis, 60-59, falling on the road on Friday at IUPUI, 86-57, and losing at home on Monday night to Florida Atlantic, 66-58. Those teams shot 45.3 percent.

2. Indiana State went 12-18 a year ago and finished eighth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference, going 6-12 in league.

3. With three starters back, including senior forward Wendi Bibbins, voted last year's Missouri Valley Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Jones County (Miss.) Junior College, the Sycamores were picked fifth in this season's preseason poll.

4. Bibbins is averaging 13.0 points and 9.7 rebounds through three games, while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor. She had 17 boards in Monday's loss to Florida Atlantic.

5. Indiana State is coached by Joey Wells, who is in his fourth season.

Five things to know about Marquette:

1. The Golden Eagles, who play Tennessee on Thursday, are 1-1. They opened their season with an 88-87 loss at New Mexico -- the Lobos' Jaisa Nunn scored 39 points on 14-of-15 shooting and added 13 rebounds -- before bouncing back with an 83-63 home win over Loyola Maryland on Sunday.

2. Marquette, 6-0 against ranked teams last winter, was a No. 5 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament after winning the Big East. The Golden Eagles fell in the first round to No. 12 Quinnipiac 68-65 in Coral Gables, Fla.

3. Four starters return from that team, each of whom averaged more than 11 points per game last season. The Golden Eagles averaged 78.8 points per game last year.

4. Honorable mention All-America guard Allazia Blockton is averaging 19.5 points through two games this season. Redshirt freshman guard Lauren Van Kleunen is averaging 17.5 points on 59.1 percent shooting and 7.5 rebounds.

5. Marquette coach Carolyn Kieger is in her fourth season. She was a four-year starter and three-year captain for the Golden Eagles and is the program's career leader in assists.

Lady Griz insider:

* Montana was tied with then No. 25 Kentucky 27-27 at the half on Thursday at Dahlberg Arena, but missing 12 of their first 13 shots to open the second half put the Lady Griz in a double-digit hole from which they never emerged.

* Two nights later, Montana gave up 23 offensive rebounds to Gonzaga, which led to 25 second-chance points. The Lady Griz also had 18 turnovers against the Bulldogs, the same number they had against Wyoming and Kentucky combined.

* Slow starts have hindered Montana. The Lady Griz have trailed after the first quarter in all three of their games this season. Because of it, Montana has held a lead this season for less than 11 of a possible 120 minutes. The Lady Griz led for just 3:02 in home games last week against Kentucky and Gonzaga.

* Junior Jace Henderson has been a revelation this season. Playing less than 13 minutes per game last year off the bench, she averaged 2.7 points on 32.1 percent shooting and 3.1 rebounds.

This season's sample size is only three games, but Henderson is averaging 9.3 points on 52.2 percent shooting and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds. And those did not come from a big game. She went 10/8 against Wyoming, 11/8 against Kentucky and 7/5 against Gonzaga.

She is the only Montana player shooting better than 39 percent.

* Sophomore Taylor Goligoski, who missed Montana's two exhibitions and first two regular-season games because of injury, made her season debut on Saturday against Gonzaga, getting 12 minutes. Last season's leading scorer started her second year with two points on 1-of-4 shooting.

* Sophomore point guard McKenzie Johnston is averaging a team-high 33.3 minutes. She leads the team in scoring (11.7/g) and assists (10), and ranks third in rebounding (5.3/g) behind Henderson (7.0/g) and senior Mekayla Isaak (5.7/g).

* Montana is only shooting 34.5 percent through three games, but the Lady Griz have shown some balanced scoring. Johnston is averaging 11.7 points, Madi Schoening 11.3, Sierra Anderson 10.3 and Henderson 9.3.

* Montana ranked last in the Big Sky Conference last season in both 3-point field goals made and 3-point percentage. Those struggles are continuing this season. The Lady Griz are just 11 for 61 (.180) from the arc through three games.

* On the plus side, Montana is defending the 3-point shot well. Opponents are shooting just 28.6 percent.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* It's no surprise that Northern Colorado, the preseason favorite, is off to a 4-0 start. But the team of the first two weeks of the season is Idaho State. The Bengals, picked eighth by the coaches and underappreciated as always, also are 4-0.

Idaho State has had four different leading scorers in its four wins, three of which have come on the road, at Seattle, at Washington and on Sunday at UC Irvine. The Bengals are shooting 50.7 percent, allowing 33.2 percent. That includes a 47.9 percent start from 3-point range.

* North Dakota's Lexi Klabo went back-to-back with double-doubles last week, with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the Fighting Hawks' 66-52 loss at South Dakota State and 23 points and 13 rebounds (plus eight blocks) in Sunday's 82-52 home thumping of Massachusetts.

* Sacramento State is 0-4 thanks to some ambitious scheduling. The Hornets have played at Kentucky, West Virginia and Arizona State, and have paid the price. They are getting outscored by more than 34 points per game.

* Northern Arizona picked up its first win for first-year coach Loree Payne, and it was a good one. Trailing Boise State 53-39 entering the fourth quarter in Hawaii on Sunday, the Lumberjacks outscored the Broncos 23-7 in the final period to win 62-60 on a last-second basket by Olivia Lucero.

* Referee Tyler Trimble, who worked Saturday's Montana-Gonzaga game, was in Greeley on Wednesday night for Northern Colorado's 58-50 win over LSU. He said the result was no fluke. The Bears, who got 26 points from Courtney Smith and 15 from Savannah Scott, were just better than their SEC opponent.

* Most of the players on the preseason All-Big Sky team are off to expected good starts. Idaho's Mikayla Ferenz (22.0/g) leads the Big Sky in scoring, Eastern Washington's Delaney Hodgins (21.0/g) is fourth.

Northern Colorado's Savannah Smith (16.3/g) has the Bears off to a 4-0 start and North Dakota's Lexi Klabo is averaging 19.0 points and 9.7 rebounds.

The exception is Portland State's Ashley Bolston, who has yet to play this season in the Vikings' first four games.

* Game of the Week: On Wednesday, Northern Colorado will put its 4-0 record on the line at Quinnipiac, the team that knocked Marquette out of the NCAA Tournament last spring in the first round.

Upcoming: The Lady Griz Classic. With Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State both members of the Big West and not wanting to play one another, next week's bracket will be predetermined, meaning Montana will not play the fourth team, Oral Roberts.

Montana will play Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. Oral Roberts will play both nights in the 5 p.m. game.

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Players Mentioned

Sierra Anderson

Taylor Goligoski

Jace Henderson

Mekayla Isaak

McKenzie Johnston

Madi Schoening

University of Montana Athletics