Lady Griz to host Vikings for two games

The Montana women's basketball team will open the month of February by hosting Portland State for two games this week at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The Lady Griz (7-6, 4-4 BSC) and Vikings (5-6, 3-5 BSC) will tip off at 7 p.m. on Thursday and at noon on Saturday.

After this week's games, Montana will play, if the schedule holds, five of its last eight on the road, starting with a road trip to Weber State and a split series against Eastern Washington.

The Lady Griz will conclude their regular-season schedule against Idaho State (at home) and Idaho (on the road), teams that are 18-2 in league and atop the Big Sky Conference standings.

The Big Sky tournament will open on Monday, March 8, in Boise.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz dropped both games last week against Montana State, one on the road, one at home, and will take their first losing streak of the season into Thursday night's game.

Montana lost in Bozeman on Thursday, 70-46, a result of shooting 30.6 percent and turning the ball over 23 times. It was the fewest points scored by the Lady Griz against the Bobcats since a 44-42 win during the 1974-75 season.

Montana played better on Saturday but fell 70-60, giving Montana State a season sweep of the Lady Griz for the third consecutive season.

Montana shot better and turned the ball over fewer times than Thursday but gave up 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 critical second-chance points for Montana State. The Bobcats raced out to a 13-2 lead and never gave it back.

The Lady Griz, who saw their seven-game home winning streak come to an end on Saturday, had 18 assists against 39 turnovers in the two games and went 8 for 37 (.216) from 3-point range.

"Thursday was a tough day, obviously. Saturday was more who we are," said Lady Griz coach Mike Petrino.

"I like the way we responded. I thought our effort on Saturday was there. That was big for our growth. You've got to embrace adversity in a season, not dodge it or make excuses for it."

Carmen Gfeller averaged 15 points on 50 percent shooting in the two games. Abby Anderson averaged 11 points and 9.5 rebounds on 52.6 percent shooting. Their teammates went 12 for 57 (.211).

Anderson had her second career double-double on Saturday with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Montana has gone 9 for 50 (.180) from 3-point range the last three games, just as Portland State and its tough-to-solve zone defense arrives in town.

"They are a really good zone team. That's who they are," said Petrino. "They are one of the few teams in the country that is as committed to a zone defense as anybody.

"They are active, they are long, and they are successful with it. We've really got to be dialed in on how we execute and work to get good shots.

"We don't have to lead the league in shooting, but we have to hit timely shots. We have a really good inside game that's working, so we have to take pressure off the people inside. Otherwise teams will just pack it in."

The schedulers did Montana a favor by sending Portland State to Missoula this season.

The Lady Griz have lost their last four games on the Vikings' home floor, losing by nearly 18 points per game while shooting 31.0 percent.

Montana has won eight of nine at home against Portland State.

"Like anybody you face in the Big Sky, the margin for error is so small," said Petrino. "You have to execute and make plays."

At a glance (Portland State): The Vikings have had six games canceled this season, including a road series at still-winless Weber State and didn't play their first game against any opponent until Dec. 16.

A 63-53 win at Dixie State in its opener was PSU's only game before Christmas.

After opening league with a pair of close home losses to Eastern Washington, the Vikings won three of four, sweeping Sacramento State and taking one of two at home against Montana State.

That 72-70 win over the Bobcats, which came after trailing by six early in the fourth quarter, is Portland State's best win of the season.

The Vikings followed that up with a winless road trip to Idaho State, falling 80-55 and 70-62.

PSU won its most recent game, 59-37 over College of Idaho. The Vikings held the Yotes to 29.3 percent shooting.

The Vikings returned three starters from last year's team that went 16-16 and finished seventh in the Big Sky at 9-11. All come with some name recognition.

Senior point guard Kylie Jimenez, who is really good and so fun to watch, enters the week 15 assists shy of having more than 1,000 career points and 500 assists, a combination only Mandy Morales, Skyla Sisco and McKenzie Johnston have reached in Lady Griz history.

She has a fantastic ratio of 45 assists and only 16 turnovers this season while averaging nearly 38 minutes per game. In other words she turns the ball over once every 26 minutes she is on the court.

Tatiana Streun put up 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting in Portland State's home win over Montana last season, and Desirae Hansen, third team All-Big Sky last year, leads the team in scoring this winter at 14.7 points per game.

"Jimenez is rewriting the PSU record book. It seems like every week she is setting another landmark in the history of their program, whether it's assists or scoring or steals," said Petrino.

"Hansen is a versatile player who is a very good scorer. She can score inside, outside, back to the basket, faced up."

And then there is Streun, who got to the line 13 times in the teams' game last season in Portland. In the rematch in Missoula, a 62-55 Montana win, the Lady Griz shot 43.4 percent and limited Streun to a relatively quiet 13 points. She made just five trips to the free throw line.

Streun has made 60 trips to the line this season through 11 games.

"She gets to the free throw line more than anybody else in the league," said Petrino, though not literally. She ranks sixth in the Big Sky in attempts.

"She has a great way of drawing contact. We saw that last year up close."

History:

* Montana leads the all-time series 49-21 and has gone 29-5 against the Vikings in Missoula.

* The teams split their series the last three years, with the home team winning all six games.

* Montana has won the last three games against Portland State in Missoula, eight of the last nine in Dahlberg Arena.

