Lady Griz back on the road

The Montana women's basketball team, coming off one of its better performances of the season in Saturday's 76-63 home win over Portland State, will return to the road this week for a pair of games at winless Weber State.

The Lady Griz (8-7, 5-5 BSC) and Wildcats (0-13, 0-10 BSC) will tip off at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah, and at noon on Saturday.

Montana's last remaining series before the Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise will be against Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Idaho.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz, swept by Montana State the week before, dropped their third consecutive game on Thursday, 61-60 to Portland State, when Kylie Jimenez scored a layup with 2.3 seconds to go. Montana was unable to score at the other end.

It was a game Montana led by double figures in the first half and for more than 36 minutes before a late Portland State push allowed the Vikings, who outscored the Lady Griz 17-9 over the final 8:07, to steal the victory.

Montana responded in a big way on Saturday, leading from start to finish in a game that was more one-sided than even the final score would indicate.

The Lady Griz led by a dozen in the second quarter and took a 21-point lead, 62-41, into the fourth.

Montana shot 51.6 percent, its fourth time in the last eight games shooting 50 percent or better.

Junior Kylie Frohlich, who was averaging 2.4 points and had a previous career high of 10, got extra minutes on Thursday because of foul trouble for Carmen Gfeller and made the most of the opportunity.

She scored 18 points in 22 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting, then followed that up with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes on Saturday.

For the week she averaged 15 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists while going 13 for 17 and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line.

"She had a great weekend. On Thursday we're not in position without Kylie. Then she comes back on Saturday and plays great again," said Lady Griz coach Mike Petrino.

"I'm proud of her. She is an ultimate teammate and an unsung hero in a way. She shows up every day and works her tail off. She loves to compete. There is never a day with lack of effort with her."

Not to be overlooked is the all-around play of Abby Anderson, who shook off a cold shooting game on Thursday to impact Saturday all over the court.

She scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and added eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots.

Anderson now trails Sophia Stiles, 43 to 39, by just four for the team lead in assists and has actually led Montana in assists nine times in 15 games, more than any other player.

At a glance (Weber State): The Wildcats, who have a NET ranking of 324 out of 343 NCAA Division I women's basketball teams and are getting outscored by nearly 20 points per game, are still seeking their first win of the season.

They dropped to 10-64 under third-year coach Velaida Harris with losses last weekend at Montana State by scores of 102-53 and 84-57. Weber State held a 24-22 lead midway through the second quarter in the latter before getting outscored 36-2. The Wildcats went nearly 14 minutes with just one made basket.

Weber State ranks last in the Big Sky in most statistical categories, including field goal percentage at 35.2 percent, a figure that ranks 299th nationally. The Wildcats just three times this season have shot better than 35 percent in a game.

Defensively, Weber State has not held a team to fewer than 71 points since November. The Wildcats' 78.8 points allowed ranks 331st nationally.

Junior guard Kori Pentzer leads the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game.

Game notes:

* Montana is 71-14 all-time against Weber State and has gone 30-9 against the Wildcats in Ogden.

* The Lady Griz have won the teams' last four matchups overall, the last two in Ogden.

* Montana swept the series last season, winning 85-57 in Missoula and 78-46 in Ogden.

* In Missoula, Montana led 47-24 at the half and shot 51.4 percent for the game. McKenzie Johnston scored 15 points, as did Taylor Goligoski and Jamie Pickens off the bench. Liz Graves, who now plays at Southern Utah, led Weber State, which had 22 turnovers, with 16 points.

* In Ogden, Montana turned a close game at the half into a rout by outscoring Weber State 43-18 in the second half. Goligoski led the Lady Griz with 17 points off the bench. In two games against the Wildcats, Goligoski went 6 for 9 from the arc.

* Weber State coach Velaida Harris is 0-4 against Montana.

* Weber State's last win in the series was an 89-73 win in Ogden near the end of the 2017-18 season, when Larryn Brooks' 30 points offset McKenzie Johnston's 16-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist performance.

* It wasn't long after that game that coach Bethann Ord left Weber State for Binghamton after going 77-137 in seven seasons leading the Wildcats.

Summary:

Early February is always the most difficult part of the calendar, no matter the opponents on the schedule. The holiday break is long gone. The tournaments of March are still a month away. Winter weather keeps hanging around.

This year has been even more of a grind, with mostly fan-less arenas not providing their normal spark, something that has hit Montana, with its level of support, harder than any other team in the Big Sky, and the COVID-19 testing that seems, for all its necessity, nonstop.

"These are the dog days right now. Kids are super tired. Everyone is kind of fighting through," said Petrino.

Now comes a long bus trip to Ogden.

But Montana goes into the week on a high, with its nice win on Saturday, its best performance since winning at Northern Arizona last month.

This will be Montana's third two-game road trip of the conference season, and the Lady Griz are still seeking their first road sweep after splitting at Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona.

In both series, Montana won the opener, lost the second game.

On Saturday against the Vikings, the Lady Griz broke 70 for the first time in five games, shot 51.6 percent, their second-best performance of the season, and finished with a season-high 23 assists.

And Portland State needed 22 points in the fourth quarter, after the game had been decided, to even reach 60.

"We're coming off a good performance," said Petrino. "We shared the ball. We had good balance, and we had good depth production."

"With that being said, one of the things we've preached all year is consistency. Let's see if we can be consistent on the road. Let's see if we can build off last game and be consistent in our efforts and production."

Montana notes:

* When Hannah Thurmon hit five 3-pointers on Saturday, it marked the 56th time in program history a Lady Griz player has connected five or more times from the arc in a game.

