Lady Griz to face Redhawks on Wednesday

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The Montana women's basketball team will play its final Division I nonconference game on Wednesday when it hosts Seattle at noon at Dahlberg Arena in what is expected to be the first of an annual Lady Griz School Day.

The Lady Griz and Redhawks will tip off at noon, with nearly every one of the facility's 7,200-plus seats spoken for, thanks to more than 5,400 elementary- and middle-school students who will be in attendance.

Montana will play its final nonconference and final pre-Christmas game next Wednesday when Rocky Mountain travels to Missoula for a 7 p.m. game.

The Lady Griz open their Big Sky Conference schedule on Dec. 28 and 30 when they host Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.

Coverage: Wednesday's game can be viewed at WatchBigSky.com or through Pluto TV on channel 237. The game will air locally on KMPT AM 930, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater.

Montana notes:

* Montana will enter Wednesday's game with a record of 3-6 after having its three-game winning streak snapped with a 61-58 loss at Fresno State on Sunday afternoon.

* The Lady Griz led the Bulldogs 32-17 at the half but got outscored 44-26 in the second half. Montana shot 4 for 14 (.286) in the third quarter, 2 for 14 (.143) in the fourth.

* Montana held Fresno State's leading scorer, Candice White, to two first-half points. She scored 16 in the third quarter and finished with 23 for the game, plus eight rebounds and three assists.

* All 10 players who stepped on the court scored for Montana, but only Hailey Nicholson, with 10 points, reached double figures.

* Jace Henderson grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the game, the most for Montana since McKenzie Johnston finished with 11 against Idaho State in March in the first round of the Big Sky tournament.

* Montana went 16 for 18 (.889) from the line, its fourth consecutive game shooting better than 72 percent and its best performance on that many attempts since going 18 for 19 in a 12-point loss at North Dakota in March 2016.

* Sunday's game against Fresno State was the third time this season that all 10 active players scored. The Lady Griz also pulled off that feat against Marquette and Cal State Fullerton.

* Henderson was Montana's efficiency leader against Fresno State, a metric that values points, rebounds and lack of missed shots and turnovers. Because she's averaging 8.9 points and 7.6 rebounds and shooting 47.6 percent, it's no surprise she's led the team in six of nine games this season.

* Nora Klick had the team's best plus/minus at Fresno State of +6. The Lady Griz outscored the Bulldogs 18-12 in the seven-plus minutes she was on the floor.

* Montana's bench has scored 28 or more points four of the last five games, a number helped by Hailey Nicholson and Taylor Goligoski playing reserve roles. In the team's last two games, the Lady Griz bench has outscored Stephen F. Austin's and Fresno State's 65-27.

Seattle notes:

* The Redhawks will enter Wednesday's game with a record of 4-5. They lost their most recent game, falling 74-65 at home to Nevada on Sunday.

* Seattle is 1-1 against the Big Sky Conference this year. The Redhawks opened the season with a 74-69 home loss to Idaho State. Twelve days later they had little trouble with Portland State, winning at home 91-77 behind 12 3-pointers.

* Seattle went 15-18 last season, finishing second in the WAC with a 10-4 league record. The Redhawks lost to New Mexico State in the WAC tournament championship game, then lost 68-52 at Wyoming in the first round of the WNIT.

* Just two starters returned from that team, but one of those was redshirt senior Alexis Montgomery, who was voted the WAC Preseason Player of the Year in October.

* Montgomery is averaging 20.4 points and 10.0 rebounds this season. She has four double-doubles and five times has scored 20 or more points, including 31 in her team's loss to Idaho State.

* Seattle was picked second out of eight teams by the media in the WAC preseason poll, receiving four of 11 first-place votes. New Mexico State, with seven first-place votes, topped the poll.

* The Redhawks are coached by Suzy Barcomb, who is in her second year. She spent 12 seasons coaching the University of Puget Sound and another six at Cal State East Bay before being hired at Seattle. She won career game No. 350 against Portland State on Nov. 22.

