Lady Griz to get right back on the road

The Montana women's basketball team, just back from a one-game road trip to Northern Colorado, will embark upon another later this week when it heads south for games at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

The Lady Griz will face the Thunderbirds at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Cedar City and the Lumberjacks on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Flagstaff in what will be their final regular-season road games.

Montana will return home next Tuesday, then host Portland State and Sacramento State next Thursday and Saturday before traveling to Boise for the Big Sky Conference tournament, which opens on Monday, March 11.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz (12-13, 7-9 BSC) have dropped two straight to fall to seventh place in the Big Sky standings, two games behind Montana State, one behind Eastern Washington. Montana lost at home to Montana State on Saturday and fell at Northern Colorado on Monday night.

At a glance (Southern Utah): The Thunderbirds (6-20, 3-14 BSC) have lost seven straight and 11 of their last 12. They are sitting 10th in the Big Sky, one game up on last-place Weber State. SUU has lost its last three games, to Portland State, Eastern Washington and Idaho, by a combined 67 points.

At a glance (Northern Arizona): The Lumberjacks (9-17, 5-12 BSC) are 3-3 over their last six, which includes a road sweep of Idaho State and Weber State. NAU plays its final three league games at home, hosting Montana State on Saturday, Montana on Monday and Northern Colorado next Saturday.

Boise prospects (Montana): The Lady Griz' home loss to Montana State on Saturday and subsequent road loss at Northern Colorado on Monday almost certainly will have them playing a first-round game in Boise on opening Monday.

To earn a bye at this point, Montana would need to pick up three games on Montana State and two on Eastern Washington with just four regular-season games remaining. Both the Bobcats and Eagles hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lady Griz with their regular-season sweeps of Montana.

Boise prospects (Southern Utah): The Thunderbirds will be one of the bottom three seeds in Boise and will play a first-round game on opening Monday. If the standings remain as is, Saturday's game at Cedar City against Montana will be a preview of the 7-10 game at Boise at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

Boise prospects (Northern Arizona): The Thunderbirds are currently the No. 9 seed but are sitting just behind eighth-place Sacramento State. With No. 8 and 9 opening the tournament in Boise at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, a one-team flip in the standings wouldn't do anything to change the first-round matchup.

Trending (Montana): Holding steady. Yes, the Lady Griz have dropped two straight, but they've shot well in both (.441 and .455). The Bobcats were one percent better on Saturday from start to finish, a small margin of error, and the Bears had Savannah Smith and her UNC-record 40 points on Monday.

Trending (Southern Utah): Down. But the Thunderbirds get Montana at America First Event Center on Saturday, where they are 5-7. (SUU is 1-13 on the road.) The Lady Griz are 3-9 in road games, losing six of their last seven away from Missoula, four of those six by 16 points or more.

Trending (Northern Arizona): Holding steady. The Lumberjacks have lost three of four after sweeping Idaho State and Weber State on the road, but two of those three losses came against Big Sky heavyweights Portland State and Idaho. The win was a home victory over Sacramento State.

Most recently (Montana): The Lady Griz couldn't add to their two-game winning streak, falling at home to Montana State on Saturday, 75-71, then dropping a 79-61 decision at Northern Colorado on Monday, their sixth consecutive loss to the Bears.

On Saturday, the Bobcats scored 26 first-quarter points and never trailed over the final three quarters, despite several spirited rallies by the Lady Griz that cut MSU's lead to one possession on multiple occasions. McKenzie Johnston had a 23-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist performance in the loss.

Monday's loss was all about Savannah Smith, who scored 16 points in the first quarter, 16 more in the fourth on her way to 40 to match the most points ever scored by an opposing player against Montana (more below). The Bears shot 50 percent, knocked down nine 3-pointers and never trailed in the game.

Most recently (Southern Utah): The Thunderbirds went on the road last week and lost twice, 80-66 to Eastern Washington and 77-49 at Idaho to extend their losing streak to seven games.

In a storyline Montana can relate to, the 3-point shot doomed Southern Utah. The Eagles went 10 for 26 from the arc on Thursday. Two days later, the Vandals were even better, going 14 of 30 from distance.

(On Saturday, a reprieve. The Lady Griz have made fewer 3-pointers this season (110) than any other team in the Big Sky on 28.6 percent shooting from the arc. Over the last five games Montana has gone 17 for 73 (.233) from 3-point range.)

