Lady Griz sign Minnesota shooter

When Montana ranked second nationally in 3-pointers made last season and fourth in 3-point percentage, it went beyond that Lady Griz team simply playing to its strengths in an effort to win games, which it did 23 times.

People noticed, players like Rae Ehrman of Eden Prairie, Minn., a 5-foot-10 shooting guard for whom the 3-point line on the court is only the start of a vast area that produces more value per made shot. Good shooting attracts good shooting, right?

"She and her family wanted to go to a place that valued the 3-pointer and would never say, you can't shoot that," said fourth-year Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger, who signed Ehrman to a University of Montana scholarship contract on Wednesday.

"If you can make it, you can shoot it. That's my coaching philosophy. Some coaches have their own ideas of what a good shot is. Mine is only if you can make it or not. It can be half court if you can make it, and Rae has really deep range."

Of course, it wasn't quite that basic for Ehrman, a senior at Eden Prairie High and a member of the Minnesota Fury, a nationally competitive club program. She needed a lot more from a program than just a green light.

"I chose the University of Montana because the culture made it feel like home for me," she said. "I wanted to be a part of a strong program that was going help me develop as a player and a person.

"The competitive and positive environment really stood out to me. The relationships and support from the coaching staff and current players made it clear that Montana is the place I want to be."

While Ehrman is known for her shooting, she had multiple double-doubles last season for the Eagles, including this stat line when Eden Prairie in January knocked off defending state champion St. Michael-Albertville: 26 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, three steals, two blocked shots.

At season's end, she was voted All-Lake Conference and honorable mention all-state by the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association.

"The rest of her game is underrated," said Holsinger. "She rebounds the ball, she passes the ball really well. She's known for her shooting but she's a player who can do it all."

But it's her shooting that sets her apart, shots taken six feet beyond the 3-point line looking as easy and as comfortable as if she was shooting five feet from the basket.

"People will have to guard her at a distance that will create big openings," said Holsinger. "The further someone has to come out and guard, it creates room for everybody else, for your point guard to drive, for your post to score inside. Shooting allows you to space the floor in a different way.

"Having a weapon like Rae is a luxury as a college coach. Anybody who wants to zone or decide to not guard her, she's going to make it and that makes it easier everywhere else."

She is a product of the Minnesota Fury, same as current Lady Griz sharpshooter Aby Shubert, who is only two games into her Montana career but is already 4 for 10 from the 3-point line. That kind of perimeter shooting is a signature skill of the Fury program.

"We're fortunate to have a relationship with a club that is known for having good shooters," said Holsinger. "Now we have another player from the same club who can really shoot it and not just shoot the three but with exceptional range, range that will stretch the defense at this level."

She has the demeanor of a great shooter, possessor of the four C's: calm, cool, collected, confident. Who else were the Fury going to look to in their biggest games at Under Armour Nationals last summer, when the clock went under a minute and one shot was going to make all the difference?

"She hit some crucial, timely shots against some big-time opponents," said Holsinger, who was on hand to witness it. "Just clutch when they needed it. She doesn't get really high, doesn't get really low, the kind of shooter you can depend on in a big moment."

None of it has come without dedicated work, daily dedicated work, like when the family was on her official visit and she and her dad did whatever they had to do to find an available court to get up that day's shots.

Or when she left Missoula after watching the team practice, warming up with the two-ball Mikan drill, the standard being 40 makes in a minute. She went back home, got to 40, then soon was at 50.

"When she came on her visit, all she and her dad were trying to do was find a gym to shoot in every day. That's how you become great," said Holsinger. "She is a worker, a great kid from a great family. She fits us perfectly."

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