10 for Tuesday

Ten bits of news, notes and necessary things you need to know before attending this year's Lady Griz Maroon-Silver scrimmage on Tuesday evening inside Dahlberg Arena.

1. Come for the game, stay for the fun.

The Lady Griz will hold their scrimmage first, at 5:30 p.m., with the men, who have advanced to the last two NCAA Tournaments, to follow, at approximately 7 p.m.

Instead of wrapping up the women's game and then rolling right into warmups for the men's game, as has previously been done, this year's event will have a little NBA All-Star Saturday night feel to it.

First there will be a 3-point shooting contest pitting the top six Lady Griz markswomen against the top six sharpshooters for the Grizzlies.

It will be head-to-head, at different ends of the floor, with the top two scoring players squaring off for what will be year-long bragging rights.

The men's team will then get warmed up for its scrimmage with what should be a crowd-pleasing dunk contest.

While you're there, please note the looks-like-new court all this is taking place upon. Over the summer, years of sweat, sealant and skin were removed and the court taken down to bare wood for the first time since it was installed more than a decade ago.

Everything was then repainted and refinished. Head up to a spot high in the facility to take in a big-picture view before finding your courtside seat.

2. Madi is OUT, everybody else is IN because, you know, Lady Griz.

Madi Schoening, last seen playing in Montana's regular-season opener at Gonzaga last November, won't be playing on Tuesday, but everybody else on the roster will be.

Welcomed back with open arms will be Sophia Stiles and Taylor Goligoski, both of whom were last seen sitting at the end of the bench as Montana's season came to a close in March in Boise against Southern Utah at the Big Sky tournament.

Montana's preseason has (gasp!) mostly gone well, with players remaining healthy. Yes, we're talking about the snake-bitten Lady Griz, who've been defined more by disastrous injury than dominance the last few seasons, or pretty much since Shannon Schweyen took over for Robin Selvig.

"I tend to get a little gun-shy when I talk about what this team could possibly be, just because of things that have happened in the past," said Schweyen, who lost Kayleigh Valley in Year 1 and has been dealing with a depleted roster ever since. "I tend to be a little bit guarded.

"In previous preseasons, we went in thinking we had some depth and we ended up not having a lot. I'm a little guarded, but I'm excited about the urgency of these young ladies and this team. They are hungry to get things done."

3. Hey, why is Jace still here? And who's the big guy? And where's Sonya?

There were some staff changes and additions in the offseason.

The first domino to fall: Sonya Stokken, who won our hearts as one of the NCAA's top 3-point shooters and one of the program's fiercest competitors when she played as Sonya Rogers, left with her growing family to head to Billings for a career opportunity for her husband.

That opened up an assistant-coach spot for Nate Covill. He's the rather large fellow who dwarfs the rest of the staff. He isn't glass-ceiling-shattering -- that was Mike Petrino, who became the program's first male assistant coach -- but Covill was a backboard-shattering player for the Griz back in the early 90s.

He's been mostly coaching boys and men ever since, first in Southern California, then in Bend, Ore., then at Willamette, a Division III program in Salem, Ore., the last three years.

"One of the reasons I brought Nate on staff is because of the way he can connect with people," said Schweyen. "He has a great way of connecting, and the girls have enjoyed getting to know him."

You may think he's entered this strange land, coaching women for the first time, but you'd be wrong. He's got the requisite bona fides.

He's married to Angella Bieber, who played for the Lady Griz in the mid-90s. Her Selvig-coached teams won 99 games in four seasons and four times played in the NCAA Tournament.

She was voted the Big Sky's Outstanding Sixth Player as a junior, the Big Sky tournament MVP as a senior.

She memorably sent her husband out the door on his first day of work with one simple directive: "Don't screw it up." It's not clear if she meant the opportunity. Or the program. Or both. Probably both.

The couple also has two daughters, Austin and Alex, so Covill has some, you know, experience.

"Oftentimes you might have some questions about how someone will transition from coaching men to women," said Schweyen. "He's been married to a Lady Griz for a long time and has his own daughters. He just has a gift.

"It's always interesting to get different points of view from people who have been in different programs, the way they do things, their terminology, their beliefs. It's been eye-opening with some new ideas and concepts. It's been refreshing."

