It was back to business Tuesday morning. That's when the 13th-seeded Maroon & Silver started preparing for Saturday's NCAA tournament opener against No. 4 seed Vanderbilt at 9 p.m. (MST) in Albuquerque, N.M. The Commodores (23-8) earned an at-large bid to the Big Dance after finishing 11-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
“It's been one of the elite programs in women's basketball for a very long time,” Montana coach Robin Selvig said of Vandy, which has won 10 of its last 12 games, with its only losses coming to defending national champ Tennessee.
“We're just going to have to be ready and get prepared this week and play our hardest,” Montana point guard Mandy Morales said.
Saturday's game will mark the third meeting between Montana (25-6) and Nashville-based Vanderbilt. The Lady Griz had trouble adjusting to the Commodores' trapping defense back in the 2005 NCAA tourney, dropping a 67-44 decision in Seattle.
Like the Lady Griz, this season's Vanderbilt team has played its best basketball after Christmas. The uptempo Commodores were 9-4 heading into the 2008 portion of their schedule, then hit their stride.
“We've improved defensively and this is probably the best rebounding team I've ever had,” Balcomb told The Tennessean on Monday.
Vanderbilt has held the opposition to an average of 56.5 points per game, which is seven points less than Montana has allowed. But the Lady Griz have a higher scoring average (75.6 ppg) and rebounding average (40.6 rpg).
Granted, the Big Sky Conference as a whole is not on the level of the SEC. But the Big Sky is getting better, and Montana is coming off tournament games in which it scored 94 and 101 points against a pair of salty opponents in Portland State and Montana State.
“I love how we shot the ball last weekend,” Selvig said. “You go into the tournament, that's one of the keys.
“We're not going to shut (Vanderbilt) down. You have to score. We're coming off maybe our two best games of the year.”
Balcomb certainly isn't about to take the Lady Griz lightly.
“Their tradition and their history is wonderful,” she told the Tennessean. “This is not a new team to the tournament or to success.”
Montana and Vanderbilt have one common opponent this season in Mississippi. The Lady Griz defeated the Rebels 84-77 in the Holiday Classic in December. The Commodores whipped Ole Miss in an SEC home game in January, 83-50.
Saturday's game will feature two of the nation's best 3-point shooting teams. Montana ranks fifth nationally at 39.6 percent and Vanderbilt eighth at 38.7 percent. The Commodores are also one of the best shooting teams in the country, ranking seventh nationally at 46.8 percent.
Junior guard/forward Christina Wirth leads Vanderbilt in scoring at 12.9 points per game and is the team's top 3-point threat with 64 treys. Senior center Liz Sherwood (6-foot-4) averages 11 points per game and has shot 62.4 percent from the floor.
Montana and Vanderbilt are two of eight teams in the Spokane Regional. The winner of the Lady Griz-Commodores game will face the winner of No. 5 seed West Virginia (24-7) and No. 12 New Mexico (20-12) on Monday.
Notes: The Commodores haven't played since March 8 when they lost to Tennessee in the SEC tourney semifinals, 63-48, before 12,897 fans in Nashville, Tenn. ... Montana's only win over an NCAA tourney team this season came on Dec. 28 when it leveled UC Santa Barbara, 88-70, at Dahlberg Arena ... Idaho State plays Boise State in the first round of the WNIT tournament on Thursday night.
Sports writer Bill Speltz can be reached at 523-5255 or bill.speltz@lee.net.
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