Lady Griz visit Greeley for first Big Sky games

The Montana women's basketball team, whose last game was on Dec. 15, will hopefully end that stretch without competition when it travels to Greeley later this week to play a pair of games at Northern Colorado.

The Lady Griz (2-2) and Bears (1-6) are scheduled to play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Sunday inside UNC's Bank of Colorado Arena.

It will be the first Big Sky Conference games of the season for Montana. Northern Colorado, shorthanded at the time, fell twice at Idaho State in mid-December in its league openers.

The Bears, with four starters back, were picked ahead of the Lady Griz in both Big Sky preseason polls. UNC, with a first-place vote in both, was picked fifth in both the coaches' and media polls. Montana was picked sixth in the former, seventh in the latter.

Coverage: The games will air on Pluto TV, channel 1059. The games also will be available on KMPT (99.7 FM/930 AM), with Shawn Tiemann calling the action, and 930kmpt.com.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz have played four games this season and have had three canceled, including a pair of home games against Southern Utah. After pushing No. 25 Gonzaga on the road on Dec. 13, Montana went into Christmas break with a 61-55 road win at Seattle to move to 2-2.

At a glance (Northern Colorado): UNC is 1-6 but has been competitive -- three of its losses have come by seven points or fewer -- despite ongoing changes to its roster. Only five Bears have played in all seven games, only sophomore Alisha Davis, named preseason All-Big Sky last month, has started all seven.

Summary: After an encouraging road trip to Gonzaga and Seattle in mid-December, the latter serving as the team's best all-round game of the season, Montana was forced to shelve that momentum after Utah Valley canceled its trip to Missoula and the Lady Griz were unable to find a fill-in.

The Lady Griz will have gone 16 days without a game when they line up to tip off against the Bears on Friday evening.

"It feels like more than that," said first-year Montana coach Mike Petrino. "Every team wants to build off consistency. It's a challenge when you don't have a schedule to build that consistency. The most consistent thing we've done is have COVID tests.

"A lot of teams are in the same boat. We're trying to build off any positive things we had going for us and learn from things we want to get better at."

While Montana's struggles have been external -- opponents not able to play -- Northern Colorado's have been internal. But the Bears have still managed to get seven games in, a big advantage, particularly over a still-inexperienced Lady Griz team that needs nothing more than to test itself in a game setting.

"Northern Colorado has been in and out of quarantine and they've missed some players, but they've still played seven games. We've played four," says Petrino, whose team has eight newcomers.

"We only have 160 minutes of experience. We need more game reps. I'm excited to get on the plane and get to play two games, hopefully. I'm excited to find out more about our team. We're still evolving, we're still developing and learning about ourselves."

Series notes:

* Montana leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado 18-13, but the Bears have won seven of the last eight meetings.

* Both teams won on the road last season. The Bears had five starters in double figures and held the Lady Griz to 30.5 percent shooting to win 67-58 in Missoula. In March, Montana shot 46.4 percent and turned the ball over just eight times in a 70-55 win in Greeley. The Bears shot 30.2 percent.

* Players on Montana's current roster scored just 35 of those 128 Lady Griz points in the teams' two matchups a season ago. UNC's Alisha Davis combined for nearly as many, scoring 12 in Missoula, 20 in Greeley.

* The win snapped a three-game losing streak in Greeley and improved Montana to 8-6 on Northern Colorado's home court.

Montana notes:

* The Lady Griz are 2-2, with wins over North Dakota and Seattle, and losses to Utah State and Gonzaga.

* On Montana's most recent road trip, the Lady Griz fell 58-51 at Gonzaga on Dec. 13. Montana had a pair of 3-point shots midway through the fourth quarter that would have given it the lead before the Bulldogs pulled away late.

* Two days later, the Lady Griz never trailed in a 61-55 win at Seattle. Montana led 22-9 after the first quarter.

* Freshman guard Kyndall Keller came off the bench to score 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range against the Redhawks. Fourteen of her points came in the second half as Montana held off Seattle's comeback attempts.