* Portland State won at home last season 78-65 behind 30 points from Streun. Her next highest-scoring game last year was 21 points. The Vikings built a 39-22 halftime lead and never looked back.

* The teams met just 17 days later in Missoula. The Lady Griz led 19-5 early, only for the Vikings to rally back and take the lead early in the fourth quarter. Montana went up for good on a Taylor Goligoski 3-pointer with 7:47 to go. Jimenez missed an open 3-pointer from the top of the key with 59 seconds left that would have tied it at 58-58. Montana went on to win 62-55.

Montana notes:

* Madi Schoening will be playing in her 100th game as a Lady Griz on Thursday. She has started 89 of the first 99 games she has played at Montana.

* After going 11 for 22 from the line in Bozeman, Montana bounced back with a 23-for-25 performance on Saturday at home. The Lady Griz are at 79.1 percent on the season, which ranks 11th nationally.

* Sophia Stiles went 10 for 10 from the line in two games last week and is now 44 for 49 (.898) on the season. She ranks 19th nationally. The Lady Griz single-season record is held by Lauren Cooper, who went 69 for 77 (.896) in 2000-01.

* Abby Anderson has had 14 blocked shots the last four games. She ranks first in the Big Sky at 2.4 per game, 28th nationally.

* As a team, Montana has 29 blocks the last four games. Montana has 14 more than any other team in the Big Sky and ranks 22nd nationally at 5.4 per game.

* Carmen Gfeller went 4 for 11 (.364) at Montana State on Thursday, snapping a streak of five straight games shooting better than 55 percent. She rebounded with a 6-for-9 performance on Saturday.

* Gfeller also went 10 for 11 from the line, both career highs, on Saturday to finish with 22 points, her sixth time this season surpassing 20 points.

* Gfeller is shooting 55.7 percent for the season. She leads the Big Sky and ranks 26th nationally.

* Gfeller, at 16.3 per game, ranks second in the Big Sky in scoring. Southern Utah's Liz Graves, who played two years at BYU and one at Weber State before making her way to Cedar City, ranks first at 19.0.

* In this week's Big Sky NET rankings, Idaho State is 101, Montana State is up to 113, Northern Arizona is 159, Idaho is 171, Montana is 195.

* Montana's top seven scorers -- Gfeller, Stiles, Anderson, Schoening, Keller, Thurmon, Schweyen -- have combined to go 174 for 206 (.845) from the free throw line this season.

* Montana has four players averaging between 5.1 and 6.7 rebounds per game: Schoening (6.7), Anderson (6.2), Gfeller (5.5) and Stiles (5.1).

* Montana lost twice to Montana State last week despite limiting the Bobcats to 37.4 percent shooting in the two games.

* That keeps the Lady Griz, at .370 on the season, ranked second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage defense behind Idaho State (.354). Montana has held 11 of its last 12 opponents under 40 percent.

* Montana's recent shooting woes from the arc have the Lady Griz below 30 percent for the season, at .299. The Lady Griz have shot below 30 percent from the 3-point line three of the previous four years.

* Abby Anderson has led Montana in assists a team-high seven times this season.

* Montana averaged just 0.65 points per possession in Thursday's loss at Montana State, the team's lowest of the season. That increased to 0.94 on Saturday.

* Because of Montana turnovers (39) and Montana State offensive rebounds (29), the Bobcats took 27 more shots than the Lady Griz did in two games last week.

* With 122 career blocks, Abby Anderson has moved into the top 10 in program history. She currently ranks No. 9. Next up on her way up the list: Doris Deden (133, 1980-84) at No. 8, Tamara Guardipee (137, 2005-09) at No. 7.

* Anderson has scored in double figures in six straight games. That's a first for her. She scored in double figures five consecutive games last season.

* Anderson's 12-point, 10-rebound double-double against Montana State on Saturday was the second of her career.

* Kylie Frohlich grabbed six rebounds in 11 minutes played on Saturday.

* Carmen Gfeller is averaging 17.1 points on 58.0 percent shooting in the team's eight Big Sky games.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Idaho State improved to 13-1 on the season with a 62-54 win at Grand Canyon on Friday, a game added after Southern Utah had to cancel its series with the Bengals. It was only the third loss this season for Grand Canyon, which is 11-3. ISU led by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter.

* Idaho State's lone loss continues to be on the road at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are 9-5.

* Idaho State sits atop the league at 10-0. The Bengals host Northwest Nazarene this week before next week's big clash at Idaho. The Vandals are in second place at 8-2.

* Montana State is on a four-game winning streak and sitting at 6-2 in league. The Bobcats get Weber State and Eastern Washington the next two weeks before facing Idaho State and Idaho back-to-back.

* Northern Colorado (6-6), Eastern Washington (5-5), Montana (4-4) and Southern Utah (2-2) are all .500 in league.

* Northern Colorado has played a Big Sky-leading 17 games this season. Portland State, Southern Utah and Weber State have played the fewest at 11.

* Southern Utah has had series against Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington and Idaho State canceled.

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

Friday's game: Northwest Nazarene at ISU

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

Upcoming: Montana will travel to Ogden, Utah, next week for a two-game series at winless Weber State (0-11, 0-8 BSC).

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Taylor Goligoski

McKenzie Johnston

Madi Schoening

Sophia Stiles

University of Montana Athletics