Lady Griz embark on first Big Sky road trip

The Montana women's basketball team will face its first Big Sky Conference road games of the season this week when it plays at preseason favorite Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.

The Lady Griz (5-8, 1-1 BSC) will take on the Lumberjacks (11-4, 2-0 BSC) in Flagstaff on Thursday at 6 p.m., the Bears (7-6, 0-2 BSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Greeley.

Montana opened its league schedule at home last week by hosting Eastern Washington and Idaho. The Lady Griz defeated the Eagles 78-70 on Thursday before falling to the Vandals 63-50 on Saturday.

What's at stake (Montana): The Lady Griz, picked third in the preseason polls, will try to bounce back from Saturday's home loss to Idaho when it tackles the Big Sky's most challenging road trip.

What's at stake (Northern Arizona): Picked first in the preseason polls, the Lumberjacks will try to hold off the Lady Griz on Thursday before hosting Montana State on Saturday.

Northern Arizona and Montana State were picked first and second in the preseason polls and sit atop the Big Sky standings at 2-0.

What's at stake (Northern Colorado): After opening the season 7-2, the Bears began league last week with road losses at Weber State and Idaho State, extending their losing streak to four games.

Northern Colorado has averaged 49.5 points during its four-game skid.

At a glance (Montana): In their quest to compete for a Big Sky championship, the Lady Griz will need to overcome an unexpected home loss, Saturday's 63-50 setback against Idaho.

Montana opened league with a 78-70 home win over Eastern Washington on Thursday against the defending league champion but new-look Eagles.

It was the fourth time in four seasons under coach Brian Holsinger that Montana won its Big Sky opener.

In a game that was tied 40-40 at the break, Montana locked down defensively in the second half, holding Eastern Washington to 31.3 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes to pull away.

Montana had five players in double figures for the first time this season, with MJ Bruno leading the way with 15, the second-highest total of her Lady Griz career.

Freshman Avery Waddington had her first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dani Bartsch, Tyler McCliment-Call and Mack Konig each scored 11 points.

Bartsch added eight assists, a career high, and hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter that sparked a game-winning 9-0 run that put Montana up eight, 63-55.

The win snapped Montana's four-game losing streak against Eastern Washington, during which the Lady Griz averaged 58.8 points per game, and gave Montana its first win since late November.

The Lady Griz' most recent Division I win prior to Thursday came at North Dakota on Nov. 21.

Attempting to start 2-0 in league for the third time in four seasons, Montana fell on Saturday to Idaho 63-50.

The Vandals won in Missoula against the Lady Griz for just the fourth time in 34 tries, while Montana's 50 points matched the fewest scored against the Vandals since 1976, the first year the teams met.

Idaho entered the game ranked seventh nationally in field goal percentage defense, and the first half was low-scoring as expected, the Vandals leading 21-19 at the break.

Idaho got rolling offensively in the second half, going 17 for 27 (.630) and putting up 42 points, and Montana was unable to keep up. The Vandals led the final 16 minutes.

Waddington continued her solid play, putting up 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Konig added 11 points and six assists. Montana's starting five combined for just 29 points.

Waddington on the two-game home stand averaged 13.5 points on 55.0 percent shooting and 9.5 rebounds. She went 3 for 4 from the 3-point line and hit both of her free throws.

Waddington has led Montana in rebounding each of the last four games.

Konig totaled 12 assists in the two games. At 5.5 per game for the season, she ranks second in the Big Sky and 25th nationally.

Over Montana's last seven games, Montana has had seven different leading scorers: McCliment-Call, Zingaro, Bartsch, Lincoln, Konig, Bruno and Waddington.

Montana ranks in the top 50 nationally in bench scoring (30th, 28.0/g), free throw percentage (40th, .759) and 3-pointers made (45th, 8.1/g).

The Lady Griz went 13 for 31 (.419) from the 3-point line against Eastern Washington to match a season high for makes from the arc.

