Lady Griz face split week

The Montana women's basketball team will open its week with a road game and close it with another one at home as the back half of the Big Sky Conference schedule continues.

The Lady Griz (11-9, 6-5 BSC) will play at Eastern Washington (2-17, 1-9 BSC) at noon (MT) on Thursday, then host Idaho (13-6, 8-2 BSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Dahlberg Arena.

After facing the Vandals on Saturday, Montana will play five of its last seven regular-season games on the road.

The Lady Griz' final home games will be against Northern Arizona and Sacramento State on Feb. 27 and 29, with the latter serving as Senior Day.

Where they stand (Montana): The Lady Griz are tied for fourth in the Big Sky standings with Portland State and Idaho State, with Northern Colorado, at 5-5, even with those teams in the loss column. Montana went 2-2 on its recently completed four-game home stand.

Where they stand (Eastern Washington): The Eagles have lost nine straight games and are ahead of only 1-10 Weber State in the Big Sky standings. EWU's two wins this season have come at home against Northwest Christian and Weber State.

Where they stand (Idaho): The Vandals are alone in second place in the Big Sky, one game behind 9-1 Montana State, a team Idaho defeated in double overtime in Bozeman last month. Idaho has won six of seven as it prepares to host the Bobcats on Thursday night in Moscow.

Most recently (Montana): The Lady Griz split a pair of home games last week, holding off Portland State, 62-55, and falling in overtime to Montana State, 66-61.

In Thursday's victory over the Vikings, the Lady Griz gave away all of a 15-point, third-quarter lead but got 14 points from Taylor Goligoski and McKenzie Johnston in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

In Saturday's loss to Montana State, Montana built a 14-point, third-quarter lead but went 0 for 17 over the final 14 minutes of regulation to allow the Bobcats to catch up and send the game to overtime.

In a battle of preseason all-league players, MSU's Fallyn Freije, with 27 points and 14 rebounds, edged out the Lady Griz' McKenzie Johnston, who finished with 20 points and seven boards.

Most recently (Eastern Washington): In what has become a recurring theme for the Eagles this season, they lost twice at home, to Sacramento State and Northern Arizona, despite holding fourth-quarter leads in both games.

In Saturday's 74-67 loss to the Hornets, EWU led by five, 65-60, with four minutes to play before getting outscored 14-2 down the stretch. Jenna Dick, who hit eight 3-pointers, scored 28 points and the Eagles connected 14 times from the arc.

In Monday's 70-62 loss to the Big Sky's hottest team, the Lumberjacks, Eastern Washington led 58-56 with 5:45 to go before giving up a game-deciding 13-0 run.

Most recently (Idaho): The Vandals split their most recent games, falling for the first time this season at home, 71-70 to Northern Arizona on Saturday. Idaho bounced back with a big second half to defeat Sacramento State 70-44 at home on Monday night.

In Saturday's loss to NAU, the Vandals got 22 points from Gina Marxen, but it was Lauren Orndoff's 3-pointer in the closing seconds that won it for the Lumberjacks, who have won eight of their last nine.

In Monday's win over the Hornets, the Vandals trailed 25-23 at the half before going 18 for 30 in the second half to pull away. Marxen had 18 points in the win.

The first meeting (Montana-Eastern Washington): It was about as good as it gets as the Lady Griz went 22 for 25 from the free throw line, 12 of 22 from the arc and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Eagles with a 92-54 win in Missoula.

The margin of victory was the largest by either team in their 96-game series history.

Led by Taylor Goligoski's 21, Montana got 47 points from its bench and finished at 49.2 percent shooting with just seven turnovers. Jenna Dick led Eastern Washington with 18 points.

Montana-Eastern Washington history: Montana leads the series 72-24 and has gone 26-15 in Cheney. ... The Eagles have won eight of the teams' last 11 games and have six straight wins over the Lady Griz at Reese Court. Those wins have come by an average of 4.2 points. ... Montana has not won in Cheney since Jan. 2, 2012, when Katie Baker's 14 points and 11 rebounds helped the Lady Griz to a 53-46 win.

The first meeting (Montana-Idaho): Trailing 37-31 at the half, the Lady Griz held the Vandals scoreless in the third quarter and built a 47-39 lead early in the fourth. But Montana would go 1 for 10 over the final seven minutes as Idaho came back for a 52-51 victory.

It was the lowest-scoring game in the series since Montana won 55-36 in Moscow in 2008-09.

Natalie (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Lizzy (13 points, 13 rebounds) Klinker would both post double-doubles, which helped overcome Gina Marxen's 3-for-18 shooting game.

Natalie Klinker put Idaho ahead 52-51 with 2:18 to go and neither team would score again. Montana had the final possession but Gabi Harrington missed a 3-pointer and McKenzie Johnston's putback in traffic was off.

Emma Stockholm led Montana with 16 points.

Montana-Idaho history: The Lady Griz lead the series 42-14 but the Vandals have won six of the last seven meetings. ... Montana is 26-3 against Idaho in Missoula. Two of those wins for the Vandals have come in the previous three seasons. ... Last year's game at Dahlberg Arena was an epic battle, with Montana winning 82-79 behind 31 points, on 13-of-17 shooting, and 12 rebounds from Jace Henderson and 19 points from Sammy Fatkin. Taylor Pierce and Mikayla Ferenz combined for 48 points and 10 3-pointers for Idaho.

Eastern Washington notes:

* The Eagles have an RPI of 309 (out of 351 NCAA Division I teams).

* EWU ranks last in the Big Sky in both scoring (56.3/g) and field goal percentage (.347).

* Eastern Washington is 1-4 at home in Big Sky games but has held a fourth-quarter lead in three of its four losses.

