Lady Griz close out four-game home stand

The Montana women's basketball team will wrap up a four-game home stand this week when it hosts Big Sky Conference leader Sacramento State and upstart Portland State.

The Lady Griz (8-11, 4-4 BSC) will face the Hornets (15-3, 6-1 BSC) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, the Vikings (9-8, 4-3 BSC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Dahlberg Arena.

Montana will follow its home stand with five of seven games on the road before wrapping up the regular season with a home game against Idaho on Feb. 27.

The Big Sky tournament will open in Boise on Saturday, March 4.

Happenings (Thursday): The game against Sacramento State will be a pink-themed evening to bring additional awareness to breast cancer.

The Lady Griz will wear pink warm-up tops and be decked out in pink accessories.

Tables will be set up near the main entrances with information on former Lady Griz Skyla Sisco, who is battling late-stage breast cancer, and how to financially assist her fight.

Happenings (Friday): The documentary "The House That Rob Built" will be shown starting at 7 p.m. on the overhead video board inside Dahlberg Arena. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. The event is free of charge.

Happenings (Saturday): Saturday will be Montana's first N7 game, a Nike initiative that ties in with the company's commitment and mission to inspire and enable two million Native America and Aboriginal youth in North America to participate in sport and physical activity.

The Lady Griz will be wearing turquoise uniforms, a color that represents friendship and fellowship in Native cultures. The uniform logo was designed by UM alum Benji Headswift, a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. There will be several associated in-game elements.

As part of the day, Montana will welcome back former Lady Griz players Malia Kipp (Blackfeet), Tamara Guardipee (Blackfeet), Simarron Schildt (Blackfeet), LeAnn Montes (Chippewa-Cree) and Corrie Villegas McDonald (Salish-Kootenai).

Former Montana coach Robin Selvig, who recruited and coached those players and is a member of the Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, also will be recognized.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz opened their home stand last week with losses to Eastern Washington and Montana State, which followed a three-game winning streak.

The Eagles rolled by Montana on Monday, Jan. 16, shooting 57.1 percent on their way to an 87-60 win, EWU's largest margin of victory ever against the Lady Griz in more than 100 meetings between the teams.

On Saturday, Montana lost to Montana State 72-63. The Lady Griz trailed by two at the break, 37-35. The Bobcats scored 15 of the first 17 points of the second half to pull away.

Montana's five starters combined to score just 18 points against MSU, and Montana State outscored the home team 44-14 in the paint.

Freshmen Libby Stump and Mack Konig scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, with Konig going 4 for 4 from the 3-point line, Stump 4 for 8.

In was Montana State's eighth win in the last nine games in the series, the Bobcats' eighth win in Missoula since 2010.

Montana never held the lead against Eastern Washington and led for just 2:35 against Montana State.

The losses dropped the Lady Griz to 4-5 at home this season, 2-5 against Division I opponents. Montana is 4-4 in true road games.

Montana notes:

* Libby Stump, each time off the bench, has led Montana in scoring a team-high seven times this season. … Montana has scored more bench points than its opponent in 15 of 19 games this season.

* Montana is 7-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points, 1-9 when it doesn't.

* Carmen Gfeller, saddled with early foul trouble against Montana State on Saturday, did not make a basket, going 0 for 4. The last time she went without a basket was March 7, 2019, her freshman year.

* Dani Bartsch has grabbed 27 rebounds the last four games to up her team-leading average to 5.9.

* Mack Konig is 17 for 33 (.515) the last four games. Half of her six games this season with 10 or more points have come in the last four games. She is 8 for 12 from the arc in those four games.

* In Montana's first two games of its home stand, Libby Stump is averaging 17.5 points on 50 percent shooting. She has gone 5 for 10 from the arc.

* Montana is 1-3 at home in league, 3-1 on the road.

* Montana's seven Division I opponents who have visited Dahlberg Arena this season are averaging 72.6 points on 44.5 percent shooting.

* Montana went 10 for 27 from the 3-point line against Montana State. It was the most threes made by the Lady Griz since hitting 10 at South Dakota on Dec. 11.

* Montana's largest lead at home the last two games was two points. The Lady Griz fell into a 34-point hole against Eastern Washington, 19 points against Montana State.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets were picked fifth in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll but have been playing winning basketball from the season's opening day.

