Lady Griz take to the road

The Montana women's basketball team will depart Missoula on Tuesday for its final regular-season games and won't return until it's played its final game at the Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise next week.

The Lady Griz will wrap up their regular-season schedule with road games at Northern Colorado (11-15, 7-11 BSC) and Sacramento State (14-13, 10-8 BSC) this week.

Montana will face the Bears at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, the Hornets at 8 p.m. (MT) on Friday at The Nest in Sacramento.

The Lady Griz will open play at the Big Sky tournament in Boise either Monday or Tuesday. If Montana, which is sitting in fourth at 11-7 in league but has three teams hovering one game behind at 10-8, finishes in the top five, it will receive a bye to Tuesday's quarterfinal round.

The six teams that finish outside the top five play first-round games on Monday. Tournament semifinal games are on Wednesday, the championship game on Friday.

Montana could end up as high as the No. 3 seed or as low as the No. 7 seed, depending on Big Sky results Wednesday and Friday.

The Lady Griz defeated Northern Colorado 57-44 and Sacramento State 75-59 when those teams visited Dahlberg Arena in early December.

What's at stake (Montana): The Lady Griz have won four of five and would have a bye if the current standings hold, but there is still work to be done, and it will have to be done on the road.

Sacramento State, Northern Arizona and Idaho are all one game behind the 11-7 Lady Griz at 10-8.

Ahead of the Lady Griz in the standings are 15-4 Idaho State, which has clinched at least a share of the Big Sky title and completes its schedule on Wednesday night at third-place Southern Utah.

Second-place Montana State (13-5) has the same road trip as Montana, starting at Sacramento State on Wednesday and finishing at Northern Colorado on Friday.

Third-place Southern Utah (12-6), which is 4-5 since Feb. 1, hosts Idaho State on Wednesday, Weber State on Friday.

Sacramento State hosts Montana State and Montana, Northern Arizona hosts Eastern Washington and Idaho, and Idaho plays at Portland State and Northern Arizona.

Beyond standings, Montana will be trying to keep the good times rolling. The Lady Griz have won four of five and last week outscored Southern Utah and Montana State by 39 points at Dahlberg Arena to finish 12-3 at home.

That was the best home season, in terms of both overall wins and winning percentage, since the 2015-16 team went 14-2.

But any further success will have to come away from Missoula. First Greeley, then Sacramento, then Boise. As first-year coach Brian Holsinger said after Saturday's victory over Montana State, "We don't get to win the conference tournament at home."

What's at stake (Sacramento State): The Hornets could play their way to a bye this week at home, where they are 6-5 this season. That would be a notable turnaround from last year, when Sacramento State took the No. 11 seed to Boise.

The Hornets have played a first-round game ever since the Big Sky went to an all-in, neutral-site setting in 2015-16.

What's at stake (Northern Colorado): The Bears can finish no higher than eighth place in the Big Sky standings, no matter what they do this week, and can finish no lower than the No. 9 seed.

Northern Colorado will be playing a first-round game in Boise on Monday.

Trending (Montana): Up. The Lady Griz have won four of five and are a one-point loss at Idaho, a game they led by 14 late in the third quarter, from being on a five-game winning streak.

The surge has come from Montana's play on the offensive end of the court. The Lady Griz have shot 48.6 percent the last five games and averaged more than 72 points per game.

Over its previous six games, Montana averaged 60.5 points on 37.8 percent shooting.

What's remained consistent is the team's defense. The Lady Griz rank 13th nationally in field goal percentage defense at .352 and held Montana State to 32.8 percent shooting in Saturday's 71-57 win, the Bobcats' largest margin of defeat in a regular-season league game since the 2018-19 season.

Trending (Northern Colorado): Steady. The Bears went 7-5 in league games between Jan. 22 and Feb. 19 before going on the road last week and getting swept on the Eastern Washington-Idaho road trip.

Northern Colorado led at Eastern Washington on Thursday by a point going into the fourth quarter but fell 62-56 after shooting 3 for 14 in the fourth quarter.

The Bears fell behind Idaho on Saturday 45-30 at the half and never recovered, losing 88-79, their fourth loss in their last six games following a 93-45 home win over Portland State on Feb. 7.

Trending (Sacramento State): Holding. The Hornets won nine of 10 games from Jan. 10 to Feb. 12 but followed that up with three straight losses, two of those at home to Weber State and Idaho State that sapped some momentum.

Sacramento State lost at Idaho on Thursday, 73-68 in a tight game that saw the Vandals pull away late by going 5 for 6 from the arc in the final period after going 3 for 17 through the first 30 minutes.

The Hornets snapped their three-game losing streak with a 67-58 win at Eastern Washington on Saturday. Sacramento State led 22-9 after the first quarter and got an 18-point, 10-assist double-double from Lianna Tillman.

Who to watch for (Montana): In Sammy Fatkin's ongoing absence, Carmen Gfeller has become the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for a third time, while Sophia Stiles has put up seven straight double-digit scoring games for the first time in her career.

Abby Anderson has scored 10 or more points in five straight games while shooting 62.2 percent. She also has 20 assists the last five games and 13 blocked shots.

Who to watch for (Northern Colorado): Hannah Simental leads the Bears in scoring at 14.2 points per game. She leads the Big Sky in 3-point field goal percentage (.425) and averages 2.4 makes from the arc.

She is 11 for 19 from the arc the last three games and put up a season-high 26 points in UNC's 60-55 overtime home win over Weber State on Feb. 19.

