Lady Griz open Big Sky schedule

Saturday, December 29

Missoula, Mont.

2:00 PM

Montana

Northern Arizona

12/27/2018 12:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team will open its Big Sky Conference schedule in the coming days with home games against Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.

The Lady Griz will host the Lumberjacks at 2 p.m. on Saturday, the Thunderbirds on Monday, also at 2 p.m.

Montana closed out its nonconference schedule with a split at the Husky Classic in Seattle on Dec. 15-16, falling to Washington and defeating Saint Francis.

The Lady Griz defeated Montana Tech 81-49 in an exhibition game in Missoula on Dec. 20.

At a glance (Montana): Playing what was the nation's 30th-toughest schedule (as of Dec. 23), the Lady Griz finished nonconference with a winning record (5-4) for the first time since 2015-16. Montana enters league with a modest one-game winning streak after holding on against Saint Francis 79-77 in Seattle.

At a glance (Northern Arizona): Once 4-1, the Lumberjacks go into league with a 4-5 record and on a four-game losing streak. Like Montana, Northern Arizona faced Washington and Arizona on the road this season and lost to both, 81-59 to the Huskies, 71-47 to the Wildcats.

At a glance (Southern Utah): Playing under first-year coach Tracy Sanders, the Thunderbirds are 3-6 but have quality wins over San Diego (now 7-4), BYU (8-3) and Utah Valley (6-6). Three of Southern Utah's losses have been by six points or fewer. Another loss was 68-45 at UC Davis, a team Montana defeated.

History (vs. Northern Arizona): Montana has won 11 straight against Northern Arizona to up its all-time advantage to 56-11. The Lady Griz are 32-3 against the Lumberjacks in Missoula, with 10 straight wins against NAU at Dahlberg Arena.

Montana swept the series last season, winning 70-62 in overtime in Missoula, 69-52 in Flagstaff.

In the teams' first meeting, Northern Arizona led 35-20 at the half and by 21 late in the third quarter before Montana rallied. The Lady Griz outscored the Lumberjacks 41-12 over the final 14 minutes of regulation and overtime.

In the game in Flagstaff, Montana led 30-27 at the half, then opened the third quarter on a 17-0 run to take control.

History (vs. Southern Utah): Montana owns a 16-1 advantage over Southern Utah, 8-0 when the teams have met in Missoula. The Thunderbirds' lone win in the series came at home in 2013-14, a 69-49 victory. Montana has won the last seven games since that loss.

Montana swept the series last season, winning 81-71 in Missoula on the strength of 10 3-pointers and 50 percent shooting, and 74-65 in Cedar City, with Sophia Stiles scoring 26 points off the bench on just 11 shots, while adding six rebounds and four assists.

Montana quick hitters:

* The Lady Griz had played the nation's 30th-toughest schedule through Dec. 23, with their opponents holding a cumulative winning percentage of .656. Only Idaho State (9th, .711) and Eastern Washington (21st, .679) played a more difficult schedule among Big Sky teams.

* Going into league, Montana has an RPI of 77, second in the Big Sky to Idaho State (59). Northern Colorado is third at 80. All three teams are tied for second in the league standings at 5-4 and are three of four teams to come through nonconference with a winning record.

* Portland State tops the Big Sky at 8-1 but has an RPI of 155 after playing the nation's 336th-toughest schedule through Christmas (out of 351 Division I teams). Seven of the Vikings' nine games came at home.

* Montana's first two losses this season came against Gonzaga and South Dakota, the teams sitting 1-2 in this week's collegeinsider.com mid-major top 25. Gonzaga is 11-1 (loss: Notre Dame), South Dakota is 12-2 (losses: Drake, Indiana).

* Montana's other losses came against Arizona, now (a soft) 10-1, and Washington, 7-5 after losing the Husky Classic championship game to Boise State. Four days later the Huskies got run over at home by No. 4 Mississippi State, 103-56. Washington trailed 56-21 at the half.

* In its most recent games before the Christmas break, Montana lost 69-54 at Washington, then rebounded the next day with a 79-77 neutral-site victory over Saint Francis.

* Against the Huskies, the Lady Griz were within five with four minutes left in the third quarter, but 20 turnovers and Washington's 20 offensive rebounds proved to be too much. Gabi Harrington was the team's lone player in double figures with 13 points.

* The next day against the Red Flash, Montana led for 39 minutes but still had to wait out a last-second 3-point attempt by Saint Francis at the buzzer that could have won the game. The Lady Griz led by 14 in the first quarter and were up 72-52 three minutes into the fourth quarter before holding on.

