Lady Griz hungry for road breakthrough

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The Montana women's basketball team, off to a 2-0 start in the Big Sky Conference, will play its first league road games this week at North Dakota and Northern Colorado.

The Lady Griz will face the Fighting Hawks at 6 p.m. (MT) on Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks and the Bears on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.

Where they stand: While not out of the ordinary from a broader historical perspective, from a more contemporary viewpoint Montana, 6-7 overall, is surprisingly tied atop the Big Sky standings at 2-0 after defeating Northern Arizona and Southern Utah at home last week.

North Dakota, 7-6 overall, is 0-2 in league after losing on the road last week to Idaho and Eastern Washington by a total of nine points. Northern Colorado, a league-best 10-3 overall, joins Montana at 2-0 in Big Sky, pulling out a five-point win at Eastern Washington and a six-point victory at Idaho last week.

Trending:

Montana (up): Things changed in a hurry last week for the Lady Griz, who trailed Northern Arizona by 15 at the half on Thursday and by 21 late in the third quarter. Montana used a 20-2 run to rally for an overtime victory over the Lumberjacks, then had its best offensive showing in two years on Saturday.

North Dakota (slightly down): Yes, the Fighting Hawks have lost three straight, but they also built an 18-point lead at South Dakota on Dec. 21, then held 11-point leads at both Idaho and Eastern Washington before faltering down the stretch last week. The outcomes were losses but there were things to like.

Northern Colorado (up): The Bears, who returned five starters from last year's 22-win team, are doing as well as people expected at 10-3 and are on a four-game winning streak. UNC never trailed in the second half in winning at Eastern Washington and put up a 30-point fourth quarter to rally at Idaho.

Coverage: There will be video coverage of both games this week at WatchBigSky.com and on Pluto TV (Thursday: channel 240; Saturday: channel 241). The games will air locally on KMPT (AM 930) on Thursday and KGVO (AM 1290, FM 98.3) on Saturday, with Tom Stage and Dick Slater calling the action.

Montana quick hits:

* The Lady Griz have won three straight games for just the second time under second-year coach Shannon Schweyen and have won six of eight going into Thursday's game at North Dakota.

* After going 0-5 in November, Montana went 6-2 in December. And that record could have been even better had the Lady Griz held on to their 15-point second-half lead at Fresno State.

* Montana, which has had nine home games thus far, has played just two true road games this season and lost both, 67-62 at Wyoming and 61-58 at Fresno State. The Lady Griz also went 0-2 in Cancun.

* Montana hasn't won a true road game since winning at Northern Colorado in overtime on March 4, 2016, back when Robin Selvig was still coaching, and hasn't won away from Missoula since defeating Northern Arizona on March 7, 2016, in a first-round game of the Big Sky tournament in Reno.

* Montana has lost 20 straight games outside of Missoula, falling to North Dakota in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Big Sky tournament, going 0-15 away from home last season and 0-4 this season. The Lady Griz play five of their next seven on the road.

* In Thursday's comeback victory over Northern Arizona, Montana led for a total of 52 seconds in a 45-minute game. The Lady Griz didn't hold their first lead until the final minute of regulation and did not lead in the overtime period until the final minute.

* Montana outscored Northern Arizona 18-6 in the fourth quarter, 12-4 in overtime. After falling behind 50-29 with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter, the Lady Griz outscored the Lumberjacks 41-12 the rest of the way.

* Montana averaged 0.55 points per possession in the first half, 1.20 in the second half and overtime.

* Montana won despite shooting 31.6 percent while allowing 40.3 percent. The difference came in taking care of the ball. The Lady Griz forced 24 turnovers while giving it up only 10 times themselves, resulting in 14 more shots.

* Jace Henderson finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, her second career double-double. McKenzie Johnston added a team-high 18 points on 50 percent shooting, plus six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 41 minutes.

* Despite shooting 4 for 18, Taylor Goligoski played a big role in the comeback, hitting three 3-pointers in the second half. She made it 52-47 with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter to make the comeback feel realistic and pulled Montana within one, 56-55, with 1:57 left in regulation.

* Montana shot 50 percent on Saturday in its win over Southern Utah, the best percentage the Lady Griz have had under second-year coach Shannon Schweyen. The 81 points were also a best under Schweyen.

* The Lady Griz led the final 35 minutes against the Thunderbirds, building a pair of 22-point leads in the fourth quarter.

* Madi Schoening shook off some cold shooting (6 for 29 her previous four games) to score a season-high 15 points, going 4 for 7 from the arc. McKenzie Johnston added 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds.

