A Party in Portland

Something had to give. Portland State and Montana squared off in the Rose City tonight, both teams were 6-0 in conference play. Chalk one up for the home team as the Viks were able to knock off the Griz 72-62, putting themselves in sole possession of first place in the Big Sky. It wasn't the usual suspects for PSU doing the damage tonight. Katia Hadj-Hamou led the Viks with 19 points, going 4-9 from long range. For Montana, Mandy Morales had a game high 34 points, but no one else had more than 6. The Griz made just 1 of 14 three-point attempts, and when you subtract out Morales' production, the team shot just 29.7% for the game. Leading into the game, the Griz had trailed in just 1 of 12 halves, make it 3 after that loss.

For the box score click here.

Sacramento State beat Northern Colorado 71-53 tonight for a huge road win. Atty Boyer had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Eastern Washington got a nice home victory over Montana State 90-75. That win, coupled with the NCU loss, puts the surprising Eagles solidly in 3rd place. The Eags made 13 three's in the game, 1 off of a school record.

Saturday
Montana at Eastern Washington 3:05 p.m.
Montana State at Portland State 3:05 p.m.
Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado 2:05 p.m.
Weber State at Idaho State 7:05 p.m.
All Times Mountain

Big Sky Big Timer: Kate Kevorken

There were some great performances around the league this weekend in some important games. Weber State finally got their first conference win against NAU, Northern Colorado got a big OT win over MSU to solidify their place in the league, and Sac State got a nice road win over Weber State. As far as individuals go, it was a tough decision this week. Congratulations this week to Kate Kevorken of Northern Colorado.

The sophomore swing forward scored 11 points in the second half for a game total of 15 in the Bears’ win over Montana State on Thursday night. In the OT game she was 5-7 from the free throw line. She chipped in 8 rebounds and 3 assists. In Saturday’s loss to UM, she finished with a game high 23 points and was 12-13 from the free throw line. She also had 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. The weekend split, following last weekend's win over Eastern Washington, has the Bears solidly in third place in the conference standings. However, the Bears will spend a good deal of the second half of conference play on the road.

Honorable Mentions

Julie Piper (EWU) Piper scored a game high 23 points and pulled down 11 boards in EWU’s loss to PSU. She was 9-16 from the floor.

Courtney Stoermer (NCU) Stoermer finished with 22 points in her team’s win over MSU. 18 of those came in the second half. She was 9-12 from the charity stripe and had 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Against UM, she contributed 16 points and added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Sonya Rogers (UM) Rogers scored a team high 21 points on 9-17 shooting. She added 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

Erica Perry (MSU) The point guard scored a career high 20 points and pulled down a career high 9 boards in MSU’s loss to NCU. She also added 5 assists and 6 steals.

Atty Boyer (SAC) Boyer notched 29 points on 11-19 shooting and added 9 rebounds in Thursday’s road win at Weber State. She followed that up with a game high 11 rebounds in SAC’s loss to ISU on Saturday, but only scored 4 points on 1-6 shooting.

Kelli Valentine (PSU) The sophomore led PSU in rebounding (9) and tied for the lead in scoring (14), in the Vikings win over EWU.

Michelle Grohs (ISU) Grohs had two double-doubles on the weekend with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to NAU, and 13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over SAC. She also added 5 assists in that game.

Tonya Schnibbe (WSU) Schnibbe had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the Wildcats’ loss to SAC on Thursday. The Point guard dished out 8 assists and scored 12 points as Weber broke its 8 game losing streak on Saturday against NAU.

Oana Iacovita (ISU) Iacovita led her team in scoring in both games over the weekend scoring 16 points against NAU and 19 points against SAC. She averaged 4 rebounds and 2 blocks on the weekend.

Janelle Matthews (NAU) Matthews was 6-10 from behind the arc on the way to 23 points in NAU’s win over ISU on Thursday. She also chipped in 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals while playing the entire 40 minutes. She cooled off a bit in the team’s loss to WSU, going 4-12 from the field and 0-2 from long distance for 11 points , 2 steals, and 2 boards.

Caitlin Anderson (WSU) Anderson had 20 points and 17 rebounds in Saturday’s win over NAU, but was limited to 4 points and 7 rebounds on Thursday night.

Big Sky Big Timer: Nubia Garcia

Congratulations this week to Montana State's Nubia Garcia, this week's Big Sky Big Timer. Garcia and the Bobcats went 2-0 last weekend, knocking off Weber State and Idaho State. Against Weber State, the 6-2 senior had her third double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and netting 13 rebounds. In the win over Idaho State, Garcia pulled down a career high 16 boards, 3 points, 5 assists, and a steal. The 16 rebound total is the second highest single game effort in the conference this season. The 3 points scored may seem low, but Garcia only took 4 shots, made one and was fouled on another. The Cats found it was much more effective to have the ball in the hands of a guard or their four, as the arc and penetration were wide open against the Bengals.

Last week was an amazing week for the native of Chihuahua, Mexico. In addition to leading her team to the 2 wins with incredible individual performances, Garcia was recognized for her classroom work as well. She is a photography major and was honored this quarter with her self-portrait appearing on the cover of the NCAA Champions magazine. (To see the online story, click here). Last week, Garcia's photography was exhibited at a NCAA exhibition in Washington DC. She has told me in numerous airplane seat-mate interviews that she would like to work as a photographer for a magazine like Sports Illustrated someday and I am confident that with her determination, it is a goal she will achieve.