Series history: Montana and Seattle have split their eight meetings 4-4. The Redhawks have won the last two matchups in ugly fashion (at least ugly as far as the Lady Griz are concerned). Seattle won 58-44 in Missoula in 2015-16 and 60-44 at home last season.

Montana led 26-24 at the break last year but got outscored 36-18 in the second half. The Lady Griz shot 26.8 percent and turned the ball over 19 times. Taylor Goligoski scored 15 points.

Game-day preview:

Two days after giving up a 15-point halftime lead in what would be a 61-58 loss at Fresno State on Sunday, second-year Montana coach Shannon Schweyen was asked if she would do anything differently is she could go back and address her team again between halves.

"I wouldn't do anything differently," she said. "I think if we play that second half over again 10 times, we come out on top in most of them."

Montana looked fantastic through the game's first 20 minutes, shooting better than 40 percent and holding Fresno State to 25 percent shooting.

The storyline at the half was that Candice White, the Bulldogs' leading scorer, had just two points on two free throws. She hadn't made a shot on just two attempts.

It was the very scenario Schweyen had been warned about beforehand.

"I talked to the announcer before the game and he told me how good she was and that she kind of sits back and lets the freshmen do stuff, then in the second half she takes over," Schweyen recalled.

The coach brought that message to her team, that White would try to take over and that it was Montana's job to set the tone in the first five minutes of the third quarter and reestablish that it was in control.

"We talked about it and said we're not going to let that happen. We can't let up. She's better than this. They're better than this," said Schweyen. "I guarantee they are going to try to be the aggressor and take charge."

In a sign of things to come, White scored nine seconds into the third quarter and had six points in less than two and a half minutes. She scored 16 points in the period, outscoring Montana, which scored 13, by herself.

Fresno State was within two entering the fourth quarter. White put the Bulldogs up 54-52 with an and-one three-point play with 4:57 remaining, and Montana would not lead again.

Most damaging for the Lady Griz, even more so than anything White did, was going cold. Montana had just a single basket over an eight-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters. During that time it went from a 38-25 Montana lead to 45-45.

"We got a lot of good looks. We just needed to be scoring with them. We had an untimely run of turnovers and missed shots, and that was the difference in the game," said Schweyen.

"We talked about having to be tougher because we're on the road. We needed to do all the little things, always blocking out, never missing a screen, always getting back in transition and knowing who we have. For the most part I thought we did that."

The last time Montana gave up a lead of that size on the road came at Eastern Washington in January 2016. The Lady Griz built a 14-point lead late in the third quarter of that game before the Eagles stormed back for a 67-65 victory.

Fresno State had a larger deficit on Sunday but also a lot more time.

"Fifteen with half of a game left is a ton of time, especially in today's game, with the 3-point line and 30-second clock. A lead can go like that," Schweyen said.

The final outcome, unfortunately, took the spotlight off the good things Montana did, and nothing was better than the defense the Lady Griz played in the first half. There were entire possessions when Montana could have been filmed for an instructional video, so sound was its play.

"Obviously there is more growth to be had and we never want to be satisfied, but I'm very proud of this group," said Schweyen. "We'll have some possessions where we're covering and talking and switching and taking charges, and I'll see flashes of some past teams who were really good on D."

That thought crossed Schweyen's mind maybe a handful of times last season, if ever. Her first team last winter allowed 65.8 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting, the expected result of playing so many freshmen.

It's early, but both numbers are trending down this season. Montana's last four opponents are averaging 55 points. And that defense should only continue to get better.

"Last year we had some kids who might do the right thing for a pass or two, then something would break down and we'd give up a layup," said Schweyen. "That happened a lot, so it's been encouraging.

"It makes you realize how far we've come in one season with this group. And since a majority of them are underclassmen, it's exciting to think about how much better we can be in the future."

It doesn't show up in the statistics, other than as a turnover for the other team, but one area Montana has excelled has been in its ability to take charges.

It's been happening more and more where once or twice a quarter, someone (usually Hailey Nicholson) is on the ground and the referee is pointing the other direction. And an opposing player looks guilty (and a touch surprised).