The Hornets opened the season with a 60-58 home loss to UC Irvine, a team now 15-3 and atop the Big West, and also lost 70-59 on the road at San Diego State, a team now 16-5.

Sacramento State's only other loss was a 77-67 defeat at Northern Arizona.

Otherwise it's been all wins for the Hornets under second-year coach Mark Campbell, who previously was at Oregon.

Last season, the Hornets exceeded preseason expectations with the outside-in play of Big Sky MVP Lianna Tillman and Newcomer of the Year Isnelle Natabou, an imposing interior presence.

This year it's Natabou and fifth-year senior Kahlaijah Dean, who played four years at Oakland and was a three-time All-Horizon League selection before she transferred west.

Dean is a four-time Big Sky Player of the Week this season, Natabou a two-time selection.

Dean is averaging 21.4 points, second in the Big Sky behind Idaho's Beyonce Bea (22.0) and ranked 11th nationally.

Natabou is averaging a double-double, 15.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, on 65.4 percent shooting. She ranks fourth nationally in shooting percentage, 16th in rebounding.

The Hornets are getting complementary scoring from senior guard Kaylin Randhawa (9.6/g), who played three seasons at Pacific, another at Utah State, before landing at Sacramento State.

Sophomore Katie Peneuta is averaging 9.1 points, 6.0 rebounds.

Sacramento State has the Big Sky's top shooting percentage (.467), which ranks 17th nationally, and is limiting its opponents to 57.8 points on 38.5 percent shooting.

Series history:

* Montana leads the series with Sacramento State 46-8 and has gone 27-1 against the Hornets in Missoula.

* Sacramento State's lone win in Missoula was a 73-60 victory during the 2016-17 season.

* Montana swept the series last season, winning 75-59 in Missoula, 59-53 in Sacramento, and has won nine of 10 against the Hornets overall.

At a glance (Portland State): After going winless in league in 2021-22, the Vikings were picked last in both preseason polls this year and by a wide margin.

That Portland State is 9-8 on the season and 4-3 in league under second-year coach Chelsey Gregg is one of 2022-23's best stories.

After opening league with home losses to Sacramento State and Eastern Washington, the Vikings opened some eyes with their 53-43 home win over a high-scoring Idaho team.

Anyone needing convincing got what they needed when Portland State then went to Flagstaff and won 78-66 over Northern Arizona in a result that was no fluke. The Vikings led the final 17 minutes.

After a road loss at Northern Colorado, Portland State won twice at home last week in dramatic fashion, defeating Weber State, 65-64, and Idaho State, 48-47.

The Vikings won at the buzzer against Weber State on a 3-pointer by Esmeralda Morales, defeated Idaho State on a 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining that was that game's final points.

Morales, a sophomore, is averaging 16.2 points and is the Big Sky leader in 3-point field goals made per game (2.9) and percentage (.495). She ranks third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage.

Senior guard Jada Lewis, at 11.1 per game, is PSU's other double-digit scorer.

Series history:

* Montana is 52-22 all-time against Portland State. The Lady Griz are 31-6 at home against the Vikings.

* Montana has won the teams' last three matchups, winning by 13, 36 and 21 points.

* The Vikings' last win in Missoula was 61-60 in front of a mostly empty gym in February 2021.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Sacramento State (6-1) and Montana State (6-2), who play in Bozeman on Saturday afternoon, sit atop the league standings.

* Surprising Eastern Washington, picked sixth and eighth in the preseason polls and currently on a four-game winning streak, is 5-3 in league, as is Northern Arizona.

* Portland State is the only other team above .500 in league.

* Idaho State (3-4) is on a four-game losing streak since opening league 3-0. Idaho (2-6) is on a six-game losing streak since opening league with home wins over Montana State and Montana.

* Weber State (0-7) is at the bottom of the standings and hasn't won a game since Dec. 3.

* Thursday's schedule: SAC at UM, PSU at MSU, EWU at ISU, UI at WSU … Eastern Washington is averaging 72.4 points, Idaho State is allowing 56.3. The former is on a four-game winning streak, the latter on a four-game losing streak.

* Saturday's schedule: PSU at UM, SAC at MSU, NAU at UNC, UI at ISU, EWU at WSU … Sacramento State sits atop the Big Sky standings. Montana State, the heavy preseason favorite, is in second.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Carmen Gfeller

Mack Konig

Libby Stump

University of Montana Athletics