Montana's four turnovers against the Eagles were its fewest since totaling four in a 75-59 home win over Sacramento State in December 2021.

At a glance (Northern Arizona): The Lumberjacks returned three starters from a team that won 25 games last season, finished second in the Big Sky at 15-3 and played in the championship game in Boise.

Like Montana, Northern Arizona extended its season last year with a trip to the WNIT. It was the second straight year the Lumberjacks played in the WNIT.

With first-team All-Big Sky selection Sophie Glancey and second-teamer Leia Beattie back, plus honorable mention Olivia Moran, Northern Arizona topped this year's preseason polls.

Northern Arizona is trying to win its first-ever outright Big Sky title this year after claiming shared championships in 1997-98 and 2022-23.

The Lumberjacks have been to one previous NCAA tournament, in 2005-06.

Northern Arizona is off to an 11-4 start and holds a top-100 ranking in the NET (92).

NAU is one of the nation's highest-scoring teams, averaging 81.5 points. The Lumberjacks have been held under 79 points only four times this season, under 70 just twice.

Glancey, the Big Sky preseason MVP, has been as good as expected, averaging 17.6 points on 50.8 percent shooting and 9.3 rebounds. She is a three-time Big Sky Player of the Week this season.

The team's breakout player has been junior guard Taylor Feldman, who averaged 6.7 points as a sophomore, 3.0 points as a freshman. This year she is averaging 15.8 points.

Nyah Moran (12.8/g), Beattie (11.6/g) and Olivia Moran (9.9/g) give Northern Arizona four starters who average in double figures, a fifth who is at 9.9.

Saniyah Neverson is averaging 8.1 points off the bench.

Among its non-conference wins, Northern Arizona defeated Arizona 92-75 in Flagstaff and won 84-80 on the road at Colorado State and 80-78 at New Mexico.

Colorado State is 12-4, New Mexico is 10-6. Both are tied atop the Mountain West standings with 3-0 league records. Arizona is 11-5.

NAU has mostly quality losses, at Mountain West favorite UNLV, at South Dakota, at Fresno State and at Grand Canyon, a team now 14-2.

Northern Arizona is 4-0 at home this season while averaging 93 points in those wins, never scoring fewer than 87. NAU has won seven straight at home dating back to last season.

The Lumberjacks had little trouble opening league 2-0 on the road last weekend, building double-digit first-quarter leads at both Idaho State and Weber State.

NAU cruised to a 79-71 win over the Bengals, then put up 53 first-half points in its 92-78 win over the Wildcats.

Coach Loree Payne is 120-112 in her eighth season in Flagstaff. Saturday's win was the 250th of her college coaching career.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Northern Arizona 63-19 and owns a 27-10 record against NAU in Flagstaff.

The Lumberjacks have won two straight over the Lady Griz overall and have won five of the teams' last seven meetings.

Montana won a high-scoring 89-84 decision last season in Flagstaff behind 24 points and seven assists from Mack Konig.

Northern Arizona won the rematch in Missoula 69-60, with Sophie Glancey going for 30 points. Glancey had 24 points in the second half on 11-of-13 shooting.

The teams met again in the Big Sky semifinals in Boise in the 2-3 game. Up 63-61 with under six minutes to play, the Lumberjacks hit four straight shots to pull away.

Montana coach Brian Holsinger is 3-5 against Northern Arizona, two of those losses coming in Boise at the Big Sky tournament.

At a glance (Northern Colorado): The Bears lost three of their top four scorers from last season's team that won 15 games, went 10-8 in the Big Sky and advanced to the WNIT.

Delaynie Byrne is playing professionally in the UK, Hannah Simental is playing at Colorado State, Seneca Hackley is playing at UC Riverside.

Northern Colorado opened the season 7-2, though the strength of that record wasn't the strongest.

It included three non-Division I wins and three Division I victories over teams with low rankings in the latest NET: Utah State (319), St. Thomas (238) and North Dakota (281).

