There were three games last night in Big Sky Conference Women's hoops, and the results shook up the standings even more than they all ready are. I got a chance to watch parts of all three games on BigSkyTV.org and two of them provided great finishes.
Northern Colorado 55 Weber State 66
The Bears took the lead with 6 minutes remaining in the first half and led until there were 3 minutes to play. With 5:25 to go, Weber State went on a 17-0 run to close the game. Talk about execution in the final minutes. Caitlin Anderson had 16 points and 17 rebounds in the game and Tonya Schnibbe ended with a game high 19 points and 8 assists. And those 17 unanswered points? Thirteen of them came from the free throw line where the Wildcats were 13-15 in the final 5 minutes. Just 2 weeks ago, the Wildcats looked left for dead, starting conference play with 6 straight losses. Don't look now, but they are winners of 3 straight and are just 1 game out of third place.
Eastern Washington 67 Sacramento State 74
The Hornets' Nest is quickly becoming the place you don't want to play right now and the Hornets are quickly becoming the team you don't want to play. Sac State has won 3 of their last 4 games and after last night's mini-upset of EWU, the Hornets find themselves in a three-way tie for third in the standings.
Sac State held EWU to just 29% shooting in the first half and held a commanding 16 point lead at the intermission. Sac got it up to a 20 point lead before the Eagles recovered at the 10 minute mark in the second half, going on a 6 and a half minute, 21-3 run to close the gap to 2. Sac outscored EWU 10-5 over the last 3 minutes however, and pulled away for the win. The Hornets got 25 points from Charday Hunt and double-doubles from 2 other players (Edwards and Christensen). Sac's second-leading scorer, Atty Boyer, was held without a shot in the game due to some foul trouble and good defense by the Eagles.
Sac's win, coupled with the loss by NCU, puts the Hornets, Bears, and Eagles all in a tie for third place in the conference.
Portland State 69 Northern Arizona 57
The Vikings rebounded well from their first BSC loss to Montana State last weekend. The win represented the first time ever that PSU has won back-to-back games in Flagstaff. PSU got off to a fast start, outscoring NAU 36 to 24 in the first half while holding the 'Jacks to 21% shooting (14% from inside the arc!). NAU held serve in the second half, but were unable to make up any ground. Kelsey Kahle led PSU with 17 points and 8 rebounds and Kelli Valentine added 16 and 6. Claire Faucher had 8 points but also contributed 10 assists. For the Vikings, the win puts them a half of a game up on Montana for first place in the standings.
With Sac State and Weber State each picking up important home wins, the bottom seven teams in the Big Sky are all within ONE game of each other. Every game will be pretty important from here on out.
With tight standings like we have right now, who has the best chance to make hay? (Sorry for the farming reference.) Teams with lots of home games. In Big Sky play, home teams are 20-16. That bodes well for Montana State (6 home games, 2 road games remaining), Montana (5 home games, 3 road games remaining), NAU (5 home games, 2 road games) and Sac State (4 home games, 3 road games). Eastern Washington (2 home games, 5 road games) and Northern Colorado (2 home games, 5 road games) may be in trouble.
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