The single-game record is nine, set by Katie Edwards in a road win at Sacramento State during the 2004-05 season. Four times someone has made seven, 16 times someone has made six and now 35 times someone has made five.

* When Kylie Frohlich scored 18 points off the bench on Thursday, it was the most points scored by a reserve in more than a year, since Taylor Goligoski poured in 21 in a 92-54 home win over Eastern Washington in January 2020, 13 months ago.

* Montana ranks in the top 50 in the nation in three categories. The Lady Griz are 16th in free throw percentage (.781), 23rd in blocked shots (5.2/g) and 50th in field goal percentage defense (.368).

* Sophia Stiles, perfect from the line the last four games, is 45 for 50 on the season. She ranks 14th nationally at 90 percent, which would be a new Montana single-season record if she keeps it up. The current record holder is Lauren Cooper, who went 69 for 77 (.896) in 2000-01.

* Carmen Gfeller shot 63.2 percent against Portland State, going 12 for 19, to up her season percentage to 56.5. That leads the Big Sky by a good margin and ranks 19th nationally. The Montana single-season record is .572, shot by Marti Leibenguth in 1985-86.

* Abby Anderson went without a blocked shot on Thursday against Portland State, just the second time in 14 games played that that's happened. She had three in Saturday's win. She leads the Big Sky and ranks 30th nationally at 2.29 blocks per game, just ahead of Northern Colorado's Alisha Davis at 2.28.

* Gfeller, at 16.0 points per game, ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring. Sophia Stiles, at 2.1 per game, ranks third in steals.

* Montana leads the Big Sky in blocked shots (5.2/g) and ranks second in field goal percentage defense (.368) and third in assists (14.1/g) and rebounding margin (+4.0).

* Montana has held its opponent to sub-40-percent shooting 13 of the last 14 games. The only outlier was Northern Arizona lighting it up at 56.9 percent in Flagstaff in NAU's 89-76 win on Jan. 16.

* The last time Montana faced a winless team in February? When the 17-6 Lady Griz hosted 0-22 Weber State in 2012-13. Montana led 48-23 at the half and went on to win 90-43.

* Hannah Thurmon's five made 3-pointers and nine attempts were both the most for a Lady Griz this season.

* Montana needed to go just 3 for 4 from the line on Saturday to put up 76 points. The Lady Griz averaged 1.11 points per possession, their highest since the opener of the Sacramento State series and fourth-highest of the season.

* After falling on Thursday, Montana dropped to 7-2 this season when leading at the half. The Lady Griz lost their season opener at Utah State by seven after taking a two-point lead to the break.

* Abby Anderson has averaged 9.5 rebounds the last four games and has 17 blocks the last six games.

* Anderson has 125 career blocks, which ranks ninth in program history. She is eight from catching Doris Deden, who had 133 while playing from 1980-84. The way-out-there program record is Hollie Tyler's 297, which she compiled from 2001-05.

* Kylie Frohlich in two games last week: 30 points. The junior had 108 career points in 64 games played prior to last week.

* Nyah Morris Nelson scored a modest eight points in two games against Portland State, including a season-high five on Saturday. She had 10 points on the season entering the series.

* Hannah Thurmon had made just two of her last 18 3-point attempts before closing Saturday's game making five of eight. She also had seven rebounds and three assists on Saturday, both season highs.

* Montana and Portland State took 12 free throws on Saturday after combining to attempt 48 on Thursday.

* After getting out-rebounded in both games by Montana State, Montana out-boarded Portland State by 12 on Thursday, by 11 on Saturday.

* In its last four games, Montana has 12 steals. Its opponents: 46.

* Montana trailed for just 2:36 in two games against Portland State but still came away with a split.

Around the Big Sky:

Idaho State (14-1, 10-0 BSC), Idaho (11-5, 10-2 BSC) and Montana State (11-5, 8-2 BSC) are a combined 28-4 in league and winners of 23 straight games between them.

Two of those four losses have come by two points, with Idaho's 63-61 loss at Northern Colorado and Montana State's 72-70 setback at Portland State.

The Vandals have responded with five straight wins, all by 10 or more points. The Bobcats have won six straight, by an average of 26 points per game.

And Idaho State hasn't lost to anyone since falling at Nebraska on Dec. 6, a game the Bengals led at the half.

In other words, the Big Three have separated themselves from the rest of the league. And over the next three weeks, they'll all play each other.

This week it's Idaho State at Idaho. Next week it's odd travel partners Idaho State and Montana State playing a home-and-home. Then it's Idaho playing two in Bozeman.

You can also throw Montana in the mix. The Lady Griz close the regular season by hosting Idaho State, then playing at Idaho.

In other news, Southern Utah sits in fourth place, at least by winning percentage, with its 3-2 league record.

The Thunderbirds, who have had four Big Sky series canceled, won at Northern Colorado on Thursday night. The teams were going through pregame warmups on Saturday when the game was canceled.

Montana is also sitting behind Northern Arizona, which has won three straight to improve to 7-7 in league. The team that was picked third in the preseason polls is picking up some momentum.

The Lumberjacks close with series against Portland State, Weber State and Southern Utah as teams play for a first-round bye in Boise.

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

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

Upcoming: Montana will play a split series against Eastern Washington (6-11, 5-7 BSC). The teams will play in Missoula next Thursday, in Cheney on Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Taylor Goligoski

McKenzie Johnston

Jamie Pickens

Sophia Stiles

Hannah Thurmon

University of Montana Athletics