The Montana and Wyoming women's basketball teams, each coming off NCAA tournament campaigns, played with something to prove Sunday at Dahlberg Arena. The Cowgirls rattled the Lady Griz early, but Montana's poise and experience paid off late in a 71-64 win before 3,240 fans.
Trailing 59-58 with just under four minutes to play, Montana (1-0) surged ahead by taking the ball to the basket. Wyoming (1-1) couldn't seem to buy a defensive rebound and often resorted to fouling.
“I thought (Montana's) leadership showed in the last four minutes of the basketball game,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “We talked about trying to win the last four minutes and I thought they made more plays than we made.
“Their offensive rebounding was a big factor. We gave up too many second opportunities and for as quality a team as (Montana coach) Robin (Selvig) has you can't give them more chances.”
Leading the charge for the Lady Griz was sophomore forward Sarah Ena, who scored 19 points to eclipse her previous career high total by six. Mandy Morales added 14 points, Sonya Rogers 12, Lauren Beck 11 and Britney Lohman nine points and 12 rebounds.
Ena said her team has been pointing to Sunday for a while.
“We watched Wyoming play right before us at the NCAA tournament against Pittsburgh last year and we just knew the caliber of their program,” she said of a regional in Albuquerque, N.M. “We've been working so hard, our coaches preparing us for this, and just the energy in here was awesome for the first game.”
Selvig pulled to within two wins of Magic No. 700 by keeping Wyoming's younger but bigger lineup off balance with different schemes on both ends.
The Cowgirls made it look easy against Montana's man defense early, racing to a 13-3 lead. Then the momentum changed after Selvig switched to a 2-3 zone, inserted Shaunte Nance-Johnson at point guard and moved Morales down low. Morales and Rogers spearheaded an 18-1 run with five points apiece.
“If they know what's coming every time it's hard, so we tried to get different looks with a few different sets we made,” Selvig said.
“Our zone was really effective, then they made an adjustment,” he added, referring to a sequence when his team saw a 21-14 lead with five minutes left in the first half flip-flop into a 40-37 deficit with 14:34 left. “Then we changed again (to man). There was a little chess going back and forth there.”
Things weren't going Montana's way when Morales departed with a leg cramp and Wyoming freshman Kristen Scheffler hit a 3-point shot to put her team on top, 59-58, with 4:30 left. But Morales re-entered with 3:46 left and Lohman hit a pair of free throws 10 seconds later to put her team on top for good.
The Cowgirls struggled offensively down the stretch, misfiring on 5 of 6 shots in the final four minutes. They also hurt themselves with a pair of turnovers against Montana's man defense.
“We were aggressive late, getting some offensive rebounds and good shots,” Selvig said. “We didn't have a great shooting night that's for sure. To be able to battle and beat a good team like that when you shoot 35 percent (22 for 63), we sure didn't get hot.”
Selvig was impressed with Wyoming's defense and overall size. He went with his starters for most of the game, with Rogers playing 40 minutes, Morales 39 and Lohman 36.
“I went with experience tonight,” he said. “They're an NCAA team.
“I know they graduated a bunch of kids, but that's a good team. They're never going to be a bad team. There's a lot of developing left for (our) team. But we only had 10 turnovers and we moved it pretty good.”
For the second game in a row Wyoming was led in scoring by a freshman. On Friday it was reserve guard Kristen Scheffler with 18 points in a win at Denver, and on Sunday it was forward Emma Langford from Arthurton, Australia, who delivered a game-high 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
Two solid showings by the Cowgirls this weekend left Legerski feeling impressed.
“I told the group in there the bar has just been raised with expectations from me,” said the coach, who lost four of five starters from 2007-08.
“We got great senior play out of Megan McGuffey tonight to get a double-double. My young kids keep growing up awfully quickly. Langford played well, able to make big plays as well as having to guard such a difficult assignment as Rogers.”
The Lady Griz will return to action Tuesday at Idaho (0-1) at 8 p.m.
Notes: Montana has won 18 straight home games, tying it for the sixth longest streak in the nation ... Lohman's 12 rebounds matched a career high and Beck set a career high with her nine boards ... Wyoming shot 44.2 percent (23 for 52) from the floor ... a tight second half featured six ties with a lead no greater than four points by either team through the first 18 minutes.
WYOMING (64)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Vanderjagt 16 0-3 0-0 3 4 0 0
f-Langford 38 7-11 3-3 4 2 4 20
c-Dissen 14 0-4 0-0 3 3 1 0
g-Richardson 32 3-5 0-0 1 2 4 7
g-McGuffey 29 6-9 1-2 10 5 3 15
Scheffler 30 5-12 0-0 3 0 0 15
Kennedy 25 1-5 0-0 3 4 3 2
Carlson 16 1-3 3-4 0 4 0 5
Totals 200 23-52 7-9 31 24 15 64
MONTANA (71)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Ena 29 6-12 7-7 4 4 1 19
f-Lohman 36 1-5 7-11 12 0 1 9
f-Beck 29 3-9 4-6 9 0 1 11
g-Morales 39 5-18 2-2 4 4 4 14
g-Rogers 40 5-14 0-0 2 0 0 12
Nance-Johnson 17 1-2 2-2 1 0 2 4
Loman Linford 6 0-1 0-0 0 4 0 0
Robison 4 1-2 0-0 1 0 0 2
Totals 200 22-63 22-28 42 12 9 71
Halftime score: Wyoming 31, Montana 29.
3-point goals: UW 11-27 (Vanderjagt 0-1, Langford 3-6, Richardson 1-2, McGuffey 2-4, Scheffler 5-12, Kennedy 0-2), UM 5-17 (Lohman 0-1, Beck 1-1, Morales 2-9, Rogers 2-6).
Turnovers: UW 18 (Langford 7), UM 10 (Lohman 4).
Blocked shots: UW 3 (McGuffey, Scheffler, Carlson), UM 2 (Lohman, Beck).
Steals: UW 2 (Vanderjagt, Richardson), UM 5 (Ena, Lohman, Beck, Morales, Nance-Johnson).
Attendance: 3,240.
Sports writer Bill Speltz can be reached at 523-5255 or bill.speltz@lee.net.
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