Lady Griz aiming to knock off Vandals

The Montana women's basketball team, idle on Thursday night after playing at Portland State on Monday, will resume its Big Sky Conference schedule with a game at Idaho on Saturday.

The Lady Griz (9-6, 4-2 BSC) and Vandals (9-5, 4-1 BSC) will tip off at 3 p.m. (MT) inside UI's Cowan Spectrum.

Saturday's game will be followed by an important four-game home stand for Montana, including matchups against Idaho State, Portland State and Montana State.

Where they stand (Montana): The Lady Griz took their second league loss when they fell 78-65 at Portland State on Monday night. Montana is now tied for third at 4-2 with surging Northern Arizona, with Northern Colorado (3-2) also sitting with two losses.

Where they stand (Idaho): The Vandals improved to 4-1 in league with Thursday's tighter-than-expected 69-60 home win over Eastern Washington. Idaho is even with Big Sky leader Montana State (5-1) in the loss column and owns a head-to-head win over the Bobcats, that coming in Bozeman no less.

Most recently (Montana): The Lady Griz dug themselves a 20-point, first-half deficit and lost 78-65 at Portland State on Monday night. Montana twice pulled within four late in the fourth quarter but was ultimately done in by 28 percent shooting.

Most recently (Idaho): Tied 55-55 with Eastern Washington at home on Thursday night with seven minutes remaining, the Vandals took control of the game with a 14-0 run. The Vandals took 38 of their 61 shots from the 3-point line, connecting on 13.

Quick hitters:

* Montana is 5-1 this season when coming off a loss. That record means the Lady Griz have only once this season dropped back-to-back games, to Arizona and Santa Clara.

* Idaho improved to 5-0 at home this season with its win over Eastern Washington on Thursday night.

* Coach Jon Newlee, in his 12th year at the school, won his 200th game at Idaho on Thursday night. He also won 93 games as the coach at Idaho State for six seasons, from 2002-03 to 2007-08.

* The teams have a history that dates back to 1976. Montana leads the all-time series 42-13 and has gone 16-9 against the Vandals in Moscow.

* Of Idaho's 13 wins in the series, five have come in the teams' last six meetings.

* Montana has lost its last three games at Idaho. The Lady Griz trailed by 22 points or more in all three losses.

* Jon Newlee is 8-21 against Montana in his career as coach at Idaho State and Idaho. His teams have gone 5-1 against the Lady Griz since he opened 3-20.

* Montana coach Shannon Schweyen is 1-4 in her head-to-head matchups against Newlee.

* In last year's series, Montana won an 82-79 thriller in Missoula behind 31 points and 12 rebounds by Jace Henderson. That was enough to overcome 28 points and eight 3-pointers from Taylor Pierce.

* In the rematch in Moscow, the Vandals built a 22-point third-quarter lead and led by 11 or more until the final minute, winning 76-68.

Gabi Harrington and McKenzie Johnston had 21 each for the Lady Griz, Pierce and Mikayla Ferenz 23 for the Vandals, with nine 3-pointers.

This week's storylines:

* Madi Schoening, who missed last season with an injury and has been playing limited minutes this year, made a big return on Monday night at Portland State.

She finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes, her first double-double since putting up 18 points and 14 rebounds in a home win over Montana State nearly two years ago.

"I was thinking back to the Montana State game. I remember (coach Shannon Schweyen) getting on me about rebounding, and I thought that was something I can provide with a little extra effort," she said.

"I went out there thinking, I'm going to get every board I can and see what happens from there. My shots were falling and I was getting some fouls drawn."

Montana trailed 39-22 at the half. Schoening totaled 13 points and seven rebounds in the second half as the Lady Griz twice pulled within four in the final minutes.

"(Schweyen) said at halftime that we needed someone to step up and give us a spark. It was just setting the mindset to put in the effort," said Schoening. "I went out there and did my best."

* Montana had one of its best shooting games last Thursday in its 92-54 home win over Eastern Washington. The Lady Griz went 12 for 22 from the arc, 22 for 25 from the line and shot 49.2 percent.

On Monday at Portland State, Montana went just 8 for 35 (.229) in the first half to dig a hole too deep from which to emerge.

"I thought we got lots of great shots in the first half. A lot were in the paint and as of late, we've been very successful with that," said Schweyen. "It was one of those nights when shots weren't going down.

PSU senior Jordan Stotler finished with a plump stat line of 12 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and six blocked shots. She affected a number more.

"They have a 6-foot-5 post who is a very good shot blocker. She definitely changes some of those in there," said Schweyen. "But all in all, we still got plenty of good shots."

Montana shot marginally better in the second half. What allowed the Lady Griz to make a run that cut that 20-point lead to four in the fourth quarter was their work on the offensive glass.

Montana out-rebounded Portland State 50-33, 27 of which came on the offensive end. The Vikings had just four offensive rebounds.

