Lady Griz close out home schedule

The Montana women's basketball team will play its final home games of the season this week when it hosts Northern Arizona and Sacramento State at Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz (14-11, 9-7 BSC) will play the Lumberjacks (15-11, 12-5 BSC) on Thursday at 7 p.m., the Hornets (8-18, 6-11 BSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Montana will conclude its regular-season schedule with road games at Northern Colorado and Southern Utah next week before traveling to Boise for the Big Sky Conference tournament.

Quick hitters: Fans can purchase a general-admission ticket for $2 for Montana's final two home games. ... Saturday's game will serve as Senior Day for Taylor Goligoski, McKenzie Johnston and Emma Stockholm.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz will be attempting to snap a two-game losing streak this week that has them tied for fifth in the Big Sky standings with Southern Utah. That's a critical demarcation with the top five teams earning a bye to the quarterfinals at next month's tournament.

At a glance (Northern Arizona): Since opening league with home losses to Montana and Montana State in late December, the Lumberjacks have gone 12-3 to vault up to second place in the Big Sky standings behind Montana State. NAU hasn't had a top-four Big Sky finish since tying for second in 2006-07.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets, who play at Montana State on Thursday night, quietly won five of eight games but has since dropped three straight, all without leading scorer and rebounder Kennedy Nicholas, who had been averaging 14.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

What's at stake (Montana): The Lady Griz, who have a tricky road trip next week -- Montana hasn't won in Greeley since 2016 and the Thunderbirds are 11-2 at home this season -- are trying to win their way into a top-five seed and a bye out of a first-round game in Boise.

What's at stake (Northern Arizona): The Lumberjacks and Idaho are both mathematically alive to catch Montana State in the standings, but it would require they win out and the Bobcats to close 0-4. More realistic is that NAU is playing this week to keep its 2020 calendar surge moving forward.

What's at stake (Sacramento State): The Hornets will be playing a first-round game in Boise after losing touch with the middle of the pack. Sacramento State's first-round opponent as things stand right now would be Portland State, the same team the Hornets host three days before the tournament opens.

The Boise breakdown:

* Montana State clinched at least a share of the regular-season title on Saturday with its 92-78 home win over Montana. It won't take much more for the Bobcats to earn the tournament's top overall seed.

* Northern Arizona (12-5 BSC), Idaho (11-5 BSC) and Idaho State (11-6 BSC) have all reached 11 or more wins, safe ground to earn a bye with only two weeks of the regular season remaining.

* After playing at Montana and Montana State this week, Northern Arizona hosts Portland State next Wednesday in its final regular-season game. NAU is 0-3 against those teams this season.

* Idaho hosts Northern Colorado and Southern Utah this week, then closes at Weber State and Idaho State. The Vandals went 4-0 against those teams in their first matchups.

* Idaho State plays at Portland State on Thursday before hosting Eastern Washington and Idaho next week. The Bengals lost to PSU and UI in their earlier meetings.

* That leaves Montana and Southern Utah, both 9-7, two games in the win column behind the top four and two up on their closest pursuer, Northern Colorado (7-9 BSC).

* One team from those six just mentioned will be playing on Monday in Boise.

* A lot of shuffling could take place between now and Friday, March 6, the final day of the regular season, or things could remain somewhat the same and leave everything riding on Montana's game at Southern Utah to determine the first-round bye.

The first meeting (Montana-Northern Arizona): The Lady Griz won their Big Sky opener in Flagstaff on Dec. 28, 79-71. The Lady Griz outscored the Lumberjacks by 13 at the free throw line and committed 12 turnovers.

Montana got off to a good start and built a 64-40 lead early in the fourth quarter before NAU fought back to within six in the game's final minute.

McKenzie Johnston scored 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting, with Abby Anderson adding 15 points and nine rebounds, Gabi Harrington an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Emily Rodabaugh hit four 3-pointers off the bench for Northern Arizona and scored 14 of her team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. NAU went 10 for 21 from the 3-point line.

The first meeting (Montana-Sacramento State): The Lady Griz moved to 2-0 in league on Dec. 30 with a 64-60 win at Sacramento State.

The Hornets trailed 34-26 at the break and would never lead in the second half but tied the game at 54-54 with 4:11 to play in the fourth. That's when Harrington hit the shot of the game for Montana, a 3-pointer with 3:40 remaining that put the Lady Griz up for good.

Anderson scored a career-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting on her way to Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors.

Camariah King hit six 3-pointers to score a team-high 18 points for the Hornets. Kennedy Nicholas and Gabi Bade combined for 14 points on 6-of-24 shooting.

The Hornets forced Montana into a season-high 21 turnovers but only shot 31.9 percent. They needed 33 attempts to make their 10 3-pointers.

Most recently (Montana): The Lady Griz got their stretch of three straight road games off to a good start with a 78-46 win at Weber State on Feb. 13 but lost their next two.

After falling 72-59 at Idaho State in a game that was tied entering the fourth quarter, Montana lost 92-78 at Montana State on Saturday.

The Bobcats hit eight 3-pointers in the first half and led 46-31 at the break.

Montana State had five players score 15 or more points with a sixth adding 10. Emma Stockholm led Montana with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Most recently (Northern Arizona): The Lumberjacks responded to their 82-64 road loss at Southern Utah with a home sweep of Idaho and Eastern Washington last week.

