Lady Griz to play Vanderbilt

The room was packed. The members of the University of Montana women’s basketball team sat around a rectangular table joking with each other, but taking glances at the TV screens that lined the walls of the Paradise Falls restaurant on Missoula’s south side. 

Monday evening, the Lady Griz fresh off a Big Sky Conference Championship victory, gathered with friends and members of the media for the selection show and learned their destiny. In the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament, the Lady Griz will be playing Vanderbilt at the famed Pit (Bob King Court) in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 22.

While many viewers were checking for the No. 1 seeds (Connecticut, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee), the crowd Monday night perked up every time something from a No. 10 to a No. 14 seed was announced. 

The Lady Griz are a No. 13 seed while Vanderbilt is a No. 4 seed.

When “Montana” flashed across the screen, the crowd erupted in a long and loud cheer. 

“It’s always exciting to see your name pop up on the screen like that,” Lady Griz head coach Robin Selvig said. 

This is the first tournament appearance for the Lady Griz since 2005 when they played and lost to: Guess who?  Vanderbilt. They lost 67-44. 

“I thought we’d be seeded anywhere between 11 and 14, so we’re in the ballpark, but this is an elite women’s basketball team from the SEC, which is an elite conference,” Selvig said. 

Selvig said he hasn’t watched Vanderbilt play yet, but if his team shoots well, Montana has a chance. 

“We’re going to have our hands full, but you’re going to have your hands full with any team we have to face in this tournament,” Selvig said. 

The 20th-ranked Vanderbilt squad comes into the game with a 23-8 record to match against Montana’s 25-6 mark. Vanderbilt features a balanced offensive attack that nets about 71 points per game, but its leading scorer, Christina Werth, only scores about 13 points per game. They are known for their defense, which holds opponents to only 36.7 percent shooting.

Monday night was mainly about Montana though, and the Lady Griz have a chance to play in the tournament, something many of them have never done. 

“I’m really excited to be getting back to the NCAA tournament, finally after three years, and we’re playing Vandy again, so it should be fun to match up against them,” junior center Tamara Guardipee said. 

Unlike last season, the Lady Griz had less of a shiny regular-season record but won the Big Sky Tournament and received an automatic bid. Last year, after a disappointing end to their season, they came to the same spot to watch the show, and left disappointed after not receiving an at-large berth.

This time, smiles creased their faces and they left in good spirits, excited about the future. 

“I was excited no matter what seed we got or who we played,” senior forward Johanna Closson said. 

The Lady Griz have had a propensity for redemption victories this season against Portland State and Montana State, and now Vanderbilt presents one more.

“It’s another opportunity for revenge, because we seem to keep getting people we’ve lost to,” Closson said. “If we’re all on the same page, this team has the capability to win a game and do very well.”

For junior guard Mandy Morales, this is the pinnacle of her career so far.

When she was a redshirt freshman, Morales didn’t get to go to the tournament to face Vanderbilt, and now she will have her chance. 

“It’s so sweet,” Morales said. “I’ve been telling everybody, ‘This tops everything.’”