"I don't know if I've been around a player who takes charges like Hailey," said Schweyen. "It's amazing. She has a knack for it.

"Kenzie (Johnston) usually takes two a game, and Sierra (Anderson) took her first one on Sunday. We fouled on the play, so it didn't count, but I was excited to see the light come on for her.

"I talked today in practice about how big those plays are. Those are possessions the other team isn't getting. Those are turnovers."

And now Montana turns its attention to Seattle, which is a mirror of Fresno State -- both have a star player -- except the Redhawks may have better players around theirs.

In addition to Montgomery's scoring average of 20.4, senior forward Jacinta Beckley is averaging 12.7 points on 46.5 points, and sophomore guard Kamira Sanders is averaging 12.6 on 45.5 percent shooting.

"In a lot of ways, they are similar to what we just dealt with," said Schweyen. "They have a really talented offensive player who can create off the dribble, shoot the three and rebound. It's good in that respect in that it's similar to what we just saw.

"And they are talented around her. I think this team has a little bit better surrounding cast than Fresno."

The prospect of seeing Dahlberg Arena near capacity for the first time since 2008-09 Senior Day is exciting, but once the ball is tipped, it's all about what happens on the court.

"Our season-ticket holders are such great fans. They know when to cheer and when to get on their feet. I'm hoping everyone will be loud (on Wednesday) in the same way," said Schweyen.

"But just having an environment like that will help us. I think it will be exciting for us."

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Northern Arizona's Olivia Lucero was named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday. She averaged 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists as the Lumberjacks split against Arizona (win) and Cal Poly (loss). Note: Montana will start a home-and-home with Arizona next season.

* Thanks to a pair of wins over Pepperdine and Air Force last week, Weber State has taken over the top spot in the Big Sky standings at 7-2. Larryn Brooks, who played two years at Indiana and one at Texas Tech, has been a difference-maker. She is averaging 18.9 points in her first season in Ogden.

* Preseason favorite Northern Colorado fell out of the Big Sky lead after losing at home on Sunday to Colorado State, 55-44, done in by a two-point second quarter, 3-of-21 shooting from the arc and CSU's 50 percent overall shooting.

* Add Idaho State to the list of nonconference surprises. The Bengals improved to 6-3 with a 64-62 overtime win at Hawaii and could go into league 8-3 with remaining pre-Christmas games against Utah Valley and Westminster.

* Idaho lost at home to Wyoming on Saturday, 70-64, despite 30 points by Mikayla Ferenz and 22 from Geraldine McCorkell.

* Two days after facing Montana in Missoula, Stephen F. Austin played at Montana State on Saturday. The Ladyjacks could have had the final possession of regulation but turned the ball over on a traveling call. The Bobcats won 59-54 in overtime to extend their home winning streak to 29.

* When might that winning streak end? Montana State's next four home games are against Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, Portland State and Sacramento State, games in which the Bobcats will be favored to win. Then: Montana at Montana State on Jan. 20.

* North Dakota bounced back from its ugly 105-43 loss at Baylor last week with a 79-68 home win over North Dakota State on Saturday. Fallyn Freije (26/12) and Lexi Klabo (23/10) both had double-doubles.

* Preseason All-Big Sky selection Ashley Bolston of Portland State made her season debut on Saturday in the Vikings' 63-60 win over NAIA Northwest University. PSU needed all 17 of her points as it had to rally from a 32-24 halftime deficit in front of 103 fans at Lewis & Clark College.

* Sacramento State sophomore guard Hannah Friend has led the Hornets to two wins in their last three games. She has scored 91 points in those three games, with 34 against UC Riverside. And she missed five free throws in that game.

* Southern Utah is 1-8, with only a three-point victory over Utah State in the win column. The Thunderbirds lost 98-38 at Oregon on Saturday. SUU got outscored 31-4 in the second quarter and trailed 57-16 at the half.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Goligoski

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Nora Klick

Hailey Nicholson

University of Montana Athletics