Montana Hosts Women’s Tournament
Eastern Washington, Montana, Portland State, Sacramento State and Southern Utah all won Big Sky Conference women’s basketball games Saturday night.
With the Montana win and Northern Colorado loss the Lady Griz will host the 2013 Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament. Four seeds have been set. No. 1 UM, No. 2 NC, No. 3 EWU and No. 6 Montana State.
The Eagles will face the Bobcats in the conference tournament in the 5:30 p.m. game.
Six teams have clinched a spot in the tournament. SUU and Northern Arizona are flighting for the final seed.
Conference play will wrap up on Saturday starting at 12:05 p.m. Mountain when Northern Arizona hosts Montana State. At 2:05 p.m. Pacific, Idaho State travels to Portland State, Sacramento State and Montana tip off in Sacramento, Calif., and Weber State travels to Eastern Washington. At 7:05 p.m. Mountain, Southern Utah will host North Dakota.
Eastern Washington 67, Idaho State 61 OT: EWU clinched the third seed in the Big Sky Tournament. The Eagles were led by Lexie Nelson, who had 24 points, Carrie Ojeda added 14 points, and Aubrey Ashenfelter recorded 10 points. Ashenfelter led on the boards with nine.
ISU was led by Ashleigh Vella, who had a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards. Kaela Oakes added 15 points, Lindsey Reed recorded 13 points and Abyee Maracigan had 10. Jessa Jeppesen led on the boards with 11.
Montana 59, Northern Arizona 51: With the win UM will host the conference tournament. The Lady Griz were led by Katie Baker, who had 26 points and was the only UM player to score double-digits. Alyssa Smith led on the boards with six.
NAU was led by Amy Patton and Paige Haynes, who both added 12 points. Erikka Banks recorded 10 points. Patton led on the boards with seven.
UM shot 35.2 percent from the floor and out rebounded NAU 39-29, including 15-5 offensive boards.
Portland State 79, Weber State 73 OT: PSU was led by Courtney VanBrocklin, who had 22 points. Emily Easom added 17 points, Karley Lampman recorded 11 points and Allie Brock had 10.
WSU was led by Regina Okoye and Kalie Matthews, who both added 18 points. Desiree Ramos recorded 13 points.
WSU shot 46.9 percent from the floor to PSU’s 46.2 percent. The Wildcats recorded 22 turnovers.
Sacramento State 84, Montana State 50: SAC was led by Alle Moreno, who had 19 points, Se’nyce Parrish recorded 16 points, Kylie Kuhns added a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards, and Mallorie Franco recorded 11 points.
MSU was led by Jackie Elliott and Jasmine Hommes, who both added eight points. Elliott led on the boards with nine.
The Bobcats shot 28.2 percent from the floor to SAC’s 49.3 percent.
Southern Utah 71, Northern Colorado 58: This was the second time that SUU defeated NC. Northern Colorado will be the No. 2 seed at the tournament in Missoula, Mont. SUU is still in the hunt for the final spot.
SUU was led by Kimie Hawkins, who had 13 points, and Tayler Anderson added 11 points. Anderson led on the boards with seven.
NC was led by D’shara Strange, who recorded a double-double with 25 points and 14 boards. Stephanie Lee and Victoria Timm both added 11 points.
The Bears shot 31 percent from the floor to the Thunderbirds 44.7 percent.