Lady Griz begin road-heavy close to regular season

The Montana women's basketball team, after having five of its last six games at home, will play its next three on the road, starting this week at Weber State and Idaho State.

The Lady Griz (13-9, 8-5 BSC) will face the Wildcats (3-19, 1-12 BSC) at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Ogden, the Bengals (12-10, 8-5 BSC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Pocatello.

Montana will play at Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 22, then have home games against Northern Arizona and Sacramento State to close out the month of February.

The Lady Griz will wrap up their regular season with games at Northern Colorado and Southern Utah on March 4 and 6, with the Big Sky Conference tournament opening the following week in Boise.

At a glance (Montana): Since falling at home to Idaho State last month, the Lady Griz have won four of five to move into the top five in the Big Sky Conference standings. Montana is tied for fourth, one game behind second-place Northern Arizona (9-4 BSC), half a game behind third-place Idaho (8-4 BSC).

At a glance (Weber State): The Wildcats sit at the bottom of the Big Sky standings and have lost their last nine games. Weber State, which has an RPI of 319, won one game in November, one in December and one in January, a 65-60 victory at Northern Colorado.

At a glance (Idaho State): The Bengals have won five of their last six games to surge into the upper echelon of the Big Sky standings, which is a good place to be in early February. ISU will take a four-game winning streak into its home game against Montana State on Thursday night.

Trending (Montana): Up. Since the team's desultory 67-53 home loss to Idaho State on Jan. 23, when the Lady Griz went 4 for 23 in the second half, Montana has gotten on a roll. Its only loss in the last five games came at home to Montana State, a game Montana led by 14 in the third quarter.

Trending (Weber State): Down. The Wildcats have lost by an average of 18.7 points per game during their losing streak and have scored more than 67 points just twice since mid-December. WSU is 1-7 at home this season, its lone win at Dee Events Center a 72-46 victory over Utah Valley in mid-December.

Trending (Idaho State): Up. The Bengals looked like a team that would be playing on Monday in Boise after losing three of four, including two at home, in mid-January. In its six games since, ISU is shooting 46.5 percent while holding its opponents to 33.3 percent. This is turning into a Seton Sobolewski team.

Most recently (Montana): The Lady Griz swept a split week, with a lopsided road win at Eastern Washington on Thursday and a redeeming home win on Saturday over Idaho, three weeks after giving up an eight-point fourth-quarter lead in Moscow and falling to the Vandals 52-51.

In Thursday's 77-56 win in Cheney, Montana simply executed Eastern Washington into submission. The Lady Griz had 24 assists on their 29 made field goals and matched a season low with seven turnovers. McKenzie Johnston had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as Montana shot 43.9 percent.

In Saturday's 69-60 home win over Idaho, Montana gave up 22 points on 61.5 percent shooting in the first quarter before buckling down defensively. The Vandals shot 33.3 percent the final three quarters. The Lady Griz led 36-26 at the break and by nine or more the entire second half.

Most recently (Weber State): The Wildcats got swept on the Sacramento State-Northern Arizona road trip, falling 58-52 to the Hornets and 92-61 to the Lumberjacks.

Against Sacramento State, Weber State led 31-19 at the half but got outscored 39-21 in the second half by going 8 for 29. Two days later, Northern Arizona committed just a single turnover and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 24 second-chance points in a one-sided victory.

Most recently (Idaho State): The Bengals swept the same road trip, winning 79-76 at Northern Arizona despite trailing 32-8 three minutes into the second quarter and with more room to spare at Sacramento State, 75-51.

In Thursday's comeback win at NAU, Diaba Konate went off for 32 points, the most scored by a Big Sky player this season. Two days later at The Nest, the Bengals shot 72.0 percent (18 for 25) in the second half and limited the Hornets to 25.8 percent shooting for the game.

The first meeting (Montana-Weber State): Facing a sink-or-swim moment after losing their previous three games, the Lady Griz responded with an 85-57 home win over the Wildcats, a game that sparked the team's current run of good play and good results.

