Lady Griz to face Bobcats in lone game this week

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The Montana women's basketball team, tied atop the Big Sky Conference standings through three weeks of league games, will try to remain there when it plays at Montana State on Saturday in its only game of the week.

The Lady Griz and sixth-place Bobcats will tip off at 2 p.m. at MSU's Worthington Arena.

Opening tip: At 5-1, Montana is off to its best league start since 2014-15, when the Lady Griz got off to an 8-1 start on their way to their most recent Big Sky Conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance.

Montana swept Sacramento State and Portland State at home last week, making it six wins in seven games. The Lady Griz' only league loss came at Northern Colorado, 68-50, the team they are tied with atop the Big Sky standings.

Madi Schoening erupted for a season-high 20 points in Thursday's 68-59 win over the Hornets. On Saturday, the Lady Griz rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to win 69-53 over the Vikings behind Jace Henderson's 16-point, 13-rebound double-double.

This week Montana travels to Montana State, a team the Lady Griz have historically had their way with, going 77-26, but not so much recently. The Bobcats have won four of the teams' last five matchups and swept the season series last season for the first time since 1998-99.

Montana State is 3-3 in league. In addition to sharing with Montana a road loss at Northern Colorado, the Bobcats also lost at North Dakota on the same trip and fell at home to Portland State on Thursday, which put an end to MSU's 31-game home-court winning streak.

The nation's ninth-ranked 3-point shooting team, making nearly 10 triples per game, Montana State bounced back from Thursday's setback with an 85-50 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday, outscoring the Hornets 48-19 in the second half.

Coverage: Saturday's game will be carried by SWX, which can be found on channel 199 for Charter subscribers and on the Watch SWX app. Chris Byers and Krista Redpath will be on the call, with Shaun Rainey and Kyle Sherman reporting from the sidelines.

The game will air in Missoula on KGVO (AM 1290, FM 98.3), with Tom Stage and Dick Slater, and be available through Pluto TV and at WatchBigSky.com.

Montana Notes:

* At 9-8 overall, 5-1 in league, Montana has already -- in mid-January -- surpassed last year's victory total (7-23) and Big Sky finish (4-14).

* Montana won twice at home last week, using a hot start in the first quarter to defeat Sacramento State on Thursday and a similar start to the second half in Saturday's win over Portland State.

* On Thursday, the Lady Griz hit nine of their first 11 shots and led 25-8 at the first-quarter break. Madi Schoening went 6 for 6 in the first period to score 12 of the team's 25 points.

* Trailing 31-29 at the half to the Vikings on Saturday, Montana hit six of its first eight shots to start the third quarter. The Lady Griz would outscore Portland State 19-4 for the period and shoot 55.2 percent in the second half.

* Montana's home wins last week both came against teams that swept the Lady Griz last season by an average of more than 21 points per game in their four meetings.

* Montana's victory over Portland State on Saturday was its second time this season winning after trailing at the half. The other was a little more dramatic, when the Lady Griz came back from a 35-20 halftime deficit to open league with a 70-62 overtime win over Northern Arizona.

* In Montana's two wins last week, Madi Schoening and Jace Henderson both scored 28 points. McKenzie Johnston added 27. That trio shot 56.3 percent in the two wins.

* Remember that November schedule of Montana's, when the Lady Griz went 0-5? Wyoming (11-5, 4-1) leads the Mountain West, Gonzaga (13-4, 6-0) leads the West Coast, and Marquette (13-5, 7-0) leads the Big East.

* As for Kentucky, which didn't look like a quality SEC team in its win in Missoula in November no matter what their uniforms indicated, the Wildcats opened the season 8-1 but have gone 1-9 since.

* Montana went an un-Lady-Griz-like 7-8 at home last season, but Dahlberg Arena is once again becoming a big home-court advantage. Montana has won five straight at home and is 8-3 in Missoula this season.

* Take a bow, Jace Henderson. Montana was +17 for the 29:58 you were on the court against Sacramento State, the team's best plus/minus against the Hornets. Madi Schoening earned those honors on Saturday against Portland State: +22 in her 37:17 on the court.

* Montana has held 10 of its last 12 opponents, going 9-3 in those games, to less than a point per possession. In starting 0-5, the Lady Griz allowed more than a point per possession to Wyoming (1.11), Kentucky (1.13), Gonzaga (1.01) and Marquette (1.14).