* After allowing 76.5 points on 43.6 percent shooting in its first two games, Montana gave up just 56.5 points on 33.1 percent shooting against Gonzaga and Seattle.

* Four games before Christmas are the fewest Montana has played since 1978-79.

* Junior Kylie Frohlich and freshman Bria Dixson both practiced this week. They will be on the trip to Greeley and possibly available to play. Frohlich has yet to get on the court this season. Dixson had eight points, four rebounds and three assists against Utah State but has not played since.

* Through four games, Montana has had three different players lead the team in scoring: Carmen Gfeller twice, Sophia Stiles and Kyndall Keller.

* It took Stiles just four games to lead Montana at least once in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

* Montana's defensive efficiency (or points per possession allowed) through four games: 1.00, 0.97, 0.89, 0.76.

* After going 1 for 5 in Montana's opener at Utah State, Sophia Stiles has gone 17 for 31 (.548) the last three games.

* Stiles has had four or more steals in each of Montana's games.

* Kyndall Keller scored 17 points at Seattle on 5-of-8 shooting. In Montana's first three games she totaled five points on 1-of-7 shooting.

* Freshman Karsen Murphy scored her first points as a Lady Griz in Montana's victory at Seattle.

* Montana turned the ball over 25 times in its win at Seattle, 17 in the second half. The 25 giveaways were the most for the Lady Griz since turning it over 25 times in a 99-69 loss at Sacramento State in February 2017.

* Montana has held the halftime lead in three of its four games this season.

* Montana leads the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage (.432) as well as assists (16.3/g). Sophia Stiles leads the league in steals (4.3/g), Abby Anderson is tied for the lead in blocked shots (2.0/g).

Northern Colorado notes:

* The Bears went 13-18 last season and finished eighth in the Big Sky at 8-12 in league. UNC opened the Big Sky tournament in Boise with a 79-61 victory over Sacramento State before falling 67-62 to No. 1 seed Montana State in the quarterfinals.

* Alexis Chapman, now a senior, was named third-team All-Big Sky last season. Alisha Davis, now a sophomore, was voted honorable mention.

* Davis was one of six players voted to the preseason All-Big Sky team in November. She was one of three sophomores to make the team, along with Montana State's Darian White and Idaho's Beyonce Bea.

* Coach Jenny Huth is 35-35 in her third season.

* Northern Colorado returned four of five starters from last year's team and also brought in seven newcomers, four freshmen and three transfers who are juniors.

* Northern Colorado's lone win this season was a 75-74 victory at home over Denver. The Bears also have a 53-50 overtime home loss to Wyoming and a 66-64 home loss to Nebraska-Omaha.

* In its most recent game, the three-point loss to the Cowgirls on Dec. 20, the Bears overcame a 44-31 deficit with less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. UNC ended regulation on a 13-0 run to force overtime but got outscored 9-6 in the extra period.

* Davis, the only UNC player with a start in all seven games, is averaging a double-double on the season, 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.

* Northern Colorado has twice as many turnovers (112) this season as assists (56).

Talking points:

* Don't let Northern Colorado's 1-6 record fool you. At full strength, the Bears are the team that picked up a first-place vote in both the coaches' and media preseason polls last month.

Even shorthanded, UNC has been competitive. Few teams go into Reed Gym and win, so that the Bears were trailing Idaho State by five in the fourth quarter in the teams' first game this month in Pocatello and by seven points in the fourth in the second game caught Montana coach Mike Petrino's attention.

"I don't look at their record as much as I look at their roster, and they have experience and some talent," he said. "This is a very good team.

"They bring challenges both on the perimeter and inside, so it will be a good test for us."

Then a freshman, Alisha Davis announced herself to the Lady Griz last January, when the Bears won 67-58 in Missoula. She had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and added five steals, four rebounds and three blocks in just 22 minutes.

Montana won the rematch in Greeley 70-55, but it wasn't for a lack of production from Davis. She finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. It was the most rebounds by an opposing player since Incarnate Word's Celia Garcia Paunero had 19 in November 2016.

