Five will be worn by the Montana State women's basketball team, which sports navy as a school color. The other five will be worn by Montana, figuratively speaking, if it follows protocol by playing the same stingy defense that has earned it a No. 27 ranking nationally (allowing 53.8 points per game).
“I think our defense is almost ahead of our offense at times,” said Montana senior guard Sonya Rogers, whose team makes its Big Sky Conference debut at 2 p.m. against the Cats. “We have a really hard-working team.”
“We're certainly happy with our record at this point because I think we played a good schedule,” said Montana coach Robin Selvig, whose team suffered losses to nationally ranked foes in Maryland and South Dakota State. “We've made good progress, and we've gotten better.”
In contrast to the Lady Griz, Montana State has leaned on its offense, which ranks No. 1 in the Big Sky and 35th in the nation (74.6 points per game). Unfortunately for the Cats, their defense ranks last among Big Sky teams, which might explain their 6-6 record.
“Offensively what I'm excited about is we're getting production at every position,” Montana State coach Tricia Binford said. “We've got really good depth and players coming in off the bench that can give us a really good lift.
“Defense is an area we're trying to clean up, trying to make sure we make major improvements for conference. A big portion of that is the rebounds. Our style of game is pretty uptempo and we're going to have nights where we give up a few more points. But as far as our rebounding margin, we haven't been consistent in that category.”
Combine that with Montana State's history in Missoula - the team is 3-40 and has lost 10 straight - and it's logical to assume the Cats have an uphill climb. But not so fast, says Montana coach Robin Selvig.
“You look at Montana State's (preconference) schedule, it was a good one,” he said. “They're at USC and San Diego State, Gonzaga and Washington State.”
Selvig and his veteran players haven't forgotten what happened last season in Bozeman. They dropped a 91-87 decision to the Cats, who nailed 13 treys that night and are capable of the same Saturday.
“They shoot a lot of threes,” Selvig said. “And transition ... they're really spreading out and putting them up.”
Montana and Montana State both enter Saturday's game on a roll. The Lady Griz have won three straight games by an average margin of 28 points. If not for a narrow loss to Gonzaga on Dec. 19, Montana would be riding a nine-game win streak.
Montana State has played well the past two weeks. The Cats have won two of their last three, with their only blemish an 82-78 overtime loss to Troy last Sunday.
“The stretch that really made an impact was our California trip,” said Binford, whose team played at San Diego State and USC in mid-December. “We were able to beat San Diego State and coming out of that game our group really understood how hard we can compete.
“Erica (Perry) really started to take off as far as the level she can create for herself and the rest of the team.”
Perry, a 5-foot-4 junior guard, averaged 16.5 points and 4.5 assists in Montana State's two games last week. Senior forward Nubia Garcia has also been a sparkplug, posting a career-high 22 points in Monday's win over Albany.
The Cats' top priority defensively will be containing Montana senior guards Mandy Morales and Sonya Rogers. A year ago this week Rogers exploded for 32 points in a 78-65 win over the Cats in Missoula.
“I don't think Morales and Rogers look a lot different,” Binford said of the tall task facing her team. “We know it's going to be a challenge, especially on their home floor against a coach who has over 700 wins.”
Morales, who leads the Lady Griz with 14.8 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game, has even more incentive than usual Saturday.
“My birthday is on the fourth,” she said. “Hopefully I get a nice early birthday present.”
Selvig is hoping for a crowd similar to the one Montana drew for its league debut against MSU last season (4,537 fans). The unusual starting time is an experiment both schools are hoping will pay off.
“They're thinking it will be a plus, that's what they're checking out, both administrations,” Selvig said. “The reason being people will come from out of town and watch both.
“I'll be curious to see. I think we'll have a good crowd. Of course the weather affects us a lot. We've had bad weather basically the last three (home) games. But our fans in general like afternoon games.”
Notes: Montana reserve center Shadra Robison is nursing an ankle injury and is questionable for Saturday's game ... The Lady Griz are picked to win the conference, and the Cats are pegged to finish third behind Portland State ... Morales became the Big Sky's first member of the 1,500-point, 500-assist club in Tuesday's win over Nevada. She currently has 1,607 career points and 500 assists ... Montana whipped Montana State in the finals of the Big Sky tourney last season, 101-65.
Montana State at Montana Lady Griz
Saturday, 2 p.m.,
Dahlberg Arena, (7,321)
Tickets: $7 general admission, $9-20 reserved seats. Roughly 2,300 seats had been sold as of Friday afternoon. The box office will open at 1 p.m.
TV: CW (Channel 18 in Missoula and Kalispell, Channel 2 in Hamilton).
Radio: KENR 107.5 FM.
Web: www.montanagrizzlies.com (live stats) and www.bigskytv.org (video feed).
Records: Montana State is 6-6 overall, 0-0 conference. Montana is 11-3 overall, 0-0 conference.
Series: Montana leads, 65-18.
Last season: Montana won in Missoula on Jan. 4, 78-65; Montana State won in Bozeman on Feb. 8, 91-87; Montana won in Missoula on March 15, 101-65 (Big Sky tourney).
Up next: Montana will play at Northern Arizona on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (MST). Montana State is at Sac State the same night.
Probable starters
Montana
3-Mandy Morales, 5-9, sr. 14.8 ppg
10-Sonya Rogers, 5-7, sr. 12.3 ppg
14-Sarah Ena, 5-11, so. 10.4 ppg
22-Britney Lohman, 6-1, sr. 7.0 ppg
45-Lauren Beck, 6-0, jr. 7.1 ppg
Montana State
1-Erica Perry, 5-4, jr. 10.8 ppg
3-Anne Phippard, 5-10, sr. 8.0 ppg
12-Jenny Heringer, 6-0, jr. 10.4 ppg
20-Sarah Strand, 6-1, so. 8.5 ppg
30-Nubia Garcia, 6-2, sr. 12.2 ppg
By the numbers
A statistical comparison of Montana and Montana State, with league rank in parentheses:
MSU UM
Scoring 74.6 (1) 65.5 (2)
Scoring defense 76.1 (9) 53.8 (1)
Field goal pct 41.3 (2) 39.9 (4)
3-pt FG pct 35.0 (3) 31.5 (8)
Free throw pct 74.0 (2) 73.0 (4)
Rebounding margin -4.5 (5) +2.2 (1)
Turnovers 17.4 (4) 14.6 (1)
Assists 14.3 (2) 13.4 (6)
Steals 7.8 (5) 7.5 (6)
Blocked shots 2.3 (5) 4.4 (1)
Sports writer Bill Speltz can be reached at 523-5255 or bill.speltz@lee.net.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)