* Hailey Nicholson came off the bench to match a career high with 17 points. She made her first seven shots, missed a jumper from 15 feet, then made her final attempt to finish the game 8 for 9.

* Goligoski added three more 3-pointers in Saturday's win. She made six in two games last week after making six in her first nine games of the season after making her way back from injury.

* Jace Henderson didn't make a shot in four attempts against the Thunderbirds, the first time that's happened this season. She made up for it with a career-high five assists passing out of the post.

* The lowest-ranked team in the Big Sky in both 3-point makes and percentage, Montana went 10 for 24 (.417) from the arc against the Thunderbirds behind Schoening (4 for 7), Goligoski (3 for 8) and Nora Klick (2 for 3).

* Montana matched a season best against Southern Utah, averaging 1.11 points per possession. A season-best three players had efficiency ratings above 20: Nicholson and Johnston of 24, Schoening of 23. In eight of their previous 12 games, the Lady Griz didn't have single player above 20.

* Sophomore Caitlin Lonergan, a 6-foot-2 forward, made her season debut on Saturday. The former Montana State volleyball player scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in seven minutes of court time. Practicing with the team since January, she was finally given clearance to play on Friday.

* The home sweep last week improved Montana to 40-3 at home against Northern Arizona (32-3) and Southern Utah (8-0).

Five things to know about North Dakota:

1. The Fighting Hawks are 5-0 at home this season and 53-12 at the Betty since the start of the 2013-14 season.

2. Junior Lexi Klabo was voted second-team All-Big Sky last season and preseason All-Big Sky this year. She is playing like it, averaging 18.8 points and 9.8 rebounds, with seven double-doubles, including two on the road last week at Idaho (14-11) and Eastern Washington (16-12).

3. North Dakota has played in a national postseason tournament each of the last four years, making the NCAA Tournament in 2013-14, the WBI in both 2014-15 and 2015-16 and the WNIT last season.

4. The Fighting Hawks are coached by Travis Brewster, who was voted the Big Sky Coach of the Year in both 2013-14 and last season. Brewster, in his sixth season, is four wins from No. 100.

5. Behind Klabo and six-foot forward Fallyn Freije, who is averaging 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds, North Dakota ranks second in the Big Sky in both rebounding margin (+6.5/g) and blocked shots (4.5/g).

History: North Dakota leads the series with Montana 8-7 and has won the teams' last four meetings. The Fighting Hawks are 5-1 in Grand Forks against the Lady Griz with five straight victories, including a 72-55 win in the 2014 Big Sky tournament.

Montana-North Dakota insider:

Thursday will mark Montana's final game at Grand Forks with both teams as members of the Big Sky Conference. North Dakota will be joining the Summit League next year.

While Grand Forks is a geographic outpost compared to the rest of the league's footprint, North Dakota offers a special environment for women's basketball, similar to what Montana has. It will be missed.

"I'm going to miss it a ton," said UM coach Shannon Schweyen. "It's a place where our girls have enjoyed playing. They have an environment, and everybody wants to go out and play in front of people.

"They've been a great program to have in the league, in how competitive they've been and what they brought to the Big Sky."

Maybe not surprisingly, Montana, despite not winning a game away from Missoula last season, played one of its best games at North Dakota.

Behind Madi Schoening's 22 points, the Lady Griz were in a tie game in the third quarter before falling 73-63.

The difference came down to offensive rebounding. North Dakota had 21, which it turned into a dozen more second-chance points than Montana had.

"I didn't think we'd match up well with them last year, but that was one of our best games," said Schweyen.

"They are always tough because they have size. They are always one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and that's something that sets them apart. They just pound people on the boards."

Klabo had 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting in last year's matchup. Freije had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. They combined for nine offensive rebounds and will be key once again.

"Lexi Klabo is one of the toughest players in the conference, as is Fallyn Freije. Both are very talented, and then they have good quickness on the perimeter," said Schweyen.

"We've got to do a good job with Klabo and Freije, then hope their other kids don't shoot it really well."

Five things to know about Northern Colorado:

1. The Bears are seeking to have a breakout season. They've advanced to the Big Sky tournament championship game three times the last six seasons but have yet to win it, falling at Idaho State in 2012 and at Montana in 2013 and '15.

2. Northern Colorado went 22-8 last season and returned five starters from that team, including first-team All-Big Sky selection Savannah Smith and Savannah Scott, who was voted second team.

3. The Bears were picked first in both the coaches' and media preseason polls, picking up 17 of 28 first-place votes between the two. Smith, now a junior, was voted preseason All-Big Sky.

