Robin Selvig is not used to being in this situation entering his first matchup of the winter against Montana State.
The legendary Montana head women’s basketball coach has led the Lady Griz to 24 Big Sky Conference titles in 38 seasons at the helm in Missoula. His team last had a three-game losing streak during the league season six years ago. Despite the fact that his Lady Griz have lost four of five games entering Saturday’s trip to Bozeman to play rival Montana State, the UM skipper thinks his team is close.
“With three more baskets, three more stops, we would be talking about how we are great,” Selvig said on Wednesday before his team’s practice. “There is no game with somebody beating somebody else that would surprise me in this league.”
UM guard McCalle Feller/by UM Athletics
Montana enters the rivalry game with a 4-4 Big Sky mark that includes three straight losses. UM lost to UND on a Mia Loyd buzzer-beater, 61-59, two weeks ago. Last weekend, UM made half of its 20 free throws in a 78-61 beat down by Idaho in Moscow. Two nights later, Delaney Hodgins hit a buzzer beater to lift Eastern Washington to a 67-65 win over visiting Montana.
“They are close losses,” said UM guard McCalle Feller, a Lewistown native averaging 17.7 points per game this season. “We know for a fact that we are there. It’s different than getting blown out every game. We knew we would have to learn a lot about our team this year because it’s so different. If there’s a time to lose games, it’s the beginning of the season, not the end.”
The Lady Griz head to Brick Breeden Fieldhouse to face a surging Montana State team that has been clicking on all cylinders this season. MSU enters the Cat-Griz matchup with a 7-1 mark in Big Sky play, a half-game behind unbeaten EWU. The Bobcats are 14-5 overall thanks to a veteran core that includes senior point guard Lindsay Stockton, senior posts Jasmine Hommes and Alexa Dawkins and fourth-year junior stud reserve Peyton Ferris.
University of Montana women’s basketball team (Maggie Rickman, Kellie Cole & Carly Selvig) hoisting the 2014 BSC championship trophy
“We are very excited for this rivalry game,” MSU 11th-year head coach Tricia Binford said. “It’s hard not to treat this game different but at the end of the day, we just know we want to be ready to go and take care of business on Saturday.
“I think we are really talented and we have a lot of balance. We are playing great defense and we are playing team basketball.”
The Lady Griz captured their 24th regular-season conference banner and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time in program history last season. The squad lost three senior starters, including Kellie Cole, last season’s Big Sky MVP and one-time Big Sky Defensive MVP Carly Selvig, Robin’s niece. Still, the tradition of Montana rang true as Selvig’s chargers were picked to win the league once again.
“We had all kinds of questions going into Big Sky play,” said Selvig, in his 38th year as the head coach and his 43rd straight year at his alma mater overall. “We lost three starters and a ton of minutes and (Bozeman native) Shanae Gilham, our first kid off the bench (retired because of a knee injury). I had no clue what we would be like. I am happy with this team. I think we would feel a lot better had we won some close games in the league. Being picked was kind of a surprise to me since we had lost so much. Those things don’t mean anything. I like the team. I think we have a chance to win every night out in conference but so do 11 other teams.”
Montana State streaked to six straight Big Sky victories thanks to an offense averaging a league-best 18.5 assists per game. MSU’s balanced scoring attack leads the league in field goal percentage (43.7 percent) and 3-point shooting (35.1) percent.
MSU guard Lindsey Stockton
MSU saw its Big Sky win streak fall in Cheney last weekend. Hayley Hodgins, Delaney’s older sister, scored a career-high 34 points to help EWU emerge an 81-69 victor in a battle between the last two unbeaten teams in the league.
Hommes scored 16 points and Ferris made a few key plays down the stretch two nights later as MSU bounced back with a 62-59 win at Idaho.
“Being undefeated was important to us and that loss hurt,” said Stockton, who chips in 8.1 points and 3.8 assists per game. “But our team is competitive and we bounced back. I was really proud with how we dealt with how we felt after that loss. Idaho is a really good team and we pushed through and got that win.
“We were the first to get really panicked in years past and it took us down. But now we can stay calm. Our team is very confident.”
Stockton and sophomore Hannah Caudill are the catalysts for MSU’s efficient, wide-open offense. Caudill leads the league in assists at 5.5 dimes per game. Stockton is fifth with her assist totals. Ferris leads the league at 60 percent shooting and the Twin Bridges product’s 14 points per game off the bench are the best mark for the reigning Big Sky Top Reserve. Dawkins, a Bozeman product, is shooting 56.7 percent, a mark that would be second-best in the league if she had three more attempts, pushing her to 100. Hommes is shooting 46.3 percent and is sixth in the league in scoring at 15.3 points per game.
MSU forward Peyton Ferris
“They are just so balanced,” Selvig said. “They return a really experienced crew. Their whole front line is back, which really helps. Hommes is a really good scorer and Peyton Ferris is coming off the bench and having a great year. And Dawkins is another senior who is a proven good player. And they have Stockton back so an experienced point guard. The (Riley) Nordgaard girl has really helped them at the three. She’s a complete player. They are a well-balanced team.”
The Lady Griz have not displayed similar balance. Senior Kayleigh Valley has been one of the breakout stars in the Big Sky. She is averaging 20.1 points per game on 54 percent shooting. She is shooting 47.6 percent from beyond the arc and chipping in 7.2 rebounds per game.
The sharp-shooting Feller has become more consistent with her unorthodox style, boosting her shooting percentage to 43.9 percent, 13th in the league. She’s shooting 38.8 percent from beyond the arc and her 54 3-pointers are second to Hayley Hodgins throughout the conference.
“They run a lot of plays for them, a lot of isolation action,” Binford said. “The ball gets in their hands and you will be challenged to defend a lot of one on one. We just need to be really solid and limit those options as much as possible.”
UM forward Kayleigh Valley/by UM Athletics
Either Feller or Valley have led the Lady Griz in scoring in 18 of 19 games this season. No other Montana player averages more than Alicia Sims’ 7.7 points per game. Finding a third weapon will be a key if Montana wants to slow down the red-hot Bobcats in a rivalry game with a reversal of roles for the first time in recent memory.
“We have to find a couple of kids to make shots,” Selvig said. “We are not going to shut them down completely at their place. We need to shoot a decent percentage, stop their transition game and not let anybody have a big night. It’s a team defense thing but the key for us is scoring the ball. If we get shots for kids, we probably need some kids making a couple of baskets besides McCalle and Kayleigh. Sometimes, this game, someone surprises you. It could be somebody you don’t expect stepping up.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Right Reserved.