The Lady Griz would take a season-high 75 shots, 26 more than Portland State, but the Vikings would shoot 46.9 percent and make two more than Montana.

"I'm proud of the effort we made in the second half, creeping back into the game and cutting it to four. We just had some untimely turnovers down the stretch that didn't allow us to cut it down more," said Schweyen.

"It was great to see us do that on the road. That showed some character. We gutted up at halftime and came out and knocked down some shots. I was proud of the way we battled.

* With the loss of Ferenz and Pierce, Idaho has taken a step back offensively from the team it was a year ago that averaged more than 77 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting.

This year's team is averaging 63.0 points on 36.7 percent shooting.

And yet the Vandals are 9-5 and residing near the top of the league standings once again. Why? Their defense. Idaho leads the Big Sky in both scoring defense (59.5/g) and field goal percentage defense (.357).

The Vandals held Idaho State, Weber State and Eastern Washington to 60 points or fewer and Montana State to 54 points in regulation on the Bobcats' home floor before that game went to double overtime.

That doesn't mean Newlee's team has turned its back on the 3-point shot. Idaho still ranks second in the Big Sky at 8.4 makes per game, but the Vandals shoot just 28.2 percent from the arc.

Idaho takes more than 48 percent of its shots from 3-point range, a higher percentage than any other team in the league.

On Saturday the Vandals will go up against a team that is allowing its opponents to shoot 38.8 percent from distance. Montana ranks 346th out of 348 Division I teams in defending the 3-point line.

"They are a lot different this year than they have been in the past with two players who were lighting it up from all over the place," said Schweyen, referring to Ferenz and Pierce, who made 270 between them last season, or 145 more than Montana made as a team.

"They still take quite a few threes in general. They are very athletic, very strong, very balanced, with both post scoring and perimeter. There is not one person you key on with this team."

* Sophomore guard Gina Marxen, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year last season, leads Idaho in scoring at 13.9 points. She leads the Big Sky with 46 made 3-pointers (3.3/g).

Freshman forward Beyonce Bea, a player who is very familiar to Montana's coaches, is averaging 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Senior Lizzy Klinker, from Fairfield, Mont., is also averaging in double figures at 10.0 and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds. No one else averages more than 5.5 points.

"I like the idea of us getting the ball inside against these guys," said Schweyen. "I think our inside game could be effective.

"But we've got to have good balance with some good guard play. And we've got to cut down on some of the turnovers we've been having and go into this looking to rebound after a loss."

* Idaho was picked second in both the coaches' and media preseason polls after going 22-12 a year ago and winning the regular-season title with a 16-4 record.

* The Vandals were knocked off by Portland State in the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament, then won two games in the WNIT before seeing their season end at Arizona, 68-60.

Montana notes:

* Montana's 28 percent shooting effort on Monday was its second-lowest of the season, ahead of only the 24.5 percent the Lady Griz shot against Arizona.

* The last time Montana grabbed 27 or more offensive rebounds? Twenty-nine in a 79-54 home win over Sacramento State in February 2012.

* McKenzie Johnston led Montana on Monday with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists. She went 4 for 9 from 3-point range to match her career high for triples made.

* Johnston now leads the Big Sky in both assists (5.3/g) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5). She ranks 21st nationally in the latter, 22nd in the former.

* Johnston is sitting 18th on the Montana career scoring list with 1,191 points. She is five behind Cheri Bratt (1980-84), 15 behind Kayleigh Valley (2013-16).

* Johnston ranks seventh on the Montana assists list with 444. Next up: Kelly Pilcher (1990-94), who collected 475 in her career.

* Montana leads the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.26), assists (16.3/g) and free throw attempts (311). The Lady Griz rank 20th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio, 21st in free throw percentage (.762).

* Jamie Pickens is 16 for 17 from the free throw line in league, 32 for 36 (.889) for the season. That ranks fourth in the Big Sky.

* In Montana's nine wins, the Lady Griz have shot 46.5 percent. In six losses, 34.0 percent.

* Montana's bench players have combined to score 77 points the last two games.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Idaho taking care of business at home against Eastern Washington on Thursday night wasn't the only game taking place.

* At Flagstaff, Northern Arizona shot 51.8 percent to outlast Southern Utah and Rebecca Cardenas's 26 points, 84-76. It was the Lumberjacks' fourth straight win.

* At Ogden, Idaho State outscored Weber State 21-10 in the fourth quarter to win 65-54. Sophomore Callie Bourne led both teams with 26 points, going 10 for 14.

* At Sacramento, Northern Colorado outscored the Hornets 25-6 in the second quarter to take control. The teams combined to commit 47 turnovers.

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

* Game to monitor: Portland State at Idaho State. Both teams are 3-3 in league after coming in with championship aspirations.

Upcoming: Four straight at Dahlberg Arena and five of six starting next week with Idaho State and Weber State.

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Players Mentioned

Gabi Harrington

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Jamie Pickens

Madi Schoening

Kayleigh Valley

University of Montana Athletics