* Last week's notes highlighted how Jace Henderson was in a slump, shooting 4 for 19 against Southern Utah, North Dakota and Northern Carolina. Consider last week a bounce-back. She went 6 for 10 against Sacramento State and 8 for 11 against Portland State, posting a double-double in both games.

She was probably a Larryn Brooks scoring outburst for Weber State away from earning Big Sky Player of the Week honors after averaging 14.0 points on .667 shooting and 12.5 rebounds in two games.

* Henderson's 16 points against the Vikings on Saturday were a career high, surpassing the 15 she scored in a December home loss to Seattle. Her 13 rebounds on Saturday matched her career high, also established against the Redhawks.

* McKenzie Johnston is the only player in the Big Sky to rank in the top 20 in both scoring (19th, 11.9/g) and rebounding (19th, 5.8/g) and in the top five in assists (5th, 4.3/g).

* Through Montana's first nine games, Johnston shot 33.7 percent. In the team's eight games since, she is shooting 53.8 percent. She has scored in double figures in all but one of those games. She scored nine in Montana's win at North Dakota but still shot it well, going 3 for 5.

* In six Big Sky games, Johnston has 25 assists against 11 turnovers. That 2.3 ratio is the fourth-best mark in the league during that time.

* Hailey Nicholson scored 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting in Montana's home win over Southern Utah. In the two games before that and the four games since, she went 4 for 24 for a total of nine points.

* Madi Schoening's 20-point outing on Thursday against Sacramento State came five days after being held scoreless at Northern Colorado. Her 20 points were a season high and two off her career high of 22, set last season in a loss at North Dakota.

* In Montana's wins this season, Schoening is shooting 40.6 percent. In Montana's losses, 28.6 percent.

* Montana shot 42.3 percent against Sacramento State and 44.3 percent against Portland State, just the second time this season the Lady Griz have shot better than 40 percent in back-to-back games.

* Montana is just 10 for 47 from 3-point range its last three games. ... The Lady Griz outscored Sacramento State 45-25 in the first half on Thursday, Portland State 40-22 in the second half on Saturday.

* Montana held Portland State to just four points in the third quarter on Saturday, and that wasn't even a season-best performance for the Lady Griz defense. Cal State Fullerton scored two points in the first quarter in Montana's 68-47 victory over the Titans at the Lady Griz Classic.

Five important things to know about Montana State:

1. Behind Big Sky MVP Jasmine Hommes, Montana State won the regular-season Big Sky title in 2015-16. Behind Big Sky MVP Peyton Ferris, the Bobcats shared the title last season with North Dakota, then won the league tournament in Reno to advance to the NCAAs. Both players were named MVP as seniors.

2. With three starters back from that NCAA team, the Bobcats were picked third in the Big Sky preseason media poll, fourth in the coaches' poll. The team's leading returning scorer was point guard Hannah Caudill, who averaged 9.7 points and 4.4 assists last season.

3. Going into the start of Big Sky play, Delany Junkermier was shooting 28.4 percent from the field, 16.7 percent from the arc and averaging 6.8 points. In six league games she is shooting 57.9 percent overall, 62.1 percent from 3-point range (18 for 29) and averaging 18.4 points per game.

4. In league play, Montana State has five players averaging in double figures. In addition to Junkermier and Caudill (11.5/g), sophomore forward Madeline Smith is averaging 12.5 points on 51.6 percent shooting and 7.8 rebounds. Sophomore guard Oliana Squires (12.3/g) and senior guard Rebekah Hatchard (10.0/g) are also averaging double figures.

5. In Montana State's three league wins, the Bobcats have made an average of 15.7 3-pointers on 46.5 percent shooting from the arc. In MSU's three losses: 8.7 makes per game on 33.3 percent shooting. Montana State has eight times this season hit 10 or more triples in a game. Montana: once.

History: Montana leads the all-time series against Montana State 77-26 and has gone 28-15 against the Bobcats in Bozeman, though MSU has won the last three matchups at Worthington Arena.

