Bears knock off Lady Griz in Dahlberg

Saturday, January 4

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

8-5, 3-1BSC

Northern Colorado

6-6, 2-1BSC

Northern Colorado

Montana

1/4/2020 6:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

Northern Colorado scored the game's opening eight points, all at point-blank range, and would trail for just 69 seconds in handing Montana a surprising 67-58 loss at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday afternoon.

It was the Bears' seventh consecutive victory over the Lady Griz, so the result continued a trend. What made it surprising was that the teams entered the game on opposite trajectories.

Northern Colorado (6-6, 2-1 BSC) lost by 33 points at Montana State on Thursday night, while Montana (8-5, 3-1 BSC) came in on a four-game winning streak and was playing not just well but at home.

That's what made it one of the more impressive wins by a visiting team in a long time.

All five UNC starters scored in double figures, and Northern Colorado defended Montana into 30.5 percent shooting, well below its season percentage of 43.1. The Lady Griz went just 8 for 29 (.276) in the second half.

The Bears led 37-31 at the break and withstood every push Montana made in the second half.

"Credit to them. They defended us well. It's tough to win those games when you shoot like that. The second half we just did not shoot well," said coach Shannon Schweyen.

That lack of shooting was a key point would have seemed laughable in the first half, after Emma Stockholm lit the arena up for 20 points before the break.

She went 5 for 7 from 3-point range and singlehandedly brought the Lady Griz back into the game after they fell behind 8-0 less than three minutes in.

"Emma was a huge lift for us. She knocked down a bunch of threes and played well," said Schweyen.

The issue was the rest of the team, which shot 4 for 17 in the first half. And the Bears, who possibly won the game with their close to the first half.

Stockholm hit a pair of 3-pointers less than a minute apart late in the second quarter to give her 20 points and Montana just its second lead of the game, 31-30.

But while everyone else in the building was checking the overhead scoreboard to see how many points she had and wondering if that was some kind of record, the Bears stayed the course.

With all the noise Stockholm had created, UNC quietly scored the final seven points of the half to take a six-point lead to the locker room.

The game felt winnable for most of the second half. Indeed, the Bears built their lead to 10 just once. The rest of the time Montana's deficit was in the single digits.

In the end it was either a Montana miss or a big shot by Northern Colorado that kept a comeback from happening.

Sometimes within seconds of one another, like the big moment when Gabi Harrington had a great look from the left wing, her team trailing by five, 57-52, with 3:30 to play.

It looked good but missed. Eighteen seconds later, Micayla Isenbart hit a 3-pointer of her own while getting fouled. Her free throw made it 61-52. From possibly down two to down nine, just like that.

"It was a rough game. Our perimeter kids got good looks. Those are shots that typically go for us," said Schweyen.

"We're going to have nights like that, when we don't shoot the ball well. We need to get more stops on defense to have a chance to hang around in a game like that against a good team."

Stockholm would get just two shots in the second half, making one to finish with a career-high 22 points. No one else scored more than eight for Montana.

"They started bringing the double to her in the second half, and that slowed her down some," said Schweyen.

The story to the start of Montana's league schedule has been the play of the Lady Griz' inside players, with Stockholm and Abby Anderson showing they can be a dominating presence.

Northern Colorado didn't get the news, didn't care or was ready to show off its own post presence, which the Bears did early and often.

They jammed the ball inside on their first four possessions, aided in part by a risk-taking Montana defense, and scored at the rim each time. Less than three minutes in it was 8-0.

"Those were just costly at the start. We went for some steals down at the basket, which was not the game plan," said Schweyen. "If you don't get those, they 100 percent turn into layups.

"I'd love to get that start over. Make them earn a few of those and us get a couple more down. They got off to a real good start, but we crawled back into it."

Stockholm would answer Northern Colorado's 8-0 start with nine straight points of her own to give Montana a 9-8 lead.

The Bears would respond and led 21-15 after the first quarter.

Stockholm would keep it up, scoring 11 points in the second quarter on three 3-pointers, her final triple of the half giving the Lady Griz what would be their final lead of the game.

Northern Colorado closed with a strong finish and never trailed the final 22 minutes.

Any comeback attempt in the second half was hurt not just by cold shooting but by turnovers. Montana would finish with 16, matching its second-highest total of the season, most coming in the second half.

"Our post-feeding hurt us in this game. They were doubling down in the post, and we weren't catching balls very well. I would have loved to eliminate some of those," said Schweyen.

Montana had the ball trailing by four with just over a minute left. McKenzie Johnston, who went an uncharacteristic 3 for 11, got to the basket, but her contested shot missed.

Northern Colorado went 4 for 4 from the line on its next two possessions to extend its lead to 66-58, and that was it.

Montana will host Eastern Washington (2-10, 1-2 BSC) at 7 p.m. on Thursday.