Lady Griz heading to Seattle for Husky Classic

Saturday, December 15

Seattle, Wash.

2:00 PM (MT)

Montana

Washington

12/12/2018 4:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team will play its final nonconference games of the regular season this weekend when the Lady Griz travel to Seattle for the two-day, four-team Husky Classic.

Montana will play host Washington at 2 p.m. (MT) on Saturday and either Boise State or Saint Francis on Sunday. Those two teams play at 5 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.

Saturday's losing teams will play at 2 p.m. (MT) on Sunday, with the championship game scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m. (MT).

Montana will close out its pre-Christmas schedule with an exhibition home game against Montana Tech on Thursday, Dec. 20.

The team's Big Sky Conference schedule opens at home, with the Lady Griz hosting Northern Arizona on Saturday, Dec. 29, and Southern Utah on Monday, Dec. 31.

Coverage: All four Husky Classic games this week can be watched through Washington Live Stream. Montana's games will air locally on KMPT 930 AM/99.7 FM.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz, who have won three of their last four, are 4-3 after picking up their first road win of the season, 69-47 on Friday night at Grand Canyon. Montana's three losses have come against teams -- Gonzaga, South Dakota, Arizona -- who are currently 26-3.

At a glance (Washington): The Huskies, who are 6-3 on the season, will go into Saturday's game on a three-game winning streak, with all three wins by 10 points or more, including a 69-59 victory last Wednesday over Ohio State. Washington defeated Northern Arizona 81-59 back on Nov. 11.

At a glance (Boise State): The Broncos are 6-2 and one game out of first in the Mountain West behind 7-1 New Mexico. Boise State has wins over Idaho, 91-85, and Eastern Washington, 67-55. Its losses came 74-55 at home to a top-10 team in Louisville and, surprisingly, 95-71 on the road at Washington State.

At a glance (Saint Francis): At 2-6, the Red Flash is the only team in the Husky Classic without a winning record. Saint Francis's six losses have come by an average of 31.8 points per game. Its wins are a 12-point home victory over Division II Seton Hill and a 91-88 road win at 1-4 Longwood.

History (vs. Washington): Montana and Washington have played 19 times but have not faced each other since 1989-90, a 67-58 victory for the Huskies in Missoula. Washington leads the all-time series 11-8 and is 6-1 against Montana in games played in Seattle.

The teams met eight times in the late 70s and early 80s when both were members of the Northwest Women's Basketball League (NWBL). ... Montana's one win on the road against Washington was a 63-59 victory in 1982-83. ... The Huskies have won the last two games in the series, the last three in Seattle.

Montana played at Washington's tournament during the 1986-87 season, losing to the Huskies 68-56 before rebounding the next day with a 50-48 win over Notre Dame.

History (vs. Boise State): Montana owns a 38-12 advantage over Boise State and at one time held a 24-game winning streak over the Broncos. The teams have not met since the 2008-09 season, a 72-51 victory for the Lady Griz in Missoula.

Montana and Boise State were conference rivals from 1977-78 through 1995-96, a span that covered membership in the NWBL, Mountain West and Big Sky.

The Lady Griz and Broncos have twice before played neutral-site games, with Montana winning 70-68 in Bozeman at the 1993 Big Sky tournament and Boise State winning 61-52 in a game played in Billings early in the 1998-99 season.

History (vs. Saint Francis): The Lady Griz and Red Flash have never met.

Montana quick hitters:

* Though Montana has not faced Washington in nearly 30 years, the Lady Griz have twice played more recently on the Huskies' home floor. They played Vanderbilt there in the 2005 NCAA Tournament and Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament in 2009. Montana lost both games.

* Montana is coming off a road trip of disparate outcomes. Last Wednesday the Lady Griz lost 100-51 at Arizona. Two days later they won 69-47 at Grand Canyon for their first road win of the season.

* In the loss to the Wildcats, Montana allowed 100 points for the first time since a 100-83 road loss at Sacramento State in 2009-10 and for just the second time in program history.

* Montana allowed Arizona to score 1.44 points per possession, the only time this season an opponent has been above 1.0.

