Lady Griz get second shot at league-leading Bobcats

The Montana women's basketball team will close out the regular season in the coming weeks with a stretch of four games in 10 days, starting Saturday with a game at Montana State.

The Lady Griz (10-15, 6-8 BSC) and the Big Sky Conference-leading Bobcats (24-2, 14-0 BSC), who are on a 17-game winning streak and haven't lost since Dec. 7, will tip off at 2 p.m. in Bozeman at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Montana State is tied for the nation's third-longest winning streak, behind Grand Canyon (22) and Notre Dame (18), is 11-0 at home this season and is one of 11 NCAA Division I teams that are still unbeaten in league.

Montana will host Sacramento State and Portland State next Thursday and Saturday, then play at Eastern Washington on Monday, March 3, to wrap up the regular season.

The Big Sky Conference Championship in Boise runs from Saturday, March 8, to Wednesday, March 12.

Coverage: Saturday's game will stream on ESPN+ with the Lady Griz call with Ace Sauerwein available on KGRZ 1450 AM/92.7 FM and at KGRZMissoula.com.

The game will have additional coverage through Scripps Sports. Calling the action will be Ben Creighton (play-by-play), Krista Redpath (color) and Grace Lawrence (sideline).

What's at stake (Montana): The Lady Griz, on a three-game losing streak, are currently in sixth place in the league standings, an uncomfortable spot when seeds 7 through 10 play a first-round game in Boise on the opening day of the Big Sky tournament.

Montana's home games next week against Sacramento State and Portland State come against teams who are a combined 5-21 in league, which is beneficial to the Lady Griz in their quest to finish in the top six and avoid playing until Monday in Boise.

In sixth place, math will still be part of the story line – if this, then this – until Montana wins its way to a spot directly to the Monday quarterfinals in Boise, the reward for finishing between third and sixth.

What's at stake (Montana State): The Bobcats, who are pretty much a lock to be the Big Sky tournament's No. 1 seed, are chasing history. No Big Sky team since Montana went 14-0 in 2003-04 has gone unbeaten through its league schedule.

It's only been done six times in Big Sky history, five times by Montana (1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1996-97, 2003-04) and once by Idaho State (2001-02).

Montana State gets Montana, Portland State and Sacramento State at home, games the Bobcats will be heavily favored to win, then closes the season with a game at Idaho on Monday, March 3, the team that played Montana State to a three-point game in Bozeman in early January.

Tale of the Tape:

* The weight of expectations: The road to perfection for the Bobcats is pretty straightforward. Three home games they'll be expected to win, then a potential trip-up game at Idaho in what will be MSU's third game in five days. Of course, it also will be the Vandals' third game in five days.

Montana will enter Saturday's contest on a three-game losing streak, the first two of which – at home against Northern Arizona and at Idaho State – came via 20-point outcomes, only the third time in program history the Lady Griz have lost back-to-back league games by 20 or more points.

Montana lost 96-76 to Northern Arizona, the most points the Lady Griz have ever allowed in a home game while giving up 17 made 3-pointers, the most made by an opponent in program history.

Last Thursday in Pocatello, Montana led 36-32 in the third quarter before the Bengals closed the game on a 34-10 run over the final 14 minutes to win 66-46.

On Saturday in Ogden, Weber State built a 22-point third-quarter lead, then held off a furious Montana rally that had the Lady Griz pull within one with 1:51 to go. The Wildcats made enough plays down the stretch to win 73-69.

Montana State enters Saturday's game with a heady NET ranking of 54. Montana is barely above the 200 mark at 199.

* Home and away: Montana State is 11-0 at home this season and has been mostly untouchable at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, winning by an average of more than 22 points per game while holding its opponents to a mere 52.4 points.

Only Northern Arizona and Idaho, the Big Sky's second- and third-best teams, have been able to be closer than 10 points at the final buzzer in MSU's 11 home wins this season.

Dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season, Montana State is 66-13 at home.

Montana is just 3-10 away from Missoula this season, those wins coming against teams with NET rankings of 235 (North Dakota), 312 (Portland State) and 218 (Sacramento State).

Montana has lost 10 straight games at Montana State by an average margin of 13.6 points per setback.

Montana's last win in Bozeman came in 2014, when the Lady Griz had a starting lineup of Kellie Cole, Torry Hill, Jordan Sullivan, Maggie Rickman and Carly Selvig.

* Long history: Montana won 35 of the teams' first 41 meetings and owns an 81-38 all-time advantage over Montana State. The Lady Griz are 28-23 against the Bobcats in Bozeman.

* Short history: Montana dominated the series for years and years but the last decade, the post-Selvig Era, has belonged to Montana State. The Bobcats have won 16 of the teams' last 20 match-ups.

Longtime MSU coach Tricia Binford has gotten her way back to .500 against Montana, at 21-21. In the post-Selvig Era, she has gone 7-1 against Shannon Schweyen, 2-0 against Mike Petrino, 4-2 against Brian Holsinger and is now 1-0 against Nate Harris.

