The quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament got underway in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday March 8, 2022 and features four games.
The first game pitted the top-seeded Idaho State Bengals against No. 8 Northern Colorado, who beat Eastern Washington 64-45 in the first round. No. 4 Northern Arizona and No. 5 Montana played in the second afternoon game. No. 2 Montana State plays No. 10 Weber State, a 74-64 winner over No. 7 Sac State on Monday. And the nightcap features No. 3 Southern Utah against No. 6 Idaho, who drilled Portland State 75-52 on Monday evening.
No. 8 Northern Colorado 72, No. 1 Idaho State 54
Northern Colorado continued its argument as the hottest team in the Big Sky Conference, using a stifling zone defense and the powerful presence of junior Kurstyn Harden on the block to bounce the two-time defending regular-season Bengals.
UNC earned an overtime win over Montana and outlasted Montana State in the final game of the regular season, denying the Bobcats a share of the league title in the process. Northern Colorado also beat Idaho State 53-52 on February 17 and carried that momentum into this tournament.
“Momentum is huge this time of year and you can’t sustain it but you do everything you can to and I think this team has,” UNC first-year head coach Kristin Mattio said. “We had a good win against Idaho State at home and then we went on the road and did not get the result we wanted. We had those last two games of the regular season at home and now we are taking the show on the road to this neutral site.
“There’s nothing special. I wish I could say we are running a different offense or defense. But it’s just staying together and connected as a team, trusting each other and we’ve been a lot of these late moments, so hopefully that will help us as we keep playing.
Idaho State could not find any offensive flow against Mattio’s sharp zone defense. The Bengals missed 11 of their first 15 3-point tries and finished 5-of-23 from beyond the arc. And when Northern Colorado had the ball, the Bengals had no answer for Harden no matter if ISU fronted or doubled the powerhouse junior post.
Harden plowed her way to 23 points and nine rebounds as UNC earned a 41-30 advantage on the glass.
BOX SCORE
Idaho State was trying to become the first team to repeat as Big Sky Tournament champions since 2008 and 2009 after becoming the first repeat regular-season champion since 2016. ISU beat Northern Colorado 65-55 in the semifinals of this tournament last season on the way to earning its second NCAA Tournament bid under Seton Sobolewski.
“It’s really hard to try to repeat and you can go further back than even this tournament,” Sobolewski, the Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2022, said after the loss. “It’s really hard to be back to back regular-season champions. You have to stay very consistent for more than a two-month span. People are giving you their best game every night. You have the target on your back. They want to knock you off.
“To win the conference tournament back to back, you have to have something really, really special. I think we have a special team, a really good team. But you have a team like Northern Colorado, a talented team that is really playing free and no pressure situations right now that are going to play really well right now. It’s tough to win this back-to-back.”
Northern Colorado advances to play Northern Arizona, the fourth seed and a 75-57 winner over Montana on Tuesday.
“It’s March right now and some people could say we are the underdog if you want to take that approach but I don’t feel that way about these girls,” Mattio said. “I don’t think they feel that same way either. They know there’s an opportunity just like the next team and we’ve done a great job of seizing the moment we have right now.”
No. 4 Northern Arizona 75, No. 5 Montana 57
One of the primary story lines down the stretch of this season for the Montana Lady Griz centered upon UM getting over a few of the mental hurdles that have ailed them since Robin Selvig retired after 38 years has head coach in 2016.
The mental hurdle of the Big Sky Tournament remains.
In the second quarterfinal of the Big Sky women’s tourney on Tuesday, the Lady Griz struggled to find offensive flow, committing 21 turnovers and shooting just 31 percent from the floor as Northern Arizona dominated for most of the final 30 minutes of the game.
The Lady Griz are now 1-7 in neutral site tournament games and 1-6 in the postseason since Selvig retired.
“Northern Arizona out played us in pretty every way, which is disappointing this time of year,” UM first-year head coach Brian Holsinger said. “It’s a little surprising to me because I thought they were ready. I take responsibility for it and we weren’t ready to play and they took it to us in every way today.
“One game does not define a season and today was for sure disappointing and I expected us to play better in every way and we just didn’t. There’s not a lot of positives to be honest. There just isn’t. I wish I could’ve done more as their coach to put them in positions to have a better outcome.”
Northern Arizona moves into the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament for the second time in three years under fifth-year head coach Loree Payne, a native of Havre, Montana.