The team's best win was a 67-60 overtime victory at BYU. The Cougars are 9-5 and have a NET ranking of 72.

After opening 7-2, the Bears went into Christmas with losses at Denver, 64-53, and at Lamar, 60-43, then opened league last week with losses at Weber State and at Idaho State.

Opening Big Sky play in Ogden against the league's lowest-ranked team, UNC fell behind 27-18 at the half on 23.3 percent shooting and never recovered, losing 65-52.

Two days later, in Pocatello, the Bears opened 5 for 18 in the first quarter, fell behind 22-14 after the first 10 minutes and never led after that, losing 58-50 to Idaho State.

Northern Colorado is shooting a healthy 45.4 percent this season, though that figure is helped by its 66-64, 140-26 and 93-46 wins in its non-Division I games.

During its four-game losing streak, Northern Colorado is averaging 49.5 points on 32.9 percent shooting. The Bears have gone 7 for 60 (.117) from the 3-point line in those four games.

Three returners from last season lead UNC in scoring: Tatum West (11.8/g), Aniah Hall (10.6/g) and Gabi Fields (8.8/g).

Fourth-year coach Kristen Mattio is in her fourth season at UNC, holding a 50-56 record. Northern Colorado hosts Montana State on Thursday evening.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Northern Colorado 23-16 and has gone 10-9 against the Bears in Greeley.

UNC has won three of the last four over Montana in Greeley, two of those wins coming in overtime, plus last year's 67-57 victory.

In that game, the Lady Griz led 36-24 at the half but allowed the Bears to shoot 15 for 24 (.625) in the second half, including going 7 for 9 (.778) from the 3-point line.

Despite leading by a dozen at the break, Montana, which shot 3 for 15 in the third quarter, fell behind less than seven minutes into the second half and trailed the final 12 minutes.

Hackley and Simental combined to go 9 for 11 from the 3-point line and score 31 points.

In the rematch in Missoula, the Lady Griz held Simental to six points on 3-of-14 shooting as Montana never trailed on its way to an 82-73 win.

Dani Bartsch scored a career-high 20 points and Montana went 13 for 31 from the 3-point line.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* One weekend into league play and the projected heavyweights, Montana State and Northern Arizona, sit atop the standings at 2-0.

* The Lumberjacks won comfortably twice on the road, the Bobcats got by Idaho and Eastern Washington at home, 59-56 and 66-54.

* In the former, the Vandals had a 3-point shot at the buzzer that could have forced overtime. In the latter, the Eagles led 50-45 in the fourth quarter before MSU closed the game on a 21-4 run.

* Sacramento State opened 1-0 with a 76-74 overtime road win at Portland State, coming back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and surviving a potential game-winning 3-pointer late in overtime.

* Montana, Idaho, Idaho State and Weber State all opened 1-1, with Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington starting 0-2.

* Thursday's schedule: UM at NAU, MSU at UNC, PSU at EWU, SAC at UI

* Non-Montana game to monitor: Sacramento State at Idaho. The Hornets (8-6) and Vandals (9-4) both have enjoyed strong starts to the season.

* Saturday's schedule: UM at UNC, MSU at NAU, ISU at WSU, SAC at EWU, PSU at UI

* Non-Montana game to monitor: Montana State at Northern Arizona. The preseason favorites are a combined 23-6 and both hold top-100 NET rankings, MSU at 73, NAU at 92.

The Bobcats lead the Big Sky and rank 19th nationally in scoring defense (54.9/g). The Lumberjacks lead the Big Sky and rank 23rd nationally in scoring offense (81.5/g).

Upcoming: Montana's first of two Thursday-Saturday-Monday schedule segments of the season. The Lady Griz will host Weber State and Idaho State next week, then play at Idaho on Monday, Jan. 20.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

MJ Bruno

Mack Konig

Tyler McCliment-Call

Avery Waddington

University of Montana Athletics