If that's too much newness for you, you'll also see Jace Henderson on the bench. She exhausted her eligibility last season but has remained in the program as a graduate assistant coach. And that's a win.

4. Wait, the Lady Griz were picked where?

Montana was picked fifth in the coaches' preseason poll and seventh in the media poll that were released last week. Yes, the latter would be a bottom-half finish for the Big Sky's most storied program.

But don't blame the voters. They have to go by what they've seen, or not seen, not on what could be.

It was more than 20 months ago that Stiles injured her knee. And how many of the new coaching faces in the league have seen Schoening at her destructive best?

They remember Goligoski watching from the sideline the last two months of the season and probably wonder if she'll be back. And in what form.

If anyone recalls the end of last season, of Montana playing Southern Utah in the first round of the Big Sky tournament in Boise, they'll remember four players in street clothes, two more limited by the flu.

It had the feel of a comedy sketch, something only a writers' room full of anti-Lady Griz could possibly come up with. It was that bizarre.

"I'm not getting too caught up in the polls. A lot of the coaches in the league weren't even around when Sophia and Madi were playing. They don't know them. They don't know the talent of the kids we had sitting out," said Schweyen.

"The players were not happy with where we were picked. They are going to be playing with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. It's something that gets you a little fired up."

5. Please, please, please tell us Sophie is back and 100 percent. Please?

She was always a fan favorite, being from Malta and all, but even Stiles needed a break-in period when she joined the team as a freshman in 2017-18.

Her breakout performance, when "the light switched on" in Schweyen's telling, came at Montana State in mid-January that season, when she had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Her next game: at Southern Utah and a full display of everything, all the promise, revealing itself in one 40-minute window.

Twenty-six points on 8-of-11 shooting, 3 of 5 from the arc, a perfect 7 for 7 at the line. Six rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.

Two days later, she scored Montana's first seven points as the Lady Griz won at Northern Arizona for a sweep of the road trip.

She had 16 points and six rebounds while defending Savannah Smith in Montana's next game, at home against Northern Colorado. Two days later, against North Dakota in early February, she was on the floor, grabbing her knee.

All that excitement, extinguished, just like that.

The big question last year was whether or not she'd be back by mid-season.

She gave everyone a tantalizing look at what we'd been missing when she was able to take the floor in a pre-Christmas exhibition game. But a few days later the decision was made to shut her down until this season.

Selfishly, it was disappointing for most of us at the time, knowing what we'd be going without. But now the reward: three more full seasons of Stiles.

"I feel like she's back, and I think she's every bit of what she was. She's getting after it. She's quick, she's guarding the ball tough," said Schweyen. "It's encouraging to see people come off ACLs, when you feel they haven't lost anything."

It's opened up some possibilities for Schweyen and her staff, who have experimented with Stiles at the point, a position McKenzie Johnston has had on lockdown for most of her career.

That's bumped Johnston to the two-guard, which allows other parts of her game to be showcased.

"She and Kenzie have enjoyed playing together," said Schweyen. "That's been a fun wrinkle for us to look at."

6. Hasn't McKenzie been here for like a decade now?

Yes, she was actually a true freshman on what was Robin Selvig's final team, in 2015-16. The reason it feels like Johnston has been around forever is that she's been a starter since her redshirt freshman season.

She's played more than 3,100 minutes the last three seasons and has been a stalwart while so many other things in the program have been in upheaval.

That her playing career mirrors Schweyen's career as head coach is the reason the two have quite the bond. They've been through some things together.

"She's been the one steady thing we've had as far as performing and competing at a high level," said Schweyen.

"She's been through a lot, not only herself but watching what's happened to some of her teammates. People sometimes forget how hard that can be on the friends around them. It affects you in ways you don't really know until you're in those shoes."

Johnston reached 1,000 career points in the tournament loss to Southern Utah and could end her career in the top 10 in program history in scoring with another -- for her -- average season.

She was named to the seven-player preseason All-Big Sky team last week.

"The one word I'd use is calming," said Schweyen, when asked what it's like to look out from the bench and see Johnston on the court.

"I feel good that we'll be organized and that she's going to make us competitive and get us where we need to be, and that she's going to fight to the bitter end."