The Bobcats swept the season series last season, winning 75-69 in overtime at Missoula when Peyton Ferris sparked a rally from nine down in the final 2:26 of regulation. The Lady Griz went without a field goal the final 2:33 of regulation and opening 4:35 of overtime.

In the rematch at Bozeman, Montana led 29-26 at the half, but Montana State shot 48.3 percent in the second half, going 8 for 17 from 3-point range.

Saturday storylines:

1. Well, it's Montana-Montana State, and that's always something. "As a player, it was everything," said second-year UM coach Shannon Schweyen, who went 9-1 against the Bobcats as a Lady Griz player in the late 80s and early 90s.

"As a coach, you want to treat it as just another game, because that's really what it is, but you want (the players) fired up and passionate about it. There is always a lot of pride on the line. We have to keep focused on what we do and what our strengths are and not get too overwhelmed by the hype."

2. There was a pair of long streaks that ended recently. When Montana won 54-43 at North Dakota on Jan. 4, it ended the Lady Griz' 20-game losing streak in games played outside of Missoula, which counted both neutral-site (6) and true road games (14).

And last Thursday Montana State's 31-game home winning streak came to an end at the hands of Portland State.

Of course the former doesn't mean Montana is going to start winning every game on the road. Indeed, the Lady Griz fell behind 15-1 in their very next road game and lost by 18 at Northern Colorado.

Just as Thursday's result didn't mean the end to Montana State's home dominance. Indeed, the Bobcats got right back to it on Saturday, running Sacramento State out of the gym.

While the streaks may no longer be intact, what they represented still remains. Montana is 1-21 in its last 22 games away from home, and Montana State is 32-1 in its last 33 home games. And those go head-to-head on Saturday.

3. While Montana State may have the advantage in balanced scoring from its starters, Montana has the edge in production off the bench.

Before getting outscored by Portland State's reserves on Saturday, 23-20, Montana's bench players had out-produced their counterparts in nine straight games by an average of nearly 15 points per game.

Montana State's reserves scored just two points in Thursday's loss to Portland State, a basket by Blaire Braxton.

It wasn't like that last year for Montana.

"Last year I'd look down the bench and everybody was in street clothes. There just weren't options," said Schweyen. "You knew it was growing pains, so it wasn't all lost, but there was never a feeling that if someone wasn't feeling it on a given night, we could go with someone else."

Now Schweyen has some options to best deploy her 11-player active roster.

Case in point: Emma Stockholm. The sophomore didn't step foot on the court on Thursday against Sacramento State. The matchup just didn't suit her strengths. But that changed on Saturday. Portland State's zone was right in Stockholm's wheelhouse.

Stockholm played 18 minutes and scored 14 points, her post skills allowing her to score in the paint, her outside shooting touch allowing her to hit from deep, which she did at the end of the third quarter to send her team into the fourth holding a 48-35 lead.

"It's been great to be able to do that this year," said Schweyen. "It's made things more competitive, which is always good."

4. Both teams will see a different look from the other on Saturday than they are used to seeing. The last two years Montana State used the post presence of Hommes and Ferris to its advantage.

This year the Bobcats look more like Idaho. They put up 41 3-point attempts (out of 71 total shots) in their Big Sky opener against Southern Utah and are taking 47 percent of their attempts in league from the arc. That's not a bad approach when you're shooting 40.8 percent from three in league.

The flip side of that is fewer trips to the free throw line. In six Big Sky games, the Bobcats have taken just 49 free throws, or 8.2 per game. They've taken 27 fewer than their opponents have made (76).

"They are playing more of a four-guard lineup with a post, which is not always what they've done before," said Schweyen. "They have a lot of kids who are shooting the ball well, and that's always hard to defend."

Montana, on the other hand, has established an inside presence this season. It started with the emergence of Jace Henderson, who averaged 2.7 points and 3.1 rebounds last season on 32.1 percent shooting. This year she is averaging 9.4 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 47.3 percent.

"She's always been a hard worker, so I think it's just been a matter of confidence and experience," said Schweyen. "It's amazing what playing does for people.

"When you're as hard a worker as she is and as positive as she is, good things are going to happen."

Add in the occasional outburst from Hailey Nicholson and now the addition of Caitlin Lonergan, who is averaging 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds since being cleared to play prior to Montana's game against Southern Utah, and the paint has become an area of strength for the Lady Griz.

