Lady Griz picked fifth, seventh in preseason polls

In a preseason defined by questions that will take time to be answered, unknowns that have yet to reveal themselves and a collective shoulder shrug when asked how it will all play out in the Big Sky Conference this winter, the Montana women's basketball team may be the biggest enigma of them all.

The Lady Griz of 2019-20, defined: They received first-place votes in both the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' and media polls that were announced on Thursday, yet finished fifth in the former, seventh in the latter.

The general consensus: We see the talent on the roster, we see the experience, we see the seven players who have started games over the years, but for the most part we'll believe it when we see it. As in: actual healthy bodies playing in actual games, at a pre-injury level for those to which that applies.

The last time people saw Montana playing a game came in March in Boise. It was the low point of a three-year run of bad luck. When the final horn sounded, the Lady Griz, the No. 7 seed and operating on fumes and with a thin active roster, walked off the floor having lost to No. 10 Southern Utah 64-56.

The Big Sky's proudest, most storied program headed home the next day, having not even advanced to the quarterfinals of the 11-team tournament, one of the first three to summarily be dismissed. That no one seemed surprised was the most revealing part of it all.

It's not that Montana had slid. The injured players on the end of the bench in that tournament game probably could have added a stranger off the street and won a postseason game or two, so the talent has remained. It's just that hardly anyone has seen it collectively for what feels like a long, long time.

It's why there is so much variability in the polls when it comes to Montana.

Us? We remember one of the last games Sophia Stiles played before injuring her knee, now more than 20 months ago. It was a tour de force: 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting, with six rebounds and four assists on the road against Southern Utah. Nine days later all that promise was on the floor, grabbing her knee.

We remember Madi Schoening's magnum opus. Challenged by her coach, Schoening responded with 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in a home-court blitzing of Montana State. But that was two seasons ago. Last year she only made it one game into the season before having to shut it down.

We remember the sweet shooting stroke of Taylor Goligoski, sidelined as well the final two months of last season, and the dual emergence last winter of Gabi Harrington and Emma Stockholm, both limited in Boise by the flu and dehydration.

And we ask ourselves: What are we missing? Aren't McKenzie Johnston and Sammy Fatkin back as well? Didn't Carmen Gfeller promise her coach after an up-and-down freshman season, You haven't seen the best of me yet, not even close? Didn't the Lady Griz add a top-100 recruit in Jamie Pickens?

Isn't that a championship-level team, especially this year, when the league underwent an offseason loss of talent unlike perhaps ever in its three-decade history? In theory, yes. But who would blame anyone, coaches or media, for wanting to see it first? After all, polls aren't voted on in faith but in facts.

It's why Montana State topped the poll. Coach Tricia Binford, now in her 15th season, has four returning starters back, and that does not include Fallyn Freije, a transfer from North Dakota who on Wednesday was named the Big Sky preseason MVP.

Idaho, Portland State and Idaho State finished second, third and fourth in both polls.

The Vandals won the league last year at 16-4 but lost two of the best scorers in Big Sky history in Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce. But all agree Jon Newlee's program is now more than just two players, no matter how special they were.

The Vikings, who won the tournament championship game over Eastern Washington, lost more than that, at least in numbers, with the departures of Sidney Rielly, Ashley Bolston and Courtney West.

Idaho State, with one senior, only four upperclassmen and five true freshmen, was picked fourth for one reason: coach Seton Sobolewski, who has a history of taking whatever roster he's been given and making his team one of the Big Sky's toughest outs come March.

Northern Colorado will have to move forward without Savannah Smith, one of the best individual scorers in league history. Eastern Washington is Eastern Washington, annually overlooked early, then surprised late, again, by the work done by undervalued coach Wendy Schuller.

Both teams received first-place votes because ... .why not? They probably have as good a case as any.

Then there is Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Sacramento State and Weber State, teams once again trying to break through the cellar door and into the top half of the league.

And that's where things stand on Oct. 17, given what everyone knows and what everyone can rightfully believe before a single game has been played. The answers are coming, the unknowns will not remain that way for long.

As for Montana? It's a team with enough potential that the Lady Griz earned first-place votes. Yet a bottom-half finish is what is expected, at least in one poll.

It was a revealing moment on Monday afternoon, when fourth-year coach Shannon Schweyen, who has yet to be given a fair shake by the basketball gods after taking over for one of their own, Robin Selvig, was shown the results of the polls.

It wasn't anger at being overlooked, as one might have expected. Instead a smile slowly emerged, a subtle nodding of the head. No words needed to be spoken. She's just fine with where people expect her team to finish. Doubt us. Please, please doubt us.

Then she turned her attention to the court, where Stiles and Johnston were doing their things, where Harrington and Goligoski were lighting up the arc, where Fatkin was looking as smooth as ever, Gfeller was making good on her promise and Pickens was doing things 6-foot-2 players shouldn't be able to do.

And all was just fine in the world.

2019-20 Big Sky Conference coaches' poll

1. Montana State (5) ... 89
2. Idaho (3) ... 88
3. Portland State (2) ... 73
4. Idaho State ... 70
5. Montana (1) ... 63
6. Northern Colorado ... 57
7. Eastern Washington ... 52
8. Northern Arizona ... 48
9. Southern Utah ... 32
10. Sacramento State ... 19
11. Weber State ... 14

2019-20 Big Sky Conference media poll

1. Montana State (7) ... 155
2. Idaho (1) ... 148
3. Portland State (3) ... 147
4. Idaho State (3) ... 140
5. Northern Colorado (4) ... 131
6. Eastern Washington (1) ... 126
7. Montana (2) ... 116
8. Northern Arizona ... 83
9. Sacramento State ... 62
10. Southern Utah ... 52
11. Weber State ... 28

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Sammy Fatkin

Carmen Gfeller

Taylor Goligoski

Gabi Harrington

McKenzie Johnston

Jamie Pickens

Madi Schoening

Sophia Stiles

Emma Stockholm

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