Griz Recap: Winter Break

Men's Basketball

The University of Montana men's basketball team stayed hot at home this weekend, crushing Big Sky Conference rival Sacramento State 85-56 at UM's Dahlberg Arena on Jan. 21.

The victory moves the Grizzlies to 6-1 in Big Sky play and 13-6 overall, making them second in the conference. The Hornets' loss sets them at 0-7 in the Big Sky and 5-13 overall. They've lost eight in a row and haven't won since a home victory on Dec. 18 against North Dakota.

The Grizzlies took command early in the game, seizing the momentum on a fast break no-look feed from sophomore guard Kareem Jamar to a streaking junior forward Mathias Ward, who finished with a two-handed dunk. The play prompted the Sacramento State head coach to burn a timeout and sent Dahlberg Arena's crowd of 3,709 into a ruckus. Montana kept the crowd dazzled, shooting a remarkable 65 percent from the field in the first half on their way to a 43-29 halftime advantage. The free throw line paid dividends in the first half for the Grizzlies too, as they shot 93.8 percent from the charity stripe on 15-16 shooting.  The one miss came from senior forward Derek Selvig.

The stellar shooting continued in the second half for the Grizzlies. Selvig's lone three-pointer of the game pushed the lead to 20 with 13:55 left to play, and the Grizzlies never let the margin slip less than that number again.

The Griz finished the game shooting a season-high of 65.1 percent from the field. Senior forward Art Steward led the team in field goal percentage along with points scored — netting 20 points on 9-10 shooting from the field and 2-3 from the line. Other Griz starters scoring double figures were Mathias Ward (16), Will Cherry (12) and Kareem Jamar (12).

Senior guard Heath Hoffman paced Sacramento State in scoring with 12 points. Reserve junior center Konnor Veteto was the only other Hornets player to reach double figures, scoring 11 points.

Montana's next three contests will be road games, starting with its Jan. 26 matchup against Eastern Washington (9-11 overall, 3-4 BSC). The Griz beat EWU 79-71 on Dec. 30 in Dahlberg Arena.  The Eagles lost their previous Big Sky match up against Portland State 78-76 in overtime on Jan. 21.

Women's basketball

The Lady Grizzlies (11-8 overall, 4-2 BSC) returned to the win column with an 88-79 victory at Sacramento State (7-13, 2-5) on Jan 21.  Their previous exhibition visiting the Lady Bears of Northern Colorado left much to be desired after a disappointing 59-42 loss.

Montana scored more than 42 points in the first half Saturday. The Lady Griz scored 54 points to gain control of the game. Led by sophomore guard, Torry Hill's first half brilliance with 12 points and four assists, the Lady Griz took a 54-36 advantage into halftime. That 18-point lead would swell to 21 before a late rally by the Hornets cut the advantage to seven before the game's final margin.

Junior forward Katie Baker led Montana with 22 points and eight rebounds. Hill (19) and junior guard Kenzie De Boer (14) were the other Lady Griz starters scoring in double figures. Sacramento State was paced by Fantasia Hilliard's 21 points and fellow starters Alle Moreno (14), Se'nyce Parrish (13) and Kylie Kuhns (10) also reaching double figures.

The Lady Griz's next contest will be at home against Eastern Washington (11-9, 5-2) on Thursday, Jan. 26. Montana won 53-46 in the previous meeting between the teams in Cheney, Wash.

Track

The University of Montana's track teams traveled to Bozeman's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Jan. 20 for the Montana State Dual Meet Invitational.

Junior Lindsey Hall highlighted the day for the Grizzlies after breaking two school records. Hall first broke the school's mark in the 55-meter hurdles. She ran a 7.95, taking a tenth of a second off her career best and two-hundredths of a second off Kris Schmitt's 1989 school record of 7.97 seconds.        Within minutes, Hall broke her own school record of 19' 2.5'' in the long jump. Hall leaped a distance of 19' 4.25'' to set the new mark.

The Griz also had three other Big Sky Conference qualifiers.        

Junior Kourtney Danreuther, last spring's Big Sky champion in the 400-meter hurdles, ran a 56.05 to win the quarter-mile field.

Senior Courtney Kosovich pole-vaulted 11' 11.75'' to finish second in that event, and senior Kesslee Payneran ran a second place 5:02.87 mile and also qualifed.

On the men's side, Keith Webber qualified by winning the pole vault event at a height of 15-5.

 Montana continues on the road with a visit to Washington State's Cougar Indoor in Pullman, Wash., Friday and Saturday.

erik.anderson@umontana.edu