Who to watch for (Sacramento State): The Hornets have the thunder-and-lightning one-two punch of Lianna Tillman at the point and Isnelle Natabou inside, then have Summer Menke if you get too distracted by the Big 2.

Tillman, one of maybe three players in the running for Big Sky MVP, is averaging 21.0 points and 6.1 assists. The fifth-year transfer from Pacific ranks 13th nationally in scoring, ninth in assists.

Natabou, who at 6-foot-5 is a player most Big Sky teams can't match up with, is averaging 14.3 points on 64.5 percent shooting and 11.3 rebounds. She ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage, 15th in rebounds.

Menke averages 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds.

Series history (Montana-Northern Colorado):

* Montana leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado 20-14 and has won three of four since the Bears won seven straight against the Lady Griz.

* Montana is 9-7 against Northern Colorado in Greeley, with two wins in its last three games at Bank of Colorado Arena.

* The teams played a two-game series in Greeley last season. Montana came back from 19 down late in the third quarter to win 60-56 in the opener.

* Two days later, Montana fell behind by 24 late in the second quarter. The Lady Griz would fight back to force overtime but fell 77-76.

The first meeting (Montana 57, Northern Colorado 44): It was nearly three months ago that the teams matched up in Missoula. The Bears led 29-27 at the half, but the Lady Griz outscored UNC 30-15 in the second half to pull away.

Carmen Gfeller, with 19 points, was the only Montana player in double figures. Allie Downing led Northern Colorado with 14. Hannah Simental did not play in the game.

Montana held Northern Colorado to 4-of-25 (.160) shooting in the second half, 2 of 11 in the third quarter, 2 of 14 in the fourth.

Series history (Montana-Sacramento State):

* Montana leads the all-time series with Sacramento State 45-7 and has won the teams' last eight meetings.

* The teams' last four games have come in Missoula.

* Montana has won its last two games at The Nest, both by tight margins, which followed a Sacramento State five-game winning streak over the Lady Griz on its home floor.

* Montana won 88-86 in double overtime in 2018-19 behind Jace Henderson's 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one blocked shot.

* The next season Montana won 64-60, with a Gabi Harrington 3-pointer with 3:40 to go breaking the game's final tie and sending the Lady Griz on to victory.

The first meeting (Montana 75, Sacramento State 59): After trailing by one at the end of the first quarter, 12-11, Montana put up 49 points in the second and third to take control.

The Lady Griz had just four turnovers and had five players in double figures, with Haley Huard scoring a team-high 13 off the bench.

Lianna Tillman scored 19 points for the Hornets but took 21 shots to get there. Natabou had a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double, Menke added 15 points. The rest of the team combined to score 10.

Montana notes:

* Carmen Gfeller, who scored 34 points in Montana's 71-57 home win over Montana State on Saturday night, was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday.

* It was Gfeller's third Player of the Week honor this season, the first time that's happened for a Lady Griz since Kayleigh Valley was recognized three times in 2015-16.

* Gfeller's 34 points was just the fifth time since 2000 that a Montana player has reached 34 points. It was the second-most points ever scored by a Montana player against Montana State.

* Montana's win on Saturday snapped its seven-game losing streak to Montana State, its three-game losing streak to the Bobcats in Missoula.

* Montana has shot 45 percent or better in five straight games, the first time the Lady Griz have done that since the 2008-09 team did it six straight times.

* Montana ranks in the top 30 nationally in field goal percentage defense (13th, .352), blocked shots (25th, 4.8/g), rebounding margin (29th, +7.1) and fouls committed (30th, 13.8/g).

* Abby Anderson is the only player with an individual statistic that ranks in the top 50 nationally. She ranks 27th in blocks (2.19/g).

* Sammy Fatkin has missed Montana's last eight games since getting injured against Idaho State on Feb. 5.

* Montana is 4-6 in true road games this season, 2-6 in league. That includes one-point losses at Northern Arizona and Idaho.

* Montana's crowd of 4,059 on Saturday night was its largest for a non-school-day game since 2015-16, when Montana drew 4,249 against Montana State.

* Abby Anderson is 17 rebounds from 500 for her career. … Sophia Stiles played in her 100th career game on Saturday night. … Kylie Frohlich will play in her 100th game on Wednesday at Northern Colorado.

* Carmen Gfeller is 28 for 44 (.636) the last four games. … Montana has gone 35 for 39 (.897) from the free throw line the last three games.

* Montana did not allow Southern Utah or Montana State to score 30 points in a half in last week's games. … Montana allowed its last four opponents to score a total of 20 second-chance points.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Idaho State needs to win on Wednesday at Southern Utah or have Montana State drop one of its last two games to win the outright Big Sky title.

* Idaho has the league's best current winning streak of five games. Portland State has lost 16 straight games.

Wednesday games: UM at UNC, MSU at SAC, ISU at SUU, EWU at NAU, UI at PSU

Game to monitor: Idaho State at Southern Utah – The Bengals could win their second straight outright title with a win. A Thunderbird loss would open the door for Montana to move into a tie for third with a win in Greeley.

Friday games: UM at SAC, MSU at UNC, WSU at SUU, UI at NAU, EWU at PSU

Game to monitor: Idaho at Northern Arizona – Two teams that enter the week in the hunt for a first-round bye in Boise. If the Vandals win at Portland State on Wednesday, they'll enter Friday's game on a six-game winning streak.

Upcoming: Boise.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Sammy Fatkin

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Gabi Harrington

Jace Henderson

Haley Huard

Sophia Stiles

Kayleigh Valley

University of Montana Athletics