Lauren Orndoff, scored 18 points and hit three of her five 3-point tries while fellow senior Khiarica Rasheed scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as NAU moved on to face Northern Colorado in the first of two semifinals that will be played on Wednesday.
“We have a veteran squad and they played like it today,” Payne said. “We are excited that it’s tournament time.”
Northern Arizona moves on to play the winner of Tuesday’s nightcap between No. 3 Southern Utah and No. 6 Idaho.
Holsinger’s first season ends with a 19-13 record that included ending a seven-game losing streak to rival Montana State and a win at Sac State in the season finale to earn a first-round by. Progress was evident in several areas. Montana junior Carmen Gfeller earned first-team All-Big Sky honors while senior Sophia Stiles, who likely played her last game as a Lady Griz by finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds, was a second-team all-conference pick.
“The Lady Griz has meant everything to me and this is where I have wanted to be my whole life and the main thing I will take from this is all the relationships I’ve built with my coaches, trainers, everyone in the facility,” Stiles said while fighting back tears. “Lady Griz basketball means a lot to Missoula and the state of Montana and me.”
Holsinger, who came from Oregon State where he was an assistant, will have to replace Stiles, center Abby Anderson, wing Nyah Morris-Nelson, combo guard Sammy Fatkin and reserve post Kylie Frolich during the off-season.
“I’m still proud of these guys,” Holsinger said. “They’ve been through a lot and this program has been through a lot. They have been through three coaches in three years. I don’t think there’s very many players anywhere who have gon through that. I’m so proud of them for buying into the culture I want and who I am and how I want to play basketball. Today doesn’t define them and I want them to know that. Today doesn’t define Sophia Stiles or Abby Anderson.”
BOX SCORE
No. 2 Montana State 81, No. 10 Weber State 60
For the first 15 minutes of Tuesday’s semifinal, Weber State looked to still be riding its momentum from Monday, when the Wildcats knocked off popular dark-horse pick Sacramento State and the Hornets’ Big Sky MVP Lianna Tillman.
Led by Kori Pentzer, Daryn Hickok and two 3s from reserve Laura Taylor, Weber led Montana State by as many as 12 points in the first half, putting the No. 2 Wildcats on upset watch just hours after Northern Colorado bounced top seed Idaho State.
But unlike the Bengals in that game, the Bobcats found a way to string together stops, putting together a 17-2 run over the final four minutes, 54 seconds of the second quarter to take a 36-33 lead into halftime before coasting in the second half.
Kola Bad Bear had 10 of the Bobcats’ points in the run and 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting in the first 20 minutes to keep Montana State close despite a scoreless first half from star point guard Darian White.
White came out with three straight buckets in the first 1:08 of the second half and didn’t stop feasting from there, finishing with 22 points – all after the break – six assists and four steals, driving downhill for floaters and free throws.
Senior Kori Pentzer finished with 17 points for Weber State. The Wildcats finished 11-20, one fewer than their total wins in the first three years of Velaida Harris’s head-coaching career, and their win over Sac State in the first round was their first in the Big Sky Tournament under Harris.
BOX SCORE
No. 6 Idaho 77, No. 3 Southern Utah 64
Idaho continued surging down the stretch, winning for the eighth time in the last nine games, drilling Southern Utah in what will be the last Big Sky tournament game for the Thunderbirds.
The Vandals drilled Portland State on Monday and carried the momentum into the tournament, riding Sydney Gandy’s suddenly red-hot shooting hand into the semifinals for a rematch with Montana State from a season ago.
Gandy, a sophomore who had 23 and 19-point games in last year’s tournament as a true freshman, struggled to find the mark for most of the season. But she hit 19 of her 31 attempts from beyond the arc during the last four regular-season games and has kept on shooting. On Tuesday, Gandy hit five of her seven attempts from deep, and hit seven of 10 overall on the way to a game-high 22 points.
Beyonce Bea, Idaho’s first-team All-Big Sky forward, poured in 16 points and six rebounds. Allison Kirby continued her strong play in this tournament, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
Southern Utah’s season finishes at 18-11. The T-Birds had their best finish in Big Sky play in their final season in the league, earning the No. 3 seed before bowing out after one game. Cherita Daugherty scored 16 points and All-Big Sky forward Darri Dotson had 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in SUU’s Big Sky finale.
