First it was Sonya Rogers, then Mandy Morales, then Sarah Ena, Lauren Beck and Britney Lohman. The Rams could neither keep track nor stay on track offensively in losing, 68-53, in a nonconference women's basketball game before 3,020 fans at Dahlberg Arena.
“If you're going to be a good team you've got to have a lot of weapons,” said Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig, who had six players score at least six points and three in double figures.
Morales turned in one of her best overall performances of the season with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. But it was hard to peg an offensive hero because Beck and Ena each tallied 13 points and Lohman eight.
“That's a potent offensive team,” Colorado State coach Kristen Holt said. “I don't know that they played their best game. And the way we played, I would think the score was like we lost by 30 or 40.”
The Lady Griz didn't shoot especially well, hitting 39.3 percent (24 for 61). They were out-rebounded, 42-36, and struggled on the defensive end until Selvig switched from a 2-3 zone to man defense.
It was the sort of up-and-down performance you might expect during finals week. But it doesn't change the fact Montana has won three straight games and boasts a sparkling 6-2 record.
“These last three games we've worked on our defensive end a little bit more and gotten in more of a groove,” said Beck, who also grabbed five rebounds.
Colorado State (2-6) showed uncommon consistency early from behind the arc. The Rams hit four treys in the first 7fi minutes, forcing Montana out of its zone.
Colorado State trailed by just two points, 26-24, with seven minutes left in the first half. Then it fell into the penalty and the Lady Griz took advantage by taking the ball to the hole. Montana put together a 9-1 run behind four points by Beck, three by Morales and two by Ena.
The Rams refused to go away, shaving their deficit to six, 31-25. But Beck hit a 3-point shot with 22 seconds left in the half, giving Montana a 40-30 bulge at the break.
“That was big,” said Selvig, whose team held a 10-2 edge in points from the foul line in the first half. “It's a momentum deal.
“We had spurts in this game where we shot good for a while then we didn't make any for a while. It seemed like we had dry runs and spurts.”
The Rams never managed to cut their deficit under 10 in the second half. Lohman was a big reason why, scoring all eight of her points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first 10 minutes after the break.
Montana also found its footing defensively. Colorado State hit just 6 of 29 shots in the second half against the Lady Griz man defense.
“After the start, the last 30 minutes we did a good job defensively,” Selvig said.
The score might have been even more lopsided if not for Colorado State's season-high 10 treys. The Rams came into the game having made just 36 threes in seven games.
“They're a plenty good team,” Selvig said. “They just beat a good team in our league (Northern Colorado) by 15.”
Montana seemed to get a lift from a strong midweek turnout of 3,000-plus fans.
“It really filled in after it got started, and they were into it,” Selvig said. “I was hoping we'd bring energy tonight. We brought pretty good energy. But it's a hard week for them with games and finals.”
Colorado State guard Kim Mestdagh led all scorers with 20 points. She hit 6 of 8 shots from behind the arc.
Montana will shoot for its fourth straight win on Saturday against Portland at Dahlberg Arena.
Notes: Montana extended its home winning streak to 20 games ... Morales boosted her career points total to 1,533. Last Sunday she became the third Lady Griz player to reach 1,500 ... Montana finished with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, totaling 16 assists against just eight turnovers.
COLORADO STATE (53)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Minor 21 0-5 6-6 3 4 1 6
f-Reimink 8 0-1 0-0 0 3 0 0
f-Cornell 15 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 0
g-Mestdagh 26 7-10 0-0 5 4 2 20
g-Beemer 27 2-10 0-0 2 0 3 6
VanGrinsven 18 1-5 0-0 6 2 3 2
Barbee 16 3-7 0-0 5 0 1 8
Uzomah 22 1-1 3-6 8 3 1 5
Heimstra 10 1-3 0-0 2 1 0 2
Cheney 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Simmons 25 0-4 0-0 2 1 1 0
Tanacan 9 2-5 0-1 0 0 0 4
Totals 200 17-54 9-13 42 18 12 53
MONTANA (68)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Ena 24 4-12 5-5 4 3 0 13
f-Lohman 33 4-8 0-0 3 2 2 8
f-Beck 28 4-7 2-2 5 2 2 13
g-Morales 37 5-12 3-4 9 1 8 16
g-Rogers 36 3-9 0-0 6 0 1 6
Nance-Johnson 11 1-2 0-0 0 2 1 2
Stender 4 0-1 2-2 3 0 0 2
Linford 14 2-5 2-2 1 0 2 6
Atkinson 2 0-1 0-2 0 0 0 0
Ware 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Guardipee 4 1-3 0-0 1 1 0 2
Robison 5 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0
Totals 200 24-61 14-17 36 11 16 68
Halftime score: Montana 40, CSU 30.
3-point goals: CSU 10-24 (Mestdagh 6-8, Barbee 2-4, Beemer 2-10, VanGrinsven 0-1, Cheney 0-1), UM 6-19 (Beck 3-5, Morales 3-7, Guardipee 0-1, Stender 0-1, Rogers 0-5).
Turnovers: CSU 20 (Beemer 4, VanGrinsven 4), UM 8 (Lohman 2, Morales 2, Rogers 2).
Blocked shots: CSU 0, UM 4 (four with one).
Steals: CSU 3 (Minor 2), UM 3 (Beck, Stender, Atkinson).
Officials: Rick Thorne, Kaili Kimura, Wallis Bryan.
Attendance: 3,020
Sports writer Bill Speltz can be reached at 523-5255 or bill.speltz@lee.net.
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