Most recently (Northern Arizona): Facing the same road trip last week, the Lumberjacks didn't do enough defensively to win either game, falling 90-72 at Idaho and 81-76 at Eastern Washington.

The Vandals hit 12 3-pointers and shot 56.5 percent overall. The Eagles connected a season-high 13 times from the arc. NAU's last eight opponents have shot 40 percent or better and have averaged more than 75 points.

The first meeting (Montana 79, Southern Utah 57 -- Dec. 31 at Missoula): The Thunderbirds actually led 23-19 after the first quarter, but it was all Lady Griz after that. Montana shot 50 percent and was +19 on the boards.

Emma Stockholm scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and Jace Henderson and Gabi Harrington both had 15-point, 11-rebound double-doubles in a game McKenzie Johnston missed to attend her sister's wedding.

The first meeting (Montana 78, Northern Arizona 62 -- Dec. 29 at Missoula): Montana led 20-19 after one and outscored the Lumberjacks 18-8 in the second quarter to build a 38-27 halftime lead. The Lady Griz led by eight or more the entire second half.

Montana again shot well (.471) and forced NAU into 19 turnovers, with McKenzie Johnston scoring 18 points, Jace Henderson and Taylor Goligoski 11. Kaleigh Paplow, who hit five 3-pointers, led Northern Arizona with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Series history: For all the turmoil within the Lady Griz program the last few years, from a coaching change to season-ending injuries that have wreaked havoc with the roster each of the last three years, Montana has continued its winning ways against Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

Montana has won eight straight over Southern Utah and holds an overall series lead of 17-1. The Lady Griz are 7-1 against the Thunderbirds in Cedar City, with SUU's lone win a 69-49 home victory in 2013-14.

Montana's last trip to Cedar City, 13 months ago, is bittersweet to recall. It was a breakout game for then-freshman Sophia Stiles, who scored 26 points on just 11 shots as the Lady Griz won 74-65. A little more than a week later she would be knocked out for the season (and this year) with a knee injury.

Montana has won 12 straight over Northern Arizona and 20 of the last 22. The Lady Griz lead the overall series 57-11 and have gone 22-7 in Flagstaff, with five straight wins on NAU's home floor.

Northern Arizona's last win in the series was a 74-70 home victory in 2011-12, when the Lumberjacks shot 52.0 percent to overcome Katie Baker's 22 points. Montana missed 12 free throws in the loss.

Smith's big night: Savannah Smith opened strong, with 16 points on Monday night less than nine minutes into the game. Then she cooled off and took 24 into the fourth quarter. Then she got rolling again, adding 16 more to finish with 40.

That matched Idaho's Mikayla Ferenz (vs. San Francisco) for the most points scored by a Big Sky player this season and equaled the most ever scored by an opposing player against Montana, matching the 40 put up by Wake Forest's Dearica Hamby in November 2014 at Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Smith went 12 for 22 overall, 7 of 16 from 3-point range, and went a perfect 9 of 9 from the free throw line, all coming in the fourth quarter.

Hamby, who had the advantage over Smith of being 6-foot-3, went 13 for 17 from the field, 14 of 16 at the line. She scored 13 points in the first half, 27 in the second, as the Demon Deacons rallied over the final 10 minutes for a 73-60 victory.

The top five scoring performances against Montana:

40, Savannah Smith (Northern Colorado) -- UNC 79, UM 61 (2.25.19 at Greeley, Colo.)
40, Dearica Hamby (Wake Forest) -- WFU 73, UM 60 (11.29.14 at Riviera Maya, Mexico)
38, Bev Smith (Oregon) -- UO 89, UM 57 (2.5.81 at Missoula, Mont.)
37, Tracy Lis (Providence) -- UM 95, PC 94 (ot) (11.29.91 at Honolulu, Hawaii)
37, Genia Miller (Cal State Fullerton) -- UM 73, CSFU 65 (12.8.90 at Missoula, Mont.)

Montana notes of importance:

* McKenzie Johnston goes into the final four games of the regular season with 928 career points. With at least one game guaranteed at Boise and with the way she's been scoring it, she has a good chance to become the 34th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points by season's end.

* Johnston has played all 40 minutes the last six games and hasn't come off the floor in 12 of Montana's 25 games this season.

* Johnston has scored in double figures, with a season-high 23 coming on Saturday against Montana State, in six straight games. It's the same six-game streak held by Gabi Harrington, who has scored 10 points or more 13 of the last 15 games.