"Davis will be a key. She is a very explosive player, very talented," said Petrino. "Very productive. A great rebounder, a great scorer around the basket and a great presence on defense. There is a reason she was picked preseason all-league as a sophomore."

Montana kept Chapman mostly quiet in two games last season, holding the guard to 7-of-31 shooting in the teams' two games. But the year before, when Northern Colorado swept the season series, she went for 31 points in the two games on 50 percent shooting.

"She's hurt us in the past. She has the ability to get very hot. She can definitely turn it on," said Petrino.

* Remember three weeks ago when it felt like the only way Montana could win was by putting up 80 points and outscoring its opponent?

It felt that way after Utah State and North Dakota averaged 76.5 points on 43.6 percent shooting.

But six days later, facing Gonzaga on its home floor, Montana held the Bulldogs to 31.1 percent shooting. Two days later, Seattle was limited to 34.9 percent shooting.

Combined those teams averaged 56.5 points on 33.1 percent shooting.

"You're always working on things you want to get better at, and defense was definitely an emphasis after those first two games," said Petrino. "Our kids did a good job playing good team defense.

"The first half against Seattle was as close as we've done to coming out and playing well on both offense and defense."

* Montana is averaging fewer points than it did last season, at 68.0, but it feels like this team is operating at a higher efficiency on that end of the floor.

Other numbers back it up. The Lady Griz are shooting 43.2 percent, the best mark in the Big Sky. Even more encouraging is the team's 34.2 percent performance from the arc. Were that to continue, Montana hasn't shot better than that from 3-point range since 2008-09.

The issue, even though Montana is trying to play faster than in years past, is the more than 18 turnovers per game.

"You look at the Big Sky statistics and the positives are we're leading the league in field goal percentage and assists but we're fifth in scoring, and that's because of turnovers," said Petrino.

"We have to take better care of the ball and cut down on our turnovers. If we do that, we'll have more opportunities to score."

* Carmen Gfeller scored a team-high 21 points at Utah State, then added a career-high 26 against North Dakota. Sophia Stiles led Montana with 15 points at Gonzaga, Kyndall Keller with 17 points at Seattle.

That list of high scorers does not yet include Madi Schoening, the team's lone senior, or Abby Anderson, who has matched Gfeller for the team high with three double-figure scoring games.

"I'm very proud of them for the way they've shared the ball," said Petrino. "For us to be averaging more assists than anybody else in the league is a really cool thing.

"And I love that we're shooting a high field goal percentage. We're big on making good decisions, and we've had stretches where the kids have done a good job of that. Making good plays, then making good plays consistently is the key for any team."

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Six of the Big Sky's 11 teams have played league games to this point. Montana, Portland State and Weber State will get their first Big Sky games this week.

* Montana State and Southern Utah would have completed the list, but that two-game series in Cedar City was canceled on Wednesday.

* The high-profile matchup of the week is Idaho at Northern Arizona on Thursday and Saturday. The Vandals were picked first in the preseason polls, the Lumberjacks third. Both are off to 2-0 starts in league. Idaho swept Sacramento State in Moscow, Northern Arizona swept at Eastern Washington.

* Idaho State also puts its 2-0 record on the line with a home-and-home series against Weber State. The teams open in Ogden on Thursday before playing in Pocatello on Saturday. The 0-3 Wildcats, who have gotten outscored by more than 20 points per outing, have not played a game since Dec. 6.

* Portland State has played the league's fewest games to date at two. The Vikings didn't make their season debut until winning at Dixie State on Dec. 16. They followed that up with a 94-65 loss at Air Force. Turning the ball over 24 times and allowing 60.9 percent shooting was a rough combination.

Thursday's schedule: UI at NAU, EWU at PSU, ISU at WSU
Friday's schedule: UM at UNC
Saturday's schedule: UI at NAU, EWU at PSU, WSU at ISU
Sunday's schedule: UM at UNC

Upcoming: Montana's next scheduled games will be at Northern Arizona on Jan. 14 and 16.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Bria Dixson

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Kyndall Keller

Karsen Murphy

Madi Schoening

Sophia Stiles

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