* Bobcats among nation's best: Montana State ranks third nationally in steals (14.3/g) and is eighth in turnovers forced (23.9/g).

It's been MSU's reliability and consistency on that end of the floor that has allowed the Bobcats to get deep into February with two losses on the season, at Utah in November and in overtime at Oral Roberts in early December.

Montana State isn't the stingiest of defensive teams when it comes to field goal percentage allowed (.388) but the Bobcats have forced an absurd 622 turnovers this season. Teams simply don't get enough shots off to keep up with a team that is averaging 71.4 points.

Over its last six games, Montana State has four times held its opponent to 45 or fewer points. In league, teams are averaging 55.1 against the Bobcats. Only two teams all season have scored 70 points against Montana State in a non-overtime game, Utah and Northern Arizona.

* The first meeting: No team has played Montana State closer in league than Montana did last month.

After the Bobcats built a 12-point lead late in the third quarter, the Lady Griz, sparked by Avery Waddington, who scored 15 of her season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, rallied to take a pair of leads late in the fourth quarter.

After a Waddington 3-pointer from the corner put Montana up two, 66-64, Montana State scored the game's final three points to escape with a 67-66 win.

The Lady Griz had the final look, an inbounds pass from in front of their own bench with four seconds left. Rather than risk an inbounds pass 25 to 30 feet from the basket against an exceptional defensive team, Montana drew up a lob to the front of the rim that was perfect except the ball not rolling in.

Montana executed as well as could be expected against Montana State, turning the ball over 17 times, something only Central Florida (16) has done better against the Bobcats this season. Those turnovers only led to 14 points, three more than the Lady Griz scored off MSU's eight turnovers.

Mack Konig played 30 minutes at the point, Macy Donarski the other 10. They combined for six turnovers, or one every six-plus minutes, which is a winning metric against the pressing Bobcats.

Montana generally took care of the ball, then shot a good percentage, finishing at 45.3 percent and hitting 11 3-pointers. The Lady Griz found the sweet spot, the formula for taking down the Bobcats.

Idaho State in Montana State's last game? The Bengals shot 54.0 percent, going 27 for 50, a percentage that almost always wins. But ISU lost 74-60 due to 28 turnovers.

The margin for error is slim against Montana State. Montana toed that line in the first meeting, getting everything it could have asked for, except for the game-ending shot to go in.

* The difference-maker: When Montana State faced Northern Arizona in Flagstaff in January in Big Sky Game of the Year I, Esmeralda Morales scored 30 points to lead the Bobcats to a huge 87-81 road win.

When Montana State faced Northern Arizona in Bozeman this month in Big Sky Game of the Year II, Morales scored 25 points to lead the Bobcats to a key 73-66 home win.

With Montana State clinging to first place in the Big Sky by its fingernails in Missoula last month, with Waddington going wild and a crowd of 3,432 feeling an upset in the making, it was Morales who scored the game's final three points to pull it out for the Bobcats.

Morales played three seasons at Portland State, totaling 1,365 points and twice earning All-Big Sky honors, which she'll undoubtedly do again this year, possibly getting MVP honors if the voters go for winning over the offensive production of Northern Arizona's Sophie Glancey or Taylor Feldman.

* Montana back to full health: Kind of. Dani Bartsch is powering through to the finish line with a body that is ready to call it quits on high-level competitive sports. Mack Konig's shooting hand has been wrapped up enough that it appears she might be wearing an oven mitt.

On Saturday, Montana will welcome the return of shooting guard Aby Shubert, who hasn't played since Montana's first match-up against Montana State last month.

In the six games prior to her absence, the Xavier transfer went 16 for 37 (.432) from the 3-point line. She'll be a welcome return at just the right time.

* Freshman vs. freshman: Montana State's Taylee Chirrick has been a big impact player for the Bobcats in her first season in Bozeman.

She is averaging 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 20.7 minutes off the bench, but it's been her effort and results on the defensive end that have made her such an ideal fit for this MSU team.

Despite averaging less than 21 minutes, she is tied for ninth nationally in steals (3.2/g), a number that leads the Big Sky.

Montana counters with Avery Waddington, a silky-smooth 6-foot-3 guard who averages 8.8 points, second on the team, and 5.8 rebounds. She has a shooting slash line of .441/.366/.895.

Waddington is playing 26.6 minutes per game, a number not put up by a Lady Griz freshman since Katie Baker in 2009-10 (26.7/g).

Montana notes:

* Dani Bartsch grabbed nine rebounds on last week's road trip to Idaho State and Weber State, giving her 846 for her career. That ties her with Greta Koss (1992-97) for fifth-most in program history.

Doris Deden (852, 1980-84), Shannon Cate (878, 1988-92) and Ann Lake (886, 1989-94) are all reachable. The top spot, held by Hollie Tyler (952, 2001-05), is not.

* In her first eight games under interim head coach Nate Harris, Tyler McCliment-Call averaged 14.9 points on 50 percent shooting and went 23 for 43 (.535) from the 3-point line.