* Montana has now had seven games this season when the Lady Griz have never held a lead. The last came on Monday night against Northern Colorado. Montana also never held a lead in its 73-62 home loss to the Bears either.

* Northern Colorado scored 25 first-quarter points both times the Bears faced Montana this season. On Saturday, Montana State scored 26 points in the opening period, the second most to open a game behind the 29 Portland State put up last month.

* It's a tight race to see who will lead Montana in scoring this season: McKenzie Johnston and Gabi Harrington both have 291 points, while Jace Henderson is close behind at 284. Johnston (12.1) has the per-game advantage over Harrington (11.6) because of one fewer game played.

* Gabi Harrington, with 61, has taken the most 3-pointers on the team this season. She's shooting a healthy 36.1 percent. The next two in attempts are both under 25 percent: Emma Stockholm (.241 on 58 attempts) and Jordyn Schweyen (.222 on 54 attempts).

* Montana shot 25.7 percent from the arc in 2016-17, 27.5 percent last year and is still under 30 percent this season at 28.6. ... Montana's opponents have made 203 3-pointers this season to the Lady Griz' 110.

* Idaho's Taylor Pierce, with 114, has made more 3-pointers this season than Montana has. She leads the nation. Ranking second is another player the Lady Griz faced, at the Husky Classic. Saint Francis's Jess Kovatch has made 102 triples.

* Of the three coaches this week, none has reached her third full season as head coach. Montana's Shannon Schweyen is in her third year, Northern Arizona's Loree Payne is in her second and Southern Utah's Tracy Sanders is in her first.

* Saturday's 75-71 loss to Montana State was the first time in nine games this season that Montana lost when scoring 70 or more points. ... The Bobcats (1.13) and Northern Colorado (1.19) both scored more than a point per possession against the Lady Griz.

* Saturday's win gave Montana State the regular-season sweep over Montana for the second time in three years. The last time it happened: 1998-99. Before that you have to dig back to 1976-77.

* Jace Henderson has shot 50 percent or better each of the last six games and continues to lead the Big Sky in field goal percentage at .591.

* McKenzie Johnston has made 11 consecutive free throws, notable for a team shooting 66.3 percent from the line this season, which ranks 10th of 11 in the Big Sky. She is 21 for 24 the last six games.

* After scoring four points total over the previous 10 games, Abby Anderson scored four points off the bench against Montana State and added four more on Monday at Northern Colorado.

* Neither Kylie Frohlich nor Carmen Gfeller played at Northern Colorado.

* Montana has shot better than 42 percent five of the last six games but has just one win in those five games. ... One reason: the Lady Griz have allowed 35, 38, 37, 39 and 40 points their last five halves.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* With two weeks of league games remaining, it will be an exciting battle to see who claims the regular-season title and the tournament's No. 1 seed between Idaho (13-3 BSC), Idaho State (13-4), Portland State (12-4) and Northern Colorado (12-4).

* The next tier of teams is made up of Montana State (9-7), Eastern Washington (8-8) and Montana (7-9), with Sacramento State (6-10), Northern Arizona (5-12), Southern Utah (3-14) and Weber State (2-15) below them.

* Monday of tournament week features games between No. 8 and 9, No. 7 and 10 and No. 6 and 11. No. 4 and 5 will play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, as will the top three seeds against the three winners from Monday's first-round games.

Semifinals will be played Wednesday night, with the championship game at 1 p.m. on Friday.

* Thursday's schedule: UI at PSU, UNC at ISU, EWU at SAC

* Game to monitor: Take your pick between Idaho and Portland State and Northern Colorado and Idaho State. Both went down the wire when the teams previously met, with Idaho winning 80-78 at home over Portland State and Northern Colorado pulling out a 60-56 win in Greeley over Idaho State.

* Saturday's schedule: UM at SUU, MSU at NAU, EWU at PSU, UI at SAC, UNC at WSU

* Game to monitor: Northern Colorado at Weber State. It comes two days after the Bears will go through a 40-minute test at Idaho State. One of the Wildcats' two league wins this season was one of the shockers this winter, a 55-54 victory in Greeley as Savannah Smith was held to nine points.

* Monday's schedule: UM at NAU, MSU at SUU

Upcoming: Montana will host Portland State on Thursday, March 7, at 7 p.m., then host Sacramento State at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, in what will be Senior Day for Jace Henderson.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Taylor Goligoski

Gabi Harrington

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Jordyn Schweyen

Sophia Stiles

Emma Stockholm

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