7. So ... we had to wait until item No. 7 before reading the words Jamie Pickens?

Yes, and that's the way player and coach want it. As Pickens told her coach over the summer, when she'd received even more attention: I haven't done anything yet.

In one sense that's true. She's a Lady Griz without a minute played, a point scored, a rebound grabbed.

But anyone who joins the program as the Gatorade Montana Player of the Year as a junior and senior, who led Helena High to state titles as a sophomore, junior and senior and was named a top-100 ESPN recruit and turned down flashier offers, is going to arrive in Missoula with a bit of fanfare.

But walk into a Lady Griz practice these days and you'd have a hard time picking out the player with that resume. Sure, the talent -- in a 6-foot-2 frame -- is there and identifiable, but you'd never be able to pick her out otherwise.

"Anyone who knows her knows she wants to earn what she gets," said Schweyen. "Coming to college can be a humbling experience for any incoming kid, including Jamie, even at her level

"You learn quickly there is a lot you have not been taught about basketball. In that way, Jamie is just like any other girl who steps foot on this campus. We're expecting good things from her, but she has to earn them, and she knows that. She's going to work hard and be a great teammate."

8. How long do we have to wait to see the Lady Griz play a game against an opponent?

Not long! The preseason is actually wrapping up quite quickly. Montana will host Lewis-Clark State this coming Friday at 7 p.m.

Next Tuesday: Carroll, the preseason favorite in the Frontier Conference, which added a pair of Division I dropdowns in the offseason, Kamden Hilborn from Montana State and Emerald Toth from Boise State.

A week after that, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Lady Griz School Day game against MSU Northern, the regular-season opener with an 11:30 a.m. start time.

Montana will play its first four regular-season games at home, with MSU Northern being followed by Fresno State, Grand Canyon and then last season's WNIT champion, Arizona.

But first things first: Tuesday's scrimmage, then the exhibition games.

"Carroll has a couple Division I dropdowns, so they'll have additional size and experience. That will be a good test for us, as will Lewis-Clark State," said Schweyen. "They lost a lot, but (coach) Brian Orr always does a really nice job. They are well-coached, so those will be two great tests for us."

9. If Montana was picked fifth/seventh in the league, what can we expect to see this winter in the Big Sky?

Mostly a lot of unfamiliar names and faces. That's what happens when 13 of the 15 players who made up the first, second and third All-Big Sky teams last season graduated.

And it wasn't just a senior class but maybe the most decorated and accomplished senior class in league history.

"I truly can't remember a year when I've seen a mass exodus like that of talent," said Schweyen, who has been a player and coach in the Big Sky since the late 80s. "The league was really good.

"There were some fantastic, historic players, not just in the Big Sky but the NCAA. There are a lot of great returning players but not with a lot of name recognition. There are a lot of good players who have kind of gone unrecognized to this point."

The top four teams in both the coaches' and media polls were identical: Montana State, Idaho, Portland State and Idaho State. Seven of the 11 teams in the league received at least one first-place vote in the polls.

The Vandals won the 2018-19 regular-season title with a 16-4 league record. The Vikings knocked off Idaho in the Big Sky tournament semifinals and would go on to defeat Eastern Washington in the championship game.

10. So what's the ceiling for this team?

As we've become conditioned to, a lot of it comes down to the if's. If Montana stays healthy. If the Lady Griz can go into February and March with a full roster. If there are not any calamitous setbacks this winter.

If the if's go in Montana's favor, which has not been the case the last three seasons, the Lady Griz could be playing championship-level basketball when that time of the season rolls around a number of months from now.

"After being here this many years, I've seen teams who have overachieved, underachieved, and I believe this team has the capability of not only winning the league but also going into the NCAA and winning a game," said Schweyen.

"The No. 1 thing I saw from this group was their commitment in the summer. Literally every girl on the team stayed and put in time in the weight room and gym, which was great to see. They were together a lot, and it definitely brought them closer."

See for yourselves on Tuesday starting at 5:30.

University of Montana Athletics

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Taylor Goligoski

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Jamie Pickens

Madi Schoening

Sophia Stiles

Kayleigh Valley

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