Idaho State and Weber State last week were prepared for her and held her to two points on 1-of-16 shooting. She went 0 for 10 from the 3-point line.

* The Lady Griz have not dropped four straight Big Sky Conference games since the 2018-19 season.

* Montana ranks in the top 50 nationally in bench points (25th, 25.7/g), 3-pointers made (26th, 8.6/g) and free throw percentage (34th, .765). … Mack Konig ranks 51st nationally in assists (4.8/g).

* Opponents are shooting 42.1 percent against Montana this season. That ranks last in the Big Sky and would be the highest allowed in program history, surpassing the 41.5 percent given up by Montana's 2016-17 team.

Montana State notes:

* Esmeralda Morales leads Montana State in scoring (14.6/g) and in assists (95). She has made 30 more free throws this season (93) than anyone on Montana's team has attempted.

Morales scored 17 points in the teams' first meeting on 5-of-13 shooting, a percentage Montana would take again on Saturday.

Morales ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring behind NAU's Sophie Glancey (18.0/g) and Taylor Feldman (16.5/g). She leads the league in 3-pointers made (2.2/g).

* Marah Dykstra averages 13.4 points on 47.0 percent shooting and a team-high 4.8 rebounds. Montana held her to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the first match-up.

* Katelynn Martin and Dylan Philip combined to go 6 for 7 from the 3-point line in the first meeting.

* Montana State's three leading scorers (Morales, Dykstra and Martin) are 217 for 257 (.844) from the free throw line this season.

* The Bobcats have won their 14 league games by an average of 16.4 points. They are 5-0 in Big Sky games decided by seven points or fewer, including a one-point win over Montana, a two-point win at Eastern Washington and a three-point win over Idaho.

* Montana State opened the season with four wins in four home games. The Bobcats lost 72-53 at Utah on Nov. 24, then fell in overtime at Oral Roberts on Dec. 7 as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.

Montana State's streak of 17 straight wins began with a 58-49 road victory at Florida Gulf Coast, which is now 23-3 and one of those teams who, like the Bobcats, are undefeated in league. The Eagles, who began the season 0-2, are 14-0 in the ASUN Conference.

* Montana State ranks second in the Big Sky in scoring (71.4/g) behind Northern Arizona and tops the league in scoring defense (55.0/g). … The Bobcats lead the league and rank 17th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.268).

* Montana State is closing in on winning its third outright Big Sky title, adding to ones in 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* The top two seeds for the Big Sky Conference Championship are pretty much set, with Montana State (14-0 BSC) and Northern Arizona (12-2 BSC) going in as the top two seeds.

* The Bobcats have three straight home games left, where they are 11-0 this season, before closing at Idaho.

* The Lumberjacks have a harder road, playing at Idaho and Eastern Washington this week, then at Northern Colorado next week before closing at home against Idaho State.

* Montana State has a NET ranking of 54, Northern Arizona of 89. The Big Sky is one of only 12 leagues in the country out of 31 that has two teams holding rankings that high.

* Idaho (8-5 BSC) long felt locked into the No. 3 spot, but the Vandals have lost two in a row, three of four and four of their last six.

* That has allowed feel-good-story Weber State (7-6 BSC) to move into fourth, just a game behind Idaho. The Wildcats were picked last in the preseason coaches' poll.

* Weber State plays at Sacramento State and Portland State this week, then gets Eastern Washington and Idaho at home before closing at Northern Colorado.

* Just a half game separates fifth-place Eastern Washington (6-7 BSC) from sixth-place Montana (6-8 BSC), with the Lady Griz a full game up on seventh-place Northern Colorado (5-9 BSC).

* The Eagles have a challenging close to the season, hosting Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona this week, then playing at Weber State and Idaho State next week before hosting Montana on the final day of the regular season.

* Northern Colorado's final four games all come against teams above it in the standings, at Eastern Washington and Idaho, home for Northern Arizona and Weber State.

* Sacramento State (4-9 BSC) and Idaho State (4-9 BSC) both have to get multiple wins in their final games to have a chance of moving out of the bottom four at season's end.

* Portland State (1-12 BSC) is going to finish last for the third time in four years.

* Thursday schedule: UNC at EWU, NAU at UI, ISU at PSU, WSU at SAC

* Thursday game to monitor I: Northern Arizona at Idaho, second place vs. third place. The Lumberjacks smoked the Vandals 106-76 in Flagstaff last month.

* Thursday game to monitor II: Northern Colorado at Eastern Washington. It's pretty much a must-win game for the Bears if they want to avoid a first-round game in Boise. A win for the Eagles would further solidify their spot in the top six.

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

Upcoming: Montana will host Sacramento State and Portland State next week. The Saturday game against the Vikings will be Senior Day for Dani Bartsch, MJ Bruno, Imogen Greenslade and Tyler McCliment-Call.

Lady Griz get second shot at league-leading Bobcats

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

MJ Bruno

Macy Donarski

Imogen Greenslade

Mack Konig

Tyler McCliment-Call

Aby Shubert

Avery Waddington

University of Montana Athletics