Hill, Sullivan dominate in Lady Griz blowout

The University of Montana Lady Griz basketball team entered Dahlberg Arena on Thursday night looking to advance its conference standings. The opponent, the Sacramento State, came battling for its tournament life.

The Hornets brought junior forward Kylie Kuhns and full-court coverage to the game, but Montana countered with sophomore guard Tory Hill and a board buster. Montana walked away with a perfect home record against Sac State in a 79-54 run-away game.

Continuing a strenuous week of conference games, the Lady Griz began the second half with junior Alyssa Smith firing a 3-pointer from the right side. The Lady Griz continued to keep tight control over the Hornets, leaving them scoreless for a four-minute run in the opening until Kuhns went to the free-throw line.

With a sufficient lead early in the second half, Montana head coach Robin Selvig took starters out and let the bench take a whirl on the court. Freshman Carly Selvig, coach Selvig's niece, and junior Alexandra Hurley had seven and six rebounds, with freshman Kellie Cole adding nine points, respectively.

The real point sinker throughout the game once again was Hill, who had 18 points, seven assists and three rebounds. Her teammates juniors Kenzie De Boer and Katie Baker contributed 18 and 11 points. They also had four and five assists apiece.

Sac State this season has earned a reputation in the Big Sky Conference for taking numerous shots, creating turnovers and attacking with a full-court defense.

"We know that's what they do," Selvig said about Sac State's press. "That's their system, that's what they play. You just got to be poised, you got to get people in the right place and you got to attack at the right time."

One player emerged from the game with a perfect night at the line and was the board buster of the game: Jordan Sullivan. In the first half the sophomore sank all six of her free throw points and ended the game with 15 rebounds, six on offense and nine on defense. "I was just telling myself you know, go crash the boards hard," Sullivan said. "A couple bounced my way tonight more than other nights. So I just ended up with it, some of them were a right place right time."

Selvig said Sullivan had trouble getting shots in the first half but when he heard she had 15 rebounds, the coach remarked, "Woah, that's a bunch of boards."

Heading into this weekend with momentum, the Lady Griz host Northern Colorado on Saturday in Dahlberg Arena at 2 p.m. Last time the two met, UNC came out on top with a 59-42 win.

alexandria.valdez@umontana.edu