That Montana outscored Sacramento State in the paint 50-30 is no surprise. The jaw-dropper came two days later, when the Lady Griz outscored the Vikings 38-20 in the paint. Last year against Portland State the difference in two games was +26 in favor of PSU.

"Last year there just wasn't much of an inside presence. This year we have it, and it makes us harder to guard," said Schweyen. "The balance has been so much better this year in terms of inside and outside scoring. It's been integral to our success for sure.

"You can't just focus on our guards anymore. You have to be worried about Jace, Hailey and Caitlin inside. And different kids have stepped up for us, which has been nice. We can have different scorers on different nights."

5. Montana has outrebounded nine of its last 12 opponents and is up to +3.4/game for the season, which ranks third in the Big Sky.

Rebounding is always a key statistic, but the nature of the rebounding challenge changes when playing a team that likes to shoot the three.

Long shots, when they miss, often lead to long rebounds, in areas where blocking out is not always stressed. That leads to more 50-50 balls, and may the more aggressive girl win.

If Montana State can best be compared to a past Montana opponent, it might be Northern Colorado, and the Bears, undersized as they were, with four guards, out-hustled the Lady Griz by eight in the rebounding department. Bet that comes up in a Montana practice this week, if not all of them.

6. Montana allowed its opponents to shoot 41.5 percent last season, which is NOT the Lady Griz way. Don't look now, but Montana is starting to play a little defense, which flashes of it being the shutdown variety.

Four of Montana's last five opponents have shot below 39 percent -- all four have been Lady Griz wins.

After falling behind 31-29 at the half to Portland State on Saturday, Montana allowed the Vikings just 0.63 points per possession over the second half to pull away. The Lady Griz held the Big Sky's then top scoring team to 53 points on .321 shooting.

Add that to the list of reasons Schweyen feels good about taking her second team over to Bozeman.

"I like our team and the way we're playing right now and defending people," she said. "If we can play defense like we have been, I feel like we'll have a fighting chance on Saturday."

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Weber State did two things when it defeated Northern Colorado 82-73 in Ogden on Thursday. It handed the Bears their first league loss and announced the Wildcats, who got 32 points from Big Sky Player of the Week Larryn Brooks, as a factor.

* Northern Colorado (13-4) and Montana (9-8) are tied atop the league standings at 5-1. The Wildcats (12-4) are tied in the loss column at 4-1.

* Remember when Weber State coach Bethann Ord began her career going 2-56 through her first two years in Ogden? Then won seven games in 2013-14, 11 in 2014-15 and 23 in 2015-16? Good on Weber State's administration for giving her time.

* The next six teams in the standings all have either two or three league losses through three weeks, which portends a wild chase for the top four spots for Reno and a bye through the tournament's first-round games on opening Monday.

* Eastern Washington held Idaho's Mikayla Ferenz to "only" 18 points on Friday and it felt like a win for the Eagles as they defeated the Vandals in Cheney. Ferenz scored 72 points in her previous two games.

* Northern Colorado bounced back from its first league loss with an impressive 63-57 win at Idaho State on Saturday. The Bengals pride themselves on defense and rebounding, and the Bears shot 46.8 percent and out-rebounded ISU on its home floor 31-26.

* How did Weber State defeat North Dakota 80-69 on Saturday? Largely by holding Lexi Klabo in check. The double-double machine was held to nine points and three rebounds.

Thursday games: NAU at EWU, SUU at UI, ISU at PSU, WSU at SAC

Game to monitor: It's a prove-it weekend for Weber State, which plays at Sacramento State on Thursday and at Portland State on Saturday.

Saturday games: UM at MSU, UNC at UND, SUU at EWU, NAU at UI, WSU at PSU, ISU at SAC

Non-Montana game to monitor: Northern Colorado at North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks, picked second in both preseason polls behind the Bears, had the Big Sky's third-best body of work through the nonconference, but it's been a struggle for UND in league. North Dakota is just 1-5. It needs this one.

Upcoming: Montana hits the road again next week for the Southern Utah-Northern Arizona trip to close out January. February opens with five of seven at home.

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Players Mentioned

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Caitlin Lonergan

Hailey Nicholson

Madi Schoening

Emma Stockholm

University of Montana Athletics