Saints to provide final exhibition test

The Montana women's basketball team will play its second and final exhibition game on Tuesday when it hosts Carroll inside Dahlberg Arena. The Lady Griz and Saints will tip off at 7 p.m.

Carroll will enter Tuesday's game with a record of 1-1.

After shooting 28 percent and turning the ball over 20 times in a 61-45 season-opening home loss to Calgary -- the Saints had just 10 points at the half, 22 through three quarters -- they rebounded with a 79-54 home-court victory on Thursday over the College of Idaho.

That is more in line with what was expected from a team with three starters back, plus two Division I dropdowns, from a squad that went 26-8 last year and advanced to the second round of the NAIA national tournament.

Carroll was the overwhelming favorite to win the Frontier Conference this winter. The Saints opened the season ranked No. 7 nationally.

"They have kids who have played together for a number of years, so they are experienced and will be organized," said coach Shannon Schweyen. "They'll be tough. They are a good basketball team."

It's worth noting that Montana defeated Lewis-Clark State on Friday, 81-69, the team picked to finish fourth in the Frontier Conference, behind Carroll, Rocky Mountain and Providence.

Behind 24 points from Gabi Harrington and a 12-assist, zero-turnover game by McKenzie Johnston, the Lady Griz outlasted the Warriors, who outscored the Lady Griz in the second half.

Lewis-Clark State shot 46.2 percent and got to the line 22 times to Montana's 10.

"I think they are a pretty good little basketball team," said Schweyen. "We put them to the line too much, that's for sure. We fouled too many shooters and got them in the bonus.

"That was a lot of points to give up, even if we were trying some different things. We have to be better at keeping people in front of us and closing out our individual assignments in man-to-man."

The glaring personnel loss for Carroll from last year's team is Hannah Dean, who averaged 15.0 points and 7.2 rebounds as a senior.

But three juniors guards are back, each of whom started all 34 games last season.

Christine Denny was an honorable-mention all-American last year. She and Danielle Wagner, second-team All-Frontier Conference last season, were both voted preseason all-league.

"The experience they have back, with Wagner, Denny and (Jaidyn) Lyman, those are three really experienced guards who were part of their big run last year," said Schweyen.

The offseason also brought with it two dropdowns, Emerald Toth from Boise State and Kamden Hilborn from Montana State. Toth is from Bozeman, Hilborn from Clancy. She attended Helena High.

The 6-foot-1 Toth hasn't missed a shot through two games, opening 7 for 7. Hilborn has started both games and is coming off an eight-assist, seven-point, five-rebound performance against the College of Idaho.

"They lost a great player in Hannah Dean, who was a big part of what they did, but they have a nice team back," said Schweyen.

"Emi Toth is tough in the paint, and Camden is just a good athlete. She's a good little defender and a good basketball player."

As it is every year when Schweyen's team faces Carroll, she'll have a level of familiarity with almost all of the players on the Saints' roster, whether she watched them face her own daughters in high school or they came to Montana's summer camps or were at one point recruited by the Lady Griz.

"Literally every one of them," said Schweyen, who has a history with Carroll coach Rachelle Sayers that dates back to their high school days in Montana. "I'm very familiar with (Carroll's players), and Rachelle and I have known each other forever.

"So you know what some tendencies might be and what they like to do, but every year is a new year."

Harrington's 24 points in Montana's first exhibition game were more than she scored in any game last season, when she topped out at 21 in the team's loss at regular-season champion Idaho.

Eight times she scored 15 or more points and finished the season averaging 11.0 on solid 40.3 percent shooting, that coming off a redshirt season.

And yet Harrington didn't even make the ballot for preseason All-Big Sky consideration, a list that went 21 players deep.

"I think she could have been preseason All-Big Sky," said Schweyen. "Obviously her game took a huge jump from the year before. She became a force inside and outside."

Harrington went 8 for 13 on Friday, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

"She's starting to understand why we do things, so the sky's the limit for her in areas she could keep improving on," said Schweyen.

"She's got a beautiful outside shot, she's got the pull-up jumper, she scores in the post. She has all the facets of the game to make her something special."

Freshman Jamie Pickens had 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and six rebounds against the Warriors. Emma Stockholm also went 5 for 8 to finish with 10 points and five rebounds.

Twelve players saw the court, everyone but Madi Schoening, and all played at least seven minutes. Montana finished +18 in the paint, and the Lady Griz scored 33 points off the bench.

"There were some bright spots, some moments when we had some good runs and got some stops defensively," said Schweyen.

Montana opens the regular season with the third annual Lady Griz School Day game against MSU Northern on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 11:30 a.m.

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Players Mentioned

Gabi Harrington

McKenzie Johnston

Jamie Pickens

Madi Schoening

Emma Stockholm

University of Montana Athletics