Montana shot 51.4 percent, its best this season against a Division I opponent, and forced 22 turnovers. McKenzie Johnston scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Taylor Goligoski and Jamie Pickens both scored 15 points, combining for 30 of the team's 42 bench points.

The first meeting (Montana-Idaho State): The Bengals defeated the Lady Griz in Missoula for just the third time in 44 meetings, 67-53. Montana led 34-33 at the break, then got outscored 34-19 in the second half, the first time this season the Lady Griz lost when leading at the break.

McKenzie Johnston (11), Emma Stockholm (10) and Gabi Harrington (10) were all in double figures for Montana but shot 11 for 34 to get there. Montana Oltrogge went 8 for 12 off the bench for Idaho State to score a game-high 18 points.

What's at stake (Thursday): Montana will try to make it five wins in six games against a team not holding any momentum.

What's at stake (Saturday): No matter what happens when Idaho State hosts Montana State on Thursday, the Bengals could stay even with the Lady Griz in the Big Sky standings with a win on Saturday, which would give ISU what would be an important tiebreaker with a head-to-head sweep.

This week's Did You Knows:

* That Montana is playing its fourth and fifth of six consecutive day games this week? That's what happens when both Eastern Washington and Weber State schedule you for their Thursday School Day games.

* That Montana is 2-0 in School Day games this season, with a 98-45 victory in their own event in November and last week's sound thumping of Eastern Washington in Cheney?

* That McKenzie Johnston had an efficiency rating of +32 at Eastern Washington on Thursday, the best rating for a Lady Griz player this year?

* That Johnston came up a few plays short of recording the first triple-double in Lady Griz history with 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds?

* That with 38 points in two wins last week, Johnston moved past Kenzie De Boer (2009-13) and Kellie (Cole) Rubel (2011-15) and into 12th on the all-time Lady Griz scoring list?

* And that with 34 more points she will move past Sonya Rogers (2005-09) and Jeanne McNulty (1985-90) and into the top 10?

* And that she is 17 assists away from moving into the top five on the Lady Griz career list in that category?

* That with 113 3-pointers made, Taylor Goligoski is five away from breaking into the top 10 on the Lady Griz career list?

* That with seven turnovers against Eastern Washington and nine against Idaho, Montana had fewer than 10 giveaways in back-to-back games for the first time since January 2016?

* That fourth-year head coach Shannon Schweyen is two wins from reaching 50 for her career?

* That nonconference opponents Fresno State (13-0 in the Mountain West) and South Dakota (11-0 in the Summit League) are both unbeaten in their conferences?

* That Montana is 29-9 against Weber State in Ogden and 29-9 against Idaho State in Pocatello?

* That Montana shot 43.9 percent against Eastern Washington and 45.9 percent against Idaho, making the Lady Griz 12-2 this season when shooting 40 percent or better, 1-7 when not?

* That Montana ranks 15th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.29), 20th in turnovers (12.5/g) and 25th in free throw percentage (.760)?

* That if .760 holds, this would be the third-best free-throw shooting team in program history, behind the 2007-08 (.776) and 2006-07 (.765) teams?

* That McKenzie Johnston had 19 assists and one turnover in two games against Eastern Washington this season?

* That Johnston ranks 33rd nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.26) and 55th in assists (4.8/g)?

Montana-Weber State history:

* Montana leads the all-time series 70-14 and has gone 29-9 against Weber State in Ogden. ... The Lady Griz have won the teams' last three matchups. ... Montana won 72-60 at Weber State last season to snap a two-game losing streak against the Wildcats in Ogden. ... Montana shot 46.4 percent in that game, 9 for 20 from 3-point range, and all five starters scored 10 or more points.

* Montana coach Shannon Schweyen is 4-2 against Weber State. ... WSU coach Velaida Harris is 0-3 against Montana.

