Lady Griz face Hornets as postseason opens

The Montana women's basketball team, the No. 6 seed, will open play at the Big Sky Conference tournament on Monday night with a first-round matchup against No. 11 Sacramento State.

The Lady Griz (12-10) and Hornets (2-21) will tip off at 8 p.m. in Boise at Idaho Central Arena.

The winner of the game will advance to face No. 3 Montana State (16-6) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.

How they got here (Montana): The Lady Griz put themselves in position to earn a first-round bye after going on a five-game winning streak last month, but a three-game skid to close the regular season has Montana playing a first-round game for the fifth time in six years.

The Lady Griz got swept at home by regular-season champion Idaho State, by 30 and 16 points, to close the month of February, then opened March with a 92-72 loss at Idaho, which finished runner-up.

Montana's loss in Moscow on Friday night allowed Southern Utah, despite losing at home to Portland State, to slide into the No. 5 spot and earn a bye past the opening round.

How they got here (Sacramento State): The Hornets have just two wins all season, an 82-76 home victory over Eastern Washington and a 73-66 home win over Southern Utah.

Sacramento State enters the postseason on a four-game losing streak, after falling twice at Weber State and dropping a pair of games at home to Montana State.

The Hornets are getting outscored by 10.7 points per game this season, which is a relatively competitive number for a two-win team. Twelve of the team's losses have been by 12 points or fewer.

Recent history: Montana swept Sacramento State in January when the teams played in Missoula.

In the series opener, the Lady Griz shot 50.8 percent and led the final 34 minutes on their way to a 90-77 victory. Carmen Gfeller had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Abby Anderson 21 points and Sophia Stiles 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Two days later, Montana led 34-25 at the half but could never put the game out of reach in the second half.

The Hornets came back to lead by three early in the fourth quarter and the game was tied 63-63 in the final minute before Anderson scored the game-winner with 32 seconds left.

Sacramento State's Summer Menke missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime and Montana held on for a 66-63 win.

Montana had four starters in double figures, led by Gfeller's packed line of 18 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals.

Series history: Montana leads the series with Sacramento State 44-7 and has won the teams' last seven meetings.

The teams have met just twice in the Big Sky tournament, with No. 1 seed Montana winning 74-53 over No. 5 Sacramento State in the semifinals in Missoula in 2013.

No. 8 Montana defeated No. 9 Sacramento State 87-80 in a first-round game in Reno in 2018. That was the teams' only other meeting at a neutral site.

Tournament bona fides: Sacramento State has a 4-13 tournament record, with wins in 2012, '13, '15 and '16.

Before the Big Sky went to an all-in tournament format in 2015-16, the Hornets had made just eight postseason appearances between their first year in the league, 1996-97, and 2014-15.

Sacramento State has lost in the first round the last four years and has lost five straight tournament games overall.

Montana has a tournament record of 56-17, with 21 championships won in 38 years. (The teams of the Big Sky Conference played in the Mountain West Athletic Conference from 1982-83 to 1987-88.)

Nineteen of those 21 titles came at Dahlberg Arena. Montana won on Boise State's home floor in 1992 and at Portland State in 2011.

Montana is 40-2 at home in tournament games, 2-4 on the road and 14-11 on neutral floors.

Montana is just 2-5 in the five years the tournaments have been at the neutral sites of Reno and Boise.

The Lady Griz have lost their last three tournament games and bowed out earlier than projected the last two years as the higher seed.

No. 7 Montana lost 64-56 to No. 10 Southern Utah in 2019, the first year the tournament was in Boise after three years in Reno. Last year it was No. 4 Montana falling 68-65 to No. 5 Northern Arizona.

Montana, playing for the first time ever as a No. 6 seed, is 50-6 in tournament games as the higher seed.

Monday's schedule:

No. 9 Eastern Washington vs. No. 8 Portland State (2 p.m.): The Eagles swept the regular-season series, winning a pair of close games at Portland, 73-71 and 73-67. Portland State is on a one-game winning streak. Eastern Washington has dropped seven straight.

No. 10 Weber State vs. No. 7 Northern Arizona (5 p.m.): The Lumberjacks swept the Wildcats in Flagstaff, winning 82-70 and 85-68. Both teams enter the postseason on a losing streak, NAU of just one, WSU of two.

No. 11 Sacramento State vs. No. 6 Montana (8 p.m.): See above.

Tuesday's schedule:

No. 1 Idaho State vs. EWU/PSU (11 a.m.): The Bengals went 3-0 against the Eagles and Vikings during the regular season, with all the games in Pocatello. ISU dismantled Eastern Washington 86-51 on Friday night to claim the league's regular-season title, its first since 2012.