* The Eagles have connected on nine or more 3-pointers in six of their last eight games. They went 17 for 32 in a double-overtime home loss to Montana State on Jan. 18.

* EWU's two leading scorers, Jenna Dick and Grace Kirscher, had 18 and 15 points in the team's loss at Montana last month.

* Eastern Washington ranks second in the Big Sky and 20th in the nation at 8.5 made 3-point field goals per game.

* Jenna Dick leads the Big Sky in 3-point field goal percentage (.434). She ranks 19th nationally.

* Long-time EWU coach Wendy Schuller is 13-24 against Montana. Her teams have gone 8-9 against the Lady Griz in Cheney.

* Thursday will be the Eagles' annual Kids Day game. Reese Court seats 5,000.

Idaho notes:

* The Vandals lead the Big Sky in both scoring defense (57.9/g) and field goal percentage defense (.351).

* Idaho, which hosts the Bobcats on Thursday, is 2-0 against the Montana schools this season, winning those two games by a total of two points.

* The Vandals trailed in the fourth quarter in games they pulled out against Montana State, Eastern Washington and Montana.

* Idaho has the Big Sky's second-best RPI of 111, behind Montana State's 93.

* Coach Jon Newlee, in his 12th year at Idaho after previously coaching at Idaho State, is 9-21 against Montana. He opened 3-20 against the Lady Griz but has gone 6-1 since.

* Idaho is 6-3 in road games this season and will go into Saturday's meeting on a three-game road winning streak after winning at Montana State, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah.

* The Vandals have scored 70 or more points in their last three games after doing so just twice in their first 16 games.

* Sophomore guard Gina Marxen has made 61 3-point field goals this season, 15 more than any other player in the Big Sky. She is tied for seventh nationally at 3.2 makes per game.

Montana notes:

* The Lady Griz play their next five games during the day. They are 4-6 in day games this season, 7-3 when playing at night.

* Montana has an RPI of 184, fourth-best in the Big Sky behind Montana State, Idaho and Northern Arizona.

* In two games last week, McKenzie Johnston scored 34 points to move past Skyla Sisco (1994-98) and Doris Deden-Hasquet (1980-84) and up 14th on the Montana career scoring list.

She is 14 behind Kenzie De Boer (2009-13), 35 behind Kellie (Cole) Rubel (2011-15). With 71 more points she'll move into the top 10.

* Montana ranks first in the Big Sky and 22nd in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.21) and 26th in free throw percentage (.758).

* Saturday's loss to Montana State was Montana's first this season in 11 games when leading with two minutes to play.

* Dating back to the start of last season, Montana is 23-7 when shooting 40 percent or better, 2-18 when shooting below 40 percent.

* Saturday was the fourth time this season Montana has lost despite holding its opponent to less than one point per possession.

* Lady Griz coach Shannon Schweyen is 1-5 against both Eastern Washington and Idaho.

* McKenzie Johnston averaged 15 points on 50 percent shooting during Montana's just-completed four-game home stand.

* Johnston had an 11-point, 10-assist game in Montana's home win over Eastern Washington last month.

* Emma Stockholm's 13-point, 11-rebound double-double against Portland State on Thursday was her first of the season, the fourth of her career.

* Sophia Stiles grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against Montana State on Saturday.

* Montana is shooting 40.6 percent this season, 34.4 percent from 3-point range. Its opponents are shooting 40.6 percent this season, 34.4 percent from the arc. No kidding.

* The Lady Griz are shooting 46.8 percent and averaging 76.1 points in their 11 wins, and shooting 33.3 percent and averaging 57.2 points in their nine losses.

* Montana has held its last six opponents to a total of 24 makes from the 3-point line on 20.5 percent shooting. And along comes Eastern Washington.

* Montana's 18-point second half on Saturday matched its previous low for the season, 18 points in the first half against Arizona. Both came at home.

* Montana's three-point fourth quarter on Saturday was its lowest scoring period of the season and its lowest since scoring two points in the second quarter in a road loss at Idaho State last season.

* Montana outscored its opponents on its four-game home stand by 37 points in the first quarter and led every game at the half but still went 2-2. Idaho State outscored Montana by 15 in the second half, Montana State outscored Montana by 11 in the second half and overtime on Saturday.

* The 18 second-chance points allowed by Montana on Saturday were the most the Lady Griz have given up this season.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Montana State (9-1), Idaho (8-2) and Northern Arizona (8-3) have gained some separation from the chase pack in the hunt for a top-five finish and first-round bye at the Big Sky tournament in Boise next month.

* Montana, Portland State and Idaho State are all tied for fourth at 6-5, with Northern Colorado hanging around at 5-5.

* Southern Utah is 4-6 and remains a threat to break into the top five, with six of its last eight games at home, where the Thunderbirds are 8-1 this season.

* Montana State, at five, has the longest current winning streak, Eastern Washington, at nine, has the longest current losing streak.

* Thursday in the Big Sky: UM at EWU, ISU at NAU, SUU at UNC, MSU at UI, WSU at SAC

* Game to monitor: Idaho State at Northern Arizona is intriguing but Montana State at Idaho is No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the standings. In the teams' first meeting, the lead changed hands 11 times before the Vandals left Worthington Arena with a 69-68 double-overtime victory.

* Saturday in the Big Sky: UI at UM, EWU at MSU, WSU at NAU, SUU at PSU, ISU at SAC

Upcoming: A challenging finish to the regular season, with five of seven on the road, starting next week at Weber State and Idaho State.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sammy Fatkin

Taylor Goligoski

Gabi Harrington

Jace Henderson

McKenzie Johnston

Sophia Stiles

Emma Stockholm

University of Montana Athletics