4. Northern Colorado is coached by Kamie Ethridge, who is in her fourth season.

5. The Bears, who have wins at DePaul and at home over LSU and BYU, have the Big Sky's best RPI, at No. 52. In this week's ESPN Bracketology, which forecasts the NCAA Tournament field, they were given a No. 11 seed, projected to face No. 6 Rutgers in Los Angeles.

History: Montana leads the all-time series against Northern Colorado 17-7 and has gone 7-4 against the Bears in Greeley.

The Lady Griz gave themselves no chance in last year's matchup, which came at Greeley. Montana shot 30.4 percent, went 1 for 11 from the arc and turned it over 21 times in losing 65-46. The Bears led 19-9 after the first quarter and rolled from there.

Montana-Northern Colorado insider:

Going with a four-guard lineup isn't always a plan that works, nor is sticking with each of your five starters for 30 or more minutes per game, but it's being done successfully thus far this season at Northern Colorado.

The Bears start 6-foot-3 Courtney Smith and four players 5-foot-9 or shorter, but when two of those players are senior Savannah Scott and junior Savannah Smith, it can work.

Northern Colorado is averaging 67.8 points on 43.6 percent shooting and takes more than a third of its shots from the arc. And don't try getting into a free throw shooting contest with the Bears. They shoot 81.5 percent, one of the best marks in the nation.

The fact they are getting outrebounded by more than seven boards per game becomes less of an issue.

"You look at them and think you'd be able to hurt them with size, because they play basically with four guards," said Schweyen. "But they are good at what they do. They shoot a ton of threes, and if they are making them, it can be like facing Idaho. You can be in trouble.

"You've got to be able to close them out, because they want to attack you off the dribble. Keeping them in front of us is going to be a huge point of emphasis."

Of course there is risk-reward in putting a reliance on 3-point shooting. In Northern Colorado's three losses this season -- at Quinnipiac, at Fordham and at home to Colorado State -- the Bears shot 15.6 percent from the arc and didn't once break 50 points. They went 1 for 26 against Fordham.

"They kind of live and die with it. For the most part it's been pretty good for them, but they are human," said Schweyen. "They are going to do what they do, and if for some reason it's not going well, it can be problematic for them."

Scott averages 18.3 points, with a 35-point outing in the team's upset win at DePaul. Savannah Smith averages 15.1 points, Courtney Smith 14.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. Nobody else averages more than seven.

Montana's strength, on the other hand, is its depth, particularly the scoring it gets off the bench. During the last eight games, six of which have been wins, Montana's reserves have outscored the opponent's by more than 16 points per game.

"It's been a definite bonus for us having the depth we have," said Schweyen, who knows the grind Reno can be, with teams possibly having to play four games in six days. "It's going to be important for teams that want to move on at the end of the year.

"I'm always amazed at how some of these programs can get away with playing seven kids. It can be good as long as you stay healthy, but I like the way our bench has given us a spark."

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* With one weekend in the books, Northern Colorado, Montana State and Montana sit atop the standings at 2-0, with Weber State and Portland State coming in at 1-0. The best of those marks belongs to the Bears, who won twice on the road, and the Wildcats, who knocked off Idaho State in Pocatello.

* Montana State defeated Southern Utah and Northern Arizona by 62 points last week, thanks to some hot shooting from the arc. The Bobcats went 18 for 41 (.439) from the arc against the Thunderbirds, 16 for 36 (.444) against the Lumberjacks. Montana State attempted just six free throws in the two games.

* Last week's best win might have been Weber's at Idaho State. The Wildcats won 76-70 behind Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman's 20 points off the bench, just nine team turnovers and a defense that held the Big Sky's top shooting team to 39.1 percent on its home court.

* Delaney Hodgins has led Eastern Washington in scoring in all but one game this season and poured in 27 on Saturday as the Eagles rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat North Dakota in Cheney. Hodgins scored 14 of her points in the fourth quarter.

* On Thursday, the Fighting Hawks were done in by Idaho's Mikayla Ferenz, who went off for 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting, 5 of 8 from the arc.

* Portland State got off to an improbable 1-0 start with a 74-73 home win over Sacramento State on Saturday. The Hornets led 73-69 with 18 seconds left but gave up a 3-pointer, turned it over on an untouched full-court pass, then fouled and gave up two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.

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

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

Upcoming: Montana plays its only home games in the month of January next week, hosting Sacramento State next Thursday, Portland State next Saturday. The Lady Griz close out the month playing at Montana State, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Goligoski

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Nora Klick

Caitlin Lonergan

Hailey Nicholson

Madi Schoening

University of Montana Athletics