* Montana turned the ball over a season-high 22 times, got out-rebounded 50-22, its fewest rebounds in a game since a road loss at Northern Arizona in February 1998, and allowed the Wildcats to shoot 51.4 percent.

* The Lady Griz trailed 11-8 midway through the first quarter but then went nearly eight minutes without a field goal and fell behind 53-25 at the half.

* It was the most lopsided loss for Montana since losing 91-41 at Western Washington in the 1976-77 season, the second-highest point differential in a loss in program history.

* Katie Mayhue, with 17 points, was the lone player to reach double figures against the Wildcats.

* In Friday's win at Grand Canyon, Montana trailed 26-24 late in the second quarter but outscored the Lopes 45-21 the rest of the way on 19-of-34 (.559) shooting.

* All five starters scored 10 or more points, each on 50 percent or better shooting. In all, six players scored between eight and 13 points.

* Montana's 1.11 points per possession was its second-highest of the season, behind only the 1.13 scored against Providence (MT).

* Montana turned the ball over a season-low nine times and finished +12 on the boards, with only four offensive rebounds allowed and a single second-chance point given up.

* Jace Henderson had 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds, two days after being limited to a single point at Arizona.

* Emma Stockholm had her second double-double in three games, the first two of her career, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She is now tied with Henderson for the team lead in rebounds at 6.4/game.

* Henderson has 23 assists the last four games and 31 for the season, only three behind the team lead of point guard McKenzie Johnston.

* Montana's 7-for-8 free throw performance at Grand Canyon was its best percentage (.875) of the season. It came two days after the team's season low of .550 (11 for 20) at Arizona.

* Six of Montana's top seven scorers are shooting better than 41 percent on the season, putting the Lady Griz at 42.4 percent as a team, up from 35.1 percent two years ago and 39.8 percent a season ago.

* Through seven games, five players have led Montana in scoring: McKenzie Johnston (3 times), Carmen Gfeller (1), Taylor Goligoski (1), Jace Henderson (1) and Katie Mayhue (1).

* Montana ranks first in the Big Sky, 11th nationally, committing just 13.3 fouls/game.

* In six of Montana's seven games this season, the final margin has been 16 points or more. Only the team's 62-56 home win over UC Davis had any drama going into the final two minutes.

* Gabi Harrington is a tidy 4 for 8 from the arc this season, 2 for 3 in two of the last three games. She went 16 for 72 (.222) from 3-point range as a freshman in 2016-17 before redshirting last year. It's a big reason her overall shooting percentage is up to .465 after going 29.8 percent two seasons ago.

Who to watch for (Washington): Junior guard Amber Melgoza -- She leads the team in both scoring (20.8/g) and rebounding (6.1/g) and is coming off a 28-point outing in Washington's win over Ohio State. She was named All-Pac-12 as a sophomore after finishing second in the league in scoring (19.0/g).

Who to watch for (Boise State): Junior guard Riley Lupfer -- She has had six consecutive double-figure scoring games, leads the team with 17 3-pointers made and has turned the ball over just four times in a team-high 219 minutes played this season, which is remarkable.

Who to watch for (Saint Francis): Senior guard Jess Kovatch -- The reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year ranked second in the NCAA in scoring last season (24.4/g) and set an NCAA record with 141 3-pointers made. She is averaging 17.9 points this season and already has 2,301 career points.

Bonus opponent notes (Washington): The Huskies are led by second-year coach Jody Wynn, who turned a successful eight-year run at Long Beach State into the Washington job. ... The Huskies, 7-23 last season, were picked last in both the Pac-12 coaches' and media preseason polls.

Bonus opponent notes (Boise State): The Broncos have made the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years out of the Mountain West. They fell at Louisville in the opening round last spring 74-42. ... Boise State defeated both Washington, 85-62, and Saint Francis, 87-59, at home last season. ... Boise State topped the preseason Mountain West poll, garnering 19 of 23 first-place votes.

Bonus opponent notes (Saint Francis): The Red Flash has made a dozen NCAA Tournament appearances since 1996, including last season when it lost 140-52 to Connecticut in the opening round. ... Saint Francis, located in Loretto, Pa., was picked second in the Northeast Conference preseason poll behind Robert Morris. ... Seventh-year coach Joe Haigh has been on a leave of absence since mid-November. He was replaced by Susan Robinson Fruchtl, the program's former coach and school's AD.