* Against Saint Francis, Jace Henderson led Montana in scoring (18), rebounding (10), assists (9), steals (5) and blocks (3). She was one assist shy of recording the first triple-double in program history. She is the fifth player to come up one stat short in a particular category. The other four:

Mandy Morales: 25 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds vs. Cal State Northridge (2006-07)
Tamara Guardipee: 14 points, 10 blocks, nine rebounds vs. Portland State (2005-06)
Shannon Cate: 18 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists vs. Idaho State (1990-91)
Cheri Bratt: 12 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists vs. Montana State (1980-81)

* On Dec. 20, Montana outscored Montana Tech 50-24 on 61.3 percent shooting over the second and third quarters on its way to an 81-49 exhibition victory. All 13 players who stepped on the court (that's everyone on the roster except Madi Schoening) scored.

* Cleared by the NCAA a day earlier (to play this season should Montana opt to go that route), Arizona transfer Sammy Fatkin had seven points, six rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes against the Orediggers.

* And playing in a game for the first time since injuring her knee back on Feb. 3 against North Dakota, Sophia Stiles had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and four steals in just 14 minutes of action. Her status for the rest of the season remains up in the air.

* Montana does not lead the Big Sky in any statistical categories but ranks in the top three in eight, including second in assists (15.8/g), field goal percentage (.434) and personal fouls (14.4/g).

* Through nine games, six Montana players have led the team in scoring: McKenzie Johnston (3 times), Jace Henderson (2), Carmen Gfeller (1), Taylor Goligoski (1), Gabi Harrington (1) and Katie Mayhue (1).

* Montana is 5-0 this season when shooting 40 percent or better, 0-4 when shooting less than 40 percent, 5-0 when scoring 60 or more points, 0-4 when scoring fewer than 60.

* Jace Henderson's efficiency rating of 34 against Saint Francis was the best for a Montana player this season. The last time a player had a better rating than 34: Kayleigh Valley's 37 in a home win over Weber State in 2015-16.

* Jace Henderson had career highs against Saint Francis in points (18), assists (9) and steals (5).

* Taylor Goligoski has three times in her career had a high of four assists. Two of those came in the last two games, against Washington and Saint Francis.

* Emma Stockholm is shooting 45.7 percent in her junior year. She shot 33.0 percent as a freshman and sophomore.

* Montana's 52.5 percent shooting game against Saint Francis was a season high.

* The Lady Griz have turned the ball over 20 or more times in five games this season. The only time they've done so and won was against Saint Francis.

* The 29-point fourth quarter put up by Saint Francis in Seattle, when the Red Flash cut a 20-point deficit to one possession, matched the highest-scoring quarter by a Montana opponent this season. Arizona scored 29 points in the second quarter in its 100-51 win.

* In its four losses this season, Montana held the lead for a total of three minutes, 16 seconds.

Who to watch for (Northern Arizona): Senior forward Kaleigh Paplow. She leads the Lumberjacks in scoring (15.9/g), rebounding (6.7/g) and assists (33). She scored a season-high 23 points in her team's 63-62 win at Loyola Marymount against the team that has handed Arizona its only loss of the season.

Bonus opponent notes (Northern Arizona): The Lumberjacks were picked 10th in the preseason coaches' poll after going 7-23 last season in their first year under coach Loree Payne. ... NAU was 4-1 after its road win at Loyola Marymount but has since lost to SMU, Colorado State, New Mexico and Arizona. ... The team's other wins have come against Fresno State, Seattle and California Baptist. ... Behind Paplow, the team's next five leading scorers are all underclassmen.

Who to watch for (Southern Utah): Junior guard Rebecca Cardenas. She had 22 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists last winter at Dahlberg Arena, in Montana's 81-71 victory. This season she is averaging 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, and has a team-high 34 assists.

Bonus opponent notes (Southern Utah): After last year's 3-27 finish, the Thunderbirds opted to go with a new coach, picking Tracy Sanders, who spent the previous 12 years on staff at her alma mater, Saint Mary's. She was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1998-99 for the Gaels. ... Junior Harley Hansen, a transfer from Snow College, leads the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game. ... Southern Utah's opponents have shot 45.0 percent against the Thunderbirds this season.

* Saturday in the Big Sky Conference: Northern Arizona at Montana, Southern Utah at Montana State, Sacramento State at Northern Colorado, Idaho at Idaho State, Eastern Washington at Weber State

Game to monitor: Idaho at Idaho State. The Vandals were the darling of the preseason polls but enter league 3-6 and are 1-5 in their last six games, with a 37-point loss at Gonzaga right before Christmas. The Bengals go into league on a three-game winning streak.

* Monday in the Big Sky Conference: Southern Utah at Montana, Northern Arizona at Montana State, Portland State at Northern Colorado, Eastern Washington at Idaho State, Idaho at Weber State

Game to monitor: Portland State at Northern Colorado. The Vikings are 8-1 and will get a chance to prove the worthiness of that record when they open league at the defending champions, who are under a new coach but still have Savannah Smith, last year's regular-season and tournament MVP.

Upcoming: Montana will make it four games in eight days when the Lady Griz travel next week for road contests at Sacramento State, on Thursday, Jan. 3, and Portland State, on Saturday, Jan. 5.