Montana-Idaho State history:

* Montana leads the all-time series 72-13 and has gone 29-9 against Idaho State in Pocatello. ... The Bengals have won four of the teams' last five meetings and five of the last seven ... Montana has lost three straight games at Reed Gym, averaging 45.7 points on 32.9 percent shooting. ... In last year's 50-34 loss at Idaho State, Montana shot 25.9 percent and had scoring quarters of 8, 10, 8 and 8. It was Montana's lowest-scoring game in more than eight years and the fewest points ever allowed by Idaho State against a Division I opponent.

* Montana coach Shannon Schweyen is 2-5 against Idaho State. ... Twelfth-year ISU coach Seton Sobolewski is 7-18 against the Lady Griz, which gives him more than half of the Bengals' wins over the Lady Griz in a series that dates back to the 1978-79 season.

Montana notes:

* Montana's win at Eastern Washington on Thursday was, surprisingly, its first win in Cheney since the 2011-12 season.

* The Lady Griz are 5-3 on the road this season. They have not had a winning record in road games since 2014-15.

* Montana is 10-0 this season when scoring 66 or more points.

* Abby Anderson's five blocks against Idaho on Saturday matched a career high and were the most by a Montana player this season.

* Montana has held its last seven opponents to less than one point per possession. The Lady Griz did that seven times in their first 15 games.

* In six games since being held to five points on 2-of-13 shooting and without an assist in a one-point loss at Idaho, McKenzie Johnston is averaging 16.3 points on 51.9 percent shooting and 4.5 assists.

* Gabi Harrington matched her season high with 14 points off the bench in Saturday's win over Idaho.

* Sophia Stiles had a career-high eight assists in Montana's road win at Eastern Washington.

* Abby Anderson during Montana's four-game home stand: 6 for 28, 21 points. ... Abby Anderson in two games last week: 13 for 22, 31 points.

* Montana in its 13 wins: 46.5 percent shooting, with 101 more assists than turnovers. ... Montana in its nine losses: 33.3 percent shooting, with 22 more turnovers than assists.

* Montana held Idaho to no points in the third quarter in the teams' matchup in Moscow and the Vandals to four points in the second quarter on Saturday. In those two periods Idaho went 2 for 26.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Montana State, at 11-1, is three up in the loss column on every other team in the Big Sky. The Bobcats are 6-1 in league games decided by 11 or fewer points.

* The top five teams at regular season's end earn a bye in Boise to the quarterfinal round. Last year it took a league record of 11-9 to make the top five.

* Of the teams chasing Montana State (11-1), Northern Arizona (9-4), Idaho (8-4), Montana (8-5) and Idaho State (8-5), Southern Utah and Northern Colorado are 6-6, Portland State is 6-7.

* Northern Colorado had a surprisingly one-sided 78-51 at Portland State on Monday night. Not a favorable result for the Vikings, who play five of their last seven on the road.

* Southern Utah is the team to watch. The Thunderbirds, who have won two straight, play their next four at home, where they are 8-1 this season, and six of their last eight.

* Southern Utah's Rebecca Cardenas leads the Big Sky in scoring at 17.7 points per game. If that holds, she would become the first Thunderbird to lead the league in scoring, and it would be only the second time in the last seven years the league leader in scoring didn't average 20 or more points.

Thursday's schedule: UM at WSU, MSU at ISU, NAU at UNC, SAC at SUU, UI at EWU

Game to monitor: Montana State at Idaho State. A team that's getting on a roll at the right time hosting a team that has made a habit of pulling out the close ones. Montana State won the first meeting in Bozeman, 67-59, in a game that was close throughout.

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

Game to monitor: Northern Arizona at Southern Utah. The Lumberjacks outscored the Thunderbirds when they played in Flagstaff, 84-76, with both teams shooting 50 percent or better.

Monday's schedule: PSU at UI

Upcoming: Montana will play at Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 22, with tip scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Taylor Goligoski

Gabi Harrington

McKenzie Johnston

Jamie Pickens

Sophia Stiles

Emma Stockholm

University of Montana Athletics