No. 5 Southern Utah vs. No. 4 Northern Colorado (2 p.m.): The teams played just once in Greeley, with the Thunderbirds winning 70-63. The Bears enter the postseason on a six-game winning streak, SUU dropped its regular-season finale.

No. 2 Idaho vs. WSU/NAU (5 p.m.): The Vandals split a pair of games against the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff on opening weekend and swept the Wildcats in Ogden. Idaho is 11-2 since the calendar changed to 2021.

No. 3 Montana State vs. SAC/UM (8 p.m.): The Bobcats swept both teams, defeating Montana 70-46 in Bozeman, 70-60 in Missoula. MSU closed the regular season at Sacramento State, winning 61-57 and 81-66. The Hornets had a 10-point lead in the third quarter in the teams' opener on Wednesday.

Montana notes:

* The Lady Griz go into the postseason on a three-game losing streak for the first time in program history.

* Abby Anderson and Carmen Gfeller were both named third-team All-Big Sky Conference on Sunday. It's the first time Montana has had multiple selections since Kayleigh Valley and McCalle Feller in 2015-16.

* Montana went 9 for 11 from the line on Friday at Idaho to up its season percentage to .785. The program record is .776, set by the 2007-08 team.

* The Lady Griz have lost three straight games in Boise: the last two Big Sky tournaments and a 70-64 loss at Boise State in 2007-08. The program's last win in the city came in January 2000, a 66-64 win over the Broncos.

* Montana is 11-5 against Sacramento State under eighth-year coach Bunky Harkleroad.

* The Lady Griz have used the same starting lineup (Stiles, Thurmon, Schoening, Gfeller, Anderson) in 21 of 22 games this season. The only outlier was when Kylie Frohlich started in Game 2 at Northern Colorado when Anderson sat out with an injury.

* Montana was picked sixth in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll and finished sixth. The Hornets were picked ninth.

* Montana is 6-6 this season away from Missoula. The Hornets are 0-10 when not playing at The Nest.

* Montana is assured of finishing above .500 for the second consecutive season after finishing below .500 the previous three.

* Montana led 45-41 at the half on Friday night and lost. That was just the third time this season that's happened.

* The Lady Griz are undefeated this season (6-0) when turning the ball over fewer times than their opponent.

* Madi Schoening hit five 3-pointers on Friday at Idaho. That was a career high. Her 18 points were the most she's scored since going for 18 in a home win over Montana State on Feb. 24, 2018, when Schoening was a sophomore.

* Schoening had been just 10 for 46 from the arc this season before catching fire in Moscow and going 5 for 9.

* Abby Anderson had scored in double figures in seven consecutive games before being held to seven by Idaho on Friday.

* Anderson had two blocks against the Vandals, giving her 142 for her career. She ranks seventh in program history. She'll pass Katie Baker (157 blocks, 2009-13) early next season.

* Sophia Stiles' 23 points on Friday were a season high and three off her career high of 26, scored at Southern Utah as a true freshman.

* Hannah Thurmon has been held scoreless the last three games by Idaho State and Idaho. She attempted just five shots in those three games.

* Kyndall Keller went 2 for 2 at the line on Friday and is now 28 for 30 (.933) on the season. That would set a new program single-season record but she won't reach the minimum of 50 attempts.

* Since shooting 50.8 percent in a home win over Sacramento State in mid-January, Montana has shot 40 percent or better just twice in the last 12 games.

* On Montana's three-game losing streak, Idaho State and Idaho combined to shoot 48.7 percent.

* Montana's nine 3-pointers made on Friday were one off a season high. The team's 30 attempts from the arc were a season high. It was the most for the program since putting up 33 in a loss to Massachusetts in Iowa City in 2016-17.

* Montana's 45 points in the first half on Friday were the most the team has scored in a first half this season and third-highest of any half. The Lady Griz scored 51 in the second half against Sacramento State, 48 in the second half against North Dakota.

* Montana ranks 12th nationally in free throw percentage (.785), 28th in blocked shots (5.0/g). ... Abby Anderson ranks 28th in blocked shots (2.3/g), Carmen Gfeller and Sophia Stiles rank 28th in free throw percentage (.868), and Gfeller ranks 31st in field goal percentage (.534).

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

McCalle Feller

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Kyndall Keller

Madi Schoening

Sophia Stiles

Hannah Thurmon

Kayleigh Valley

University of Montana Athletics