NAU held off Idaho 70-67 in double overtime, giving Northern Arizona a sweep of the Vandals. Khiarica Rasheed had 21 points and 11 rebounds to get the better of Lizzy Klinker, who scored 27 points.

Two days later the Lumberjacks held off Eastern Washington 63-58 in a game that wasn't quite as close as the score suggests. NAU led 49-33 going into the fourth quarter.

Rasheed added another double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds, the second half of a resume that earned her Big Sky Player of the Week honors on Tuesday.

NAU won both games despite shooting 36.6 percent for the week.

Most recently (Sacramento State): The Hornets dropped both of their home games last week to Eastern Washington and Idaho, the former in discouraging fashion.

Sacramento State led Eastern Washington 59-44 going into the fourth quarter last Thursday, then got outscored 34-14 in the final period to lose 78-73.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles went 9 for 11, 5 of 7 from the 3-point line, and hit 11 of their 14 free throws.

Tiana Johnson, of Kalispell, had 20 points on 10-of-18 shooting and nine rebounds.

Two days later, Idaho shot 56.5 percent and had only eight turnovers in a 96-88 victory over the Hornets. The Vandals, who got 30 points and 10 rebounds from freshman Beyonce Bea, led 56-41 at the half.

Johnson and Summer Menke both had 20 points for Sacramento State, which shot 48.5 percent and had five turnovers in their fourth straight game without Kennedy Nicholas.

Series history (Montana-Northern Arizona): The Lady Griz lead the all-time series 58-12 over the Lumberjacks and have gone 32-3 against NAU in Missoula with 11 straight wins.

Northern Arizona hasn't won in Missoula since the 2006-07 season. ... Montana has won 13 of the teams' last 14 matchups.

Series history (Montana-Sacramento State): The Lady Griz lead the all-time series 40-7 and are 23-1 against the Hornets in Missoula.

Sacramento State's lone win over Montana in Dahlberg Arena was a 73-60 victory in 2016-17. ... The Lady Griz have won the teams' last four meetings.

Game notes:

* Montana coach Shannon Schweyen is 5-1 against Northern Arizona, 5-3 against Sacramento State.

* Third-year Northern Arizona coach Loree Payne, who is from Havre, is 1-4 against Montana, 0-2 in Missoula.

* Seventh-year Sacramento State coach Bunky Harkleroad is 5-8 against Montana, 1-5 in Missoula.

* Saturday's loss at Montana State was just the fourth time in 17 games this season that the Lady Griz have lost when shooting 40 percent or better.

* The Bobcats averaged 1.25 points per possession on Saturday. The only other opponent to score it more efficiently was South Dakota at 1.45.

* Saturday was also the first time Montana has lost this season in 12 games when scoring 66 or more points.

* McKenzie Johnston, with 1,316 points, is four behind Sonya Rogers (2005-09), 11 behind Jeanne McNulty (1985-90) and the top 10 on the Montana career scoring list.

* Johnston is also three shy of cracking the top five for career assists.

* When Johnston cracks the top 10 in scoring and the top five in assists, she and Mandy Morales (2005-09) will be the only two players who can make that claim.

* Taylor Goligoski remains two from breaking into the top 10 for career 3-pointers made. She enters the week with 116 made.

* Fourth-year Lady Griz coach Shannon Schweyen needs one victory to reach 50 for her career.

* Madi Schoening is working on a season-high three-game streak of 10 or more points. She has gone 14 for 27 in Montana's last three games.

* Abby Anderson is working on a career-high five games with 10 or more points.

* Montana's 47-point second half on Saturday was its second-best scoring half of the season against a Division I opponent, bettered only by the 51 first-half points put up against Eastern Washington.

* Montana State put up scoring halves of 46 and 46 on Saturday. Only South Dakota's 52 first-half points topped that by a Lady Griz opponent this season.

* Saturday was the fourth time this season Montana did not hold a lead in a game. The others: Arizona, Santa Clara and South Dakota.

* In this week's USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll, South Dakota, now 26-2 and unbeaten in the Summit League at 15-0, is No. 12. Arizona, at 22-5, is ranked 13th.

* Nonconference opponent Fresno State dropped its first league game of the season last week but still leads the Mountain West at 16-1 and is 23-5 overall.

* Nonconference opponent Grand Canyon is tied atop the WAC at 10-3 with UMKC and is 15-9 overall.

* Santa Clara, which looked so good in November, is 4-12 in the West Coast Conference, 10-17 overall. Cal State Fullerton is fourth in the Big West at 6-6, 14-11 overall.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

Thursday's games: NAU at UM, SAC at MSU, SUU at EWU, UNC at UI, ISU at PSU

Game to monitor: Idaho State at Portland State -- The Vikings won the first game in Pocatello but the teams have been heading in opposite directions ever since. The Bengals have won seven of eight to surge into the top five. PSU has lost seven of eight to play itself into a first-round game in Boise.

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

Game to monitor: Southern Utah at Idaho -- Every game the Thunderbirds play and the games of the teams directly ahead of Montana in the standings are ones to monitor, making this doubly interesting. Idaho won in Cedar City 71-56. SUU is 6-2 since that loss.

Upcoming: Closing week. Montana will play at Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, at Southern Utah on Friday at 6:30 p.m. And finally the dust will settle and Boise, and everyone's position for the postseason, will come into view.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Taylor Goligoski

Gabi Harrington

McKenzie Johnston

Madi Schoening

Emma Stockholm

University of Montana Athletics