Garcia now leads the Big Sky in rebounds (8.8 per game, 9.6 per game in conference play), is second in FG% (51.7%--she led the category until the ISU game), and is 7th in scoring (12.5 ppg). With numbers like those, an improving defensive game, and her leadership on her team, Garcia will definitely be in the Big Sky MVP discussion at the end of this season. In my humble and somewhat biased opinion, I think Garcia is the premier post in the conference. No other post has been able to put together the scoring (only Kahle scores more than Garcia among BSC posts), rebounding (Garcia is in a class of her own), and defense (Garcia is the only BSC player in the top ten in both steals and blocks). That sounds pretty premier to me.

Getting Ready for Thursday Night Throwdowns

It's time for week 3 of Big Sky conference play and there are some good games this weekend. Hungry Weber State and surprising Idaho State take the trip through the Big Sky state, Northern Colorado goes to Eastern Washington and Portland State, and NAU and Sac State will clash on Sunday in Sacramento. Here are some previews of tonight's games from the regional newspapers:

WSU at Montana State (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

ISU at Montana (Missoulian)


Other News and Notes

Jaime Schroeder's status is "out indefinitely" with a leg injury.

UCSB figured out how to defend Kelsey Kahle and the Gauchos beat PSU 67-61 last night.


Great story on future Bobcat Ashley Albert and Hamilton's try for the state tournament.

Gotta love a good vommit story and an update on ISU WBB.

Idaho State's Andrea Videbeck has had to overcome a lot this year.

BSC Week 1 News and Notes

Northern Colorado rebounded well from Friday night's loss to Idaho State to take down Weber State today 66-53 despite being without the services of their lone senior and leading scorer Jaime Schroeder. Schroeder suffered a right knee injury 7 minutes into the ISU game and did not return. If Schroeder is done for the year, it would be a devastating blow to the Bears' chances in the conference.

For Northern Colorado, the win over Weber State was number 500 in program history.

In the second half of the MSU-UM rivalry game on Saturday, the Cats and the Griz shot a combined 67% from the field and 64% from the arc. The Grizzlies shot 63% for the game while MSU shot 45%.

The last three games in the 84-game Cat-Griz rivalry have featured the highest combined scores in the history of the rivlary. (2/8/08 MSU 91-UM 87--178 points, 1/3/09 UM 95-MSU 75--170 points, 3/15/08 UM 101-MSU 65--166 points) Defense anyone?

In the last 4 games versus MSU, Montana guard Sonya Rogers has hit 16 three-pointers. She shot 64% from the arc in those games.

Big Sky Big Timer: Kelsey Kahle

First of all, apologies for being delinquent in my posting, I took some time off in between games and holiday festivities over the last 2 weeks. But I am back and ready to go as the Big Sky heads into conference season. There were some great games this weekend and some outstanding individual performances as well. But one player stood ever so slightly above the rest. Congratulations to Portland State’s Kelsey Kahle, this week’s Big Sky Big Timer.

Kahle averaged 28.6 points per game in 3 contests this week, shooting 57% from the field. In a loss to Utah Valley on Monday, Kahle scored 30 points, the second time she has gone for 30 or more points on the season. In the game, Kahle was 12-12 from the free throw line and dished out 3 assists and 4 steals. (Note: the 102-92 loss to UVU was just the second home loss for the Viks in the last two seasons. Bonus points to anyone who can name which team the other loss was to). PSU went 2-0 to start conference play this weekend, thanks in no small part to Kahle’s efforts. In the season opening win over Sac State, Kahle had 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and went 8-11 from the field. Today, PSU blasted NAU behind 29 points from Kahle who added 7 rebounds and went 7-8 from the free throw line. The Viks and EWU both went 2-0 against NAU and Sac State.

Honorable Mention Big Timers

Erica Perry (MSU): on Monday scored a career high 19 points, had 3 assists and 0 turnovers in a win over Albany. Perry was named to the UTPA Classic All-Tournament team. In loss to Montana, she led MSU with 18 points and 7 assists. On the week, Perry was a perfect 6-6 from behind the arc and over the past 3 games is 8-9 from long range.

Sonya Rogers (Montana): With 30 points on 5-7 three-point shooting, Rogers became just the second Big Sky Player to have 30+ points in a game. She was named to the Lady Griz Classic Team after 11 points vs Nevada. The Griz went 2-0 on the week.

Mandy Morales (Montana): Named Lady Griz Classic MVP with 15 points and 8 rebounds against Nevada. In UM’s win over rival MSU, Morales missed just 1 shot, going 10-11 from the field with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Julie Piper (EWU): Led Eastern to a 3-0 record on the week. Piper had 9 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Eastern Oregon. In an OT win over NAU, Piper hit a jumper with 14 seconds left to send the game to OT. She scored a double-double in the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds. In today’s narrow victory over Sac State, Piper went 5-5 from the charity stripe in the final 4 minutes to seal the win. She ended with 21 points and 7 rebounds.

Michelle Grohs (ISU): 13 points, 10 rebs in loss to Colorado. 17 points, 8 rebs in win over Northern Colorado.

Sade Cunningham (NAU): 14 pts, 5 assists, 2-2 from the arc in loss to EWU. 19 points, 6 rebs, 4 assists, 9-12 shooting in loss to PSU. Cunningham committed 14 turnovers on the weekend.
Charday Hunt (SAC): 7 points in loss to UTEP, averaged 17.5 points per game in Sac’s 2 Big Sky losses this weekend.

Note: I intentionally did not name a BSBTr last week because I didn’t think there were enough games played to really have a meaningful award.