Mid-pack finish predicted for Lady Griz

After an offseason of changes -- North Dakota is gone, three programs will be under first-year coaches -- it was the two teams with the most constants that topped the 2018-19 Big Sky Conference women's basketball polls that were released on Thursday.

Idaho and Portland State, which claimed four of the six spots on Wednesday's preseason All-Big Sky team, were picked first and second, respectively, in both the coaches' and media polls, receiving all the first-place votes in the former, 15 of 19 in the latter.

Montana, with four starters back from a team that went 14-17 last season and tied for seventh in the league standings, tied for fifth in the coaches' poll and was voted for a seventh-place finish in the media poll.

Idaho was the clear-cut favorite in both preseason polls and with good reason. Coach Jon Newlee returns senior guards Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce to a team that lost to Northern Colorado in the Big Sky tournament championship game in March.

Ferenz, who will likely become the Big Sky's all-time leading scorer this winter, was voted the preseason MVP after earning first-team all-conference honors last year, when she led the league in scoring (22.5/g).

Pierce, also voted to the preseason All-Big Sky team, averaged 15.6 points last season and established a new league record with 137 3-pointers made. For perspective: that's the same number that Montana made as a team.

Idaho advanced to the Big Sky championship game last season only after getting by Portland State in the semifinals, a game that ended with a score of 102-99. The Vikings return four starters from that team, including a pair of preseason All-Big Sky selections.

Senior Ashley Bolston (16.6/g) was voted second-team All-Big Sky last season, senior Sidney Rielly (16.2/g) was named third team. They joined Ferenz and Pierce on the preseason All-Big Sky team.

Also returning for PSU are Kylie Jimenez, voted last season's Big Sky Freshman of the Year, and senior Courtney West, who averaged 9.7 points and 8.0 rebounds as a junior.

Idaho State and preseason All-Big Sky selection Grace Kenyon, a senior forward, was picked third in the coaches' poll, fourth in the media poll.

Northern Colorado, which won both the regular-season and tournament titles last winter, was picked fourth in the coaches' poll, third in the media poll, with four first-place votes.

The Bears are under a new coach, after Kamie Ethridge turned last season's success into the Washington State job, but return senior guard Savannah Smith, last year's regular-season and tournament MVP and the sixth player on the preseason All-Big Sky team.

After six seasons in the league, North Dakota, twice the co-champion and the league's NCAA Tournament representative in 2014, departed on July 1 for the Summit League, where it will reunite with geographic rivals North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State.

Joining the Big Sky are three new head coaches.

Jenny Huth, formerly an assistant at UCLA, takes over for Ethridge at Northern Colorado. Tracy Sanders, formerly of Saint Mary's, will try to revive the program at Southern Utah, and Velaida Harris, with ties to the state as a six-year assistant at Utah, is the new coach at Weber State.

Montana, Montana State and Eastern Washington make up the middle of the pack in both polls, with the Lady Griz and Bobcats tying for fifth in the coaches' poll, the Eagles coming in seventh.

Eastern Washington, which lost the program's all-time leading scorer in Delaney Hodgins, was picked fifth in the media poll, followed by Montana State and Montana.

The bottom four teams were the same in both polls: Weber State, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.

The Lady Griz return four starters, five if you count Sophia Stiles, who played her way into the starting five for three games midway through the 2017-18 campaign before suffering a season-ending injury in a Feb. 3 home victory over North Dakota.

Her status for the upcoming season will not be determined until next month.

The other four returning starters are all upperclassmen, which is a new position for a team that was defined by its youth and inexperience the previous two seasons under coach Shannon Schweyen.

Junior point guard McKenzie Johnston, honorable mention All-Big Sky last season, led the Lady Griz last winter in both scoring (12.5/g) and assists (5.0/g).

She had a breakout performance at the Big Sky tournament in Reno, averaging 25.5 points on 68 percent shooting, along with five rebounds and five assists over the course of two games.

Also back are senior forward Jace Henderson (8.8 ppg/7.2 rpg), junior guard Madi Schoening (8.7 ppg) and junior guard Taylor Goligoski (7.4 ppg).

Junior forward Emma Stockholm returns, as do sophomore guard Gabi Harrington and second-year forward Abby Anderson, both coming off redshirt seasons.

The team welcomes six newcomers, including sophomore guards Lee Camel, a walk-on from Ronan, and Sammy Fatkin, a transfer from Arizona who will not be eligible to play this season.

The team's incoming freshmen are Kylie Frohlich and Jordyn Schweyen of Missoula, Carmen Gfeller, of Colfax, Wash., and Katie Mayhue, of Albany, Ore.

Montana won its first Big Sky tournament game under Schweyen in March when the Lady Griz knocked off Sacramento State, 87-80, in a first-round game. They fell 78-69 to Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals.

Montana will hold its annual Maroon-Silver scrimmage on Tuesday and play its lone preseason exhibition game on Tuesday, Oct. 30, when it hosts Carroll.

The Lady Griz open their regular season on the road at Gonzaga on Wednesday, Nov. 7. They'll then have a nearly two-week break before playing their home opener against Providence on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

2018-19 Big Sky Conference Coaches' Poll
1.    Idaho (9) ... 99
2.    Portland State (2) ... 87
3.    Idaho State ... 74
4.    Northern Colorado ... 70
5.    Montana ... 62
        Montana State ... 62
7.    Eastern Washington ... 52
8.    Weber State ... 38
9.    Sacramento State ... 28
10. Northern Arizona ... 21
11. Southern Utah ... 12

2018-19 Big Sky Conference Media Poll
1.    Idaho (13) ... 202
2.    Portland State (2) ... 169
3.    Northern Colorado (4) ... 166
4.    Idaho State ... 144
5.    Eastern Washington ... 131
6.    Montana State ... 116
7.    Montana ... 107
8.    Weber State ... 100
9.    Sacramento State ... 57
10. Northern Arizona ... 40
11. Southern Utah ... 22

2018-19 Preseason All-Big Sky Conference Team: Mikayla Ferenz (MVP), Idaho; Savannah Smith, Northern Colorado; Ashley Bolston, Portland State; Taylor Pierce, Idaho; Grace Kenyon, Idaho State; Sidney Rielly, Portland State

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Lee Camel

Sammy Fatkin

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Taylor Goligoski

Gabi Harrington

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Katie Mayhue

Madi Schoening

Jordyn Schweyen

Sophia Stiles

Emma Stockholm

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