Lady Griz insider:

It was a week ago now that Montana lost 100-51 at Arizona, a game that got away from the Lady Griz due to the Wildcats' offensive rebounding -- they had 16 in the first half alone -- and Montana's turnovers, 22 of them, which Arizona converted into 36 points.

But there were some points of light if you're willing to look closely enough. Katie Mayhue, a freshman, played boldly and went at Arizona head-on. She got to the line 10 times and finished with a season-high 17 points, which would have been 20 or more had she not missed five free throws.

And there was this: Montana shot 42 percent in the first half, not something you'd expect when trailing 53-25 at the break, but made possible by Arizona's second chances and so many possessions when the Lady Griz didn't even get a shot off before turning it over.

"When we had possession in the half-court, good things happened for the most part," said coach Shannon Schweyen. "We got good shots and scored well, but it was too few and far between when we had those possessions.

"I was pleased with some of our offensive execution against some of the things they did. We scored with confidence."

Two days later nearly everything clicked offensively against Grand Canyon. Montana had balance, with all five starters scoring between 10 and 13 points and six players taking between eight and 10 shots, and turned the ball over just nine times.

If it hadn't been for some cold shooting in the first quarter and some shots that rolled off the rim, Montana may have approached 80 points in the road win.

To give the victory some perspective, Portland State, now 7-0, won at Grand Canyon this week 60-55. The Vikings were limited to four second-quarter points and turned the ball over 20 times against the Lopes.

"It felt like one of the best team wins we've ever had," said Schweyen. "It was fun to watch the girls share the ball and see so many different people come in and do good things. Everyone played unselfishly, and it showed up on the stat sheet."

Perhaps most encouraging was that Montana put up 69 points while only needing to take eight 3-pointers, of which the Lady Griz made four.

Through seven games Montana has attempted just 99 triples, 28 fewer than the Lady Griz put up through seven games a year ago.

It shows a maturing offense in Schweyen's third year with mostly the same players throughout. The team's ever-improving shooting percentage is a direct result.

"We've been talking about shot selection and how we want to be more patient," said Schweyen, who continues to use South Dakota as an example for her own team. The Coyotes defeated the Lady Griz 64-41 in Missoula last month.

"We wanted to 'South Dakota' (Grand Canyon on Friday) and get the ball turned three times. That was our goal, to make them work. Don't just come down and jack something up right away. We can get those shots any time we want. We've been doing a nice job of being patient."

There was also the Jace Factor on Friday. The senior only attempted three shots against Arizona, which is no way to go about winning a game. Her hands were all over the ball on Friday. She only took eight shots, but she had seven assists. Good things just happen when the ball's in her hands.

"We talked about getting Jace more involved than she was at Arizona," said Schweyen. "We really wanted to get the ball into the post, so we emphasized that. She can score it and she's a very alert passer."

Now arrives Washington, with its guard-heavy lineups that have taken 211 3-pointers, more than 23 per game, and is averaging more than 70 points and has a neutral-site victory over Duke.

"They are very talented at the guard. They like to get out and go and push the ball and attack and put some points on the board, so we've got to take away transition as best we can," said Schweyen.

"It won't be what it was at Arizona, who had some bigs who were camped out under the basket, but Washington is still a good rebounding team. They have you spread out and they're quick to the ball."

Then comes either Boise State or Saint Francis, both NCAA Tournament teams a year ago.

Montana's coaches will be prepared for either, with a full scouting report ready to go, but the players won't focus on anything but Washington up until Saturday's game. Only after Sunday's opponent has been determined will full-on preparations for the second game commence.

It's the way Montana handled its home tournament two weekends ago. All eyes on Northern Illinois, then a crash course on UC Davis.

"We handled it the same way (at the Lady Griz Classic), and I thought we did a good job with that against UC Davis (in the championship game)," said Schweyen. "We didn't give the players any information on UC Davis or Nevada until we found out who we were playing.

"We'll use our shoot-around on Sunday to walk through some things or use the hotel if we have to."