Montana State’s Sarah Strand (20) and Montana’s Sarah Ena fight over a loose ball in the Feb. 27 game. Both teams are set to play in the Big Sky Conference Tournament this weekend in Cheney, Wash. (Greg Lindstrom/Montana Kaimin)

Around the Big Sky: Women’s basketball

by Troy Warzocha | March 10, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

The Big Sky Conference Tournament gets underway this week in Cheney, Wash., and with five of six seeds separated by just one game in the final standings, this year has the potential to be one of the wildest tournaments in league history.

The winner of the tournament earns an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament and with the parity in the Big Sky this season, it’s unlikely that more than one team will be invited to play in the field of 64 as an at-large bid.

Eastern Washington (12–4, 19–10) won the regular season title, earning the tourney’s top seed and the right to host the tournament.

Defending champion Montana (10–6, 15–13) secured the No. 2 seed on the last day of the season with a triumph over Northern Colorado.

Both teams earned a bye into the semifinal and will await the victors of the two quarterfinal games on Thursday.

No. 3 Sacramento State (10–6, 15–14) vs. No. 6 Montana State (9–7, 16–13)

The Hornets and the Bobcats have been the two hottest teams in the Big Sky over the course of the last six weeks, but that consistency will be little consolation for the team that comes up short on Thursday.

Both teams won four of their last five games of the season after starting conference play slowly.

Sacramento State lost its first four conference games and the Bobcats started 1–4.  However, as the season wore on, both teams gelled and put together impressive win streaks and statement victories.

At one point the Hornets went on a seven-game tear, only to be stopped by the ladies from Bozeman.

The Cats put together a pair of three-game win streaks in the second half of the season. 

Both the Hornets’ and the Bobcats’ statement wins came at the expense of the Lady Griz.  Sacramento State became the first team to ever hang 100 points on Montana, winning by 17 in Sacramento.

Montana State beat the Lady Griz for the first time in 41 attempts at Dahlberg Arena, and on senior day no less. Sophomore guard Katie Bussey drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the closing moments to help the Bobcats upend their archrival.

Despite coming in as the higher seed, the Hornets may feel like the underdog, as Montana State won both meetings between the teams this season.
In both contests, the Bobcats pounded the porous Sacramento State defense. The Hornets, whose defense ranks dead last in the conference, gave up a combined 179 points in both games.

Sacramento State is used to out-scoring teams, but if it comes to a shootout with Montana State, the Bobcats have shown that they can play just enough defense to come out on top.

Montana State has three of the top 10 scorers in the conference and all have come up big against the Hornets. All-conference senior guard Erica Perry averaged 16 points, Bussey averaged 18.5 points, and all-conference second team junior forward Sarah Strand averaged 17 points against the Hornets this season.

Strand, the conference co-defensive player of the year, posted a phenomenal line in the first meeting: 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks.

Sacramento State has its own pair of all-conference players in first team senior forward Charday Hunt and second team senior forward Erika Edwards

Hunt is the second leading scorer in the conference, averaging 19.1 points per game.  Edwards averages just over 10 points per game.

In their second game against the Bobcats, Hunt scored 26 points and Edwards added a double-double, but the Hornets still came up short as they couldn’t stop the efficient Montana State offense.

It seems the only way the Hornets have a chance to win would be to play defense or hope that Hunt scores 50.

If the first two matchups are any indication, the Hornets might as well give Hunt the ball on every possession and pray she has the game of her life.

No. 4 Idaho State (10–6, 15–14) vs. No. 5 Portland State (9–7, 15–14)

Two months ago, the notion that the Bengals could have a higher seed than the Vikings would have been considered absurd. But, much to Portland State’s dismay, here we are.

Since losing to the Lady Griz at home, the Bengals have been one of the top teams in the conference, closing out the season with six straight victories.

What makes the Bengals’ streak especially impressive is that the last three victories of the season were all over playoff teams (Portland State, Eastern Washington and Sacramento State).

The current run also nullifies the five-game losing skid that Idaho State persevered through earlier in the season.

The only team that swept the Bengals this season was the Lady Griz; however, the key to Idaho State’s season was holding serve with the conference’s top teams and not losing to the teams that they should beat. 

Six of the Bengals’ 10 victories came against Big Sky bottom-feeders Northern Arizona, Weber State and Northern Colorado, and the rest came from splits with everyone else except Montana.

Idaho State is led by all-conference senior forward Oana Iacovita. The Romanian was one of three unanimous selections to this year’s all-conference team and the only player picked from Idaho State.

Iacovita averaged 16.7 points per game this season and 8.2 rebounds. Despite the gaudy averages, in the loss to the Vikings Iacovita was held in check, scoring only nine points on a night she grabbed 11 rebounds. 

It was a different story for Iacovita in the Bengals’ recent victory over Portland State. 

She recorded her fifth double-double of the year, leading all scorers with 22 points and snatching 12 boards. The all-world performance also earned the Romanian “conference player of the week” honors for the third time this season.

The Vikings were picked to finished at the top of the Big Sky in both preseason polls and looked the part starting 6–2, but faltered down the stretch going 3–5.

On the last day of the season the Vikings had a chance to sew up the second seed, but fell to Eastern Washington, dropping down to No. 5.

However, that doesn’t make the Vikings any less dangerous. They have shown the ability to shoot the lights out when playing their best. 

Portland State was the third best shooting team during conference play and three-time all-conference senior guard Claire Faucher is one of the top point guards in the conference.
Even with a potent offense, the Vikings will still have to deal with Iacovita on the defensive end.

She is the centerpiece of the Bengal offense and, if the Vikings can slow her down, Portland State will have a very good chance of pulling off the upset.

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