Weber State University Athletics
WSU Women Take On Lady Griz Saturday
1/18/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wildcats host Montana after Thursday night loss
Weber State will take on the defending Big Sky champions Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when the Montana Lady Griz come to the Dee Events Center. The Wildcats are coming off a 77-65 loss to Montana State Thursday night and sit at 7-9 overall and 1-3 in Big Sky play. Montana is 13-4 overall and 3-1 in league play after a 90-77 loss at Idaho State on Thursday night, a loss that snapped a ten game winning streak for the Lady Griz. Montana leads the all-time series 51-10 all-time over Weber State.
Big Sky standings update
Portland State did not play Thursday and remained in first place at 4-0 in league play, now the only undefeated team in the Big Sky. Idaho State beat Montana 90-77, giving the Lady Griz their first loss of the season in conference action. Idaho State, Montana, and Montana State are all now 3-1, after MSU's win over Weber State Thursday night. Saturday, Montana State will visit Idaho State and Portland State will play at Northern Colorado in key matchups.?Cats drop first two conference home games
Montana State's win Thursday night at the Dee Events Center was their first win in Ogden since 1996, breaking a 13-game losing streak. It also marked the first time since 1996 that Weber State has lost its first two conference home games. The Wildcats started this season winning their first four home games but has since lost back-to-back games.
WSU has not lost its first three conference home games since 1993 when they finished 3-11 in the Big Sky.
The 1-3 start in the Big Sky is also WSU's worst conference start since 1997 when they were also 1-3 and then dropped to 1-4 by losing their next game. WSU did finish 9-7 in league play that season.
Janie Rayback leads ?Cats with season-high
WSU junior Janie Rayback posted a season-high 15 points in Weber State's loss to Montana State. Rayback was 5-9 from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line in the game and also pulled down seven rebounds. Rayback has now scored in double figures in two of the last three games. She is averaging 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game for the ?Cats this season.Caitlin Anderson ties career-high
For the second straight game WSU red-shirt freshman Caitlin Anderson scored 14 points for the Wildcats, a career-high. Thursday night she was 5-7 from the field, including 1-2 from three-point land, and was 3-4 from the free throw line. Anderson is averaging 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds per game for the Wildcats.
Schnibbe posts career-high in assists
One game after tying the WSU school record for most steals in a game, WSU sophomore Tonya Schnibbe posted a career-high in assists. She finished with nine assists in the game to go along with seven points and five rebounds. Schnibbe now ranks second in the Big Sky in assists at 5.19 per game and is fourth in steals at 1.81. She is also second in assist to turnover ratio.Turnovers costly to Wildcats in loss
Weber State committed 20 turnovers in Thursday's loss to the Bobcats, while MSU had just ten turnovers. WSU dropped to 0-8 this season when committing more turnovers than their opponents. They are 7-1 when their opponent has more turnovers.
?Cats first in Big Sky in defense, last in offense
Weber State now ranks first in the Big Sky Conference in scoring defense, allowing just 62.1 points per game. However, WSU has given up over 70 points in five of their last seven games, including 77 to Montana State Thursday.
On the other side, Weber State ranks last in the Big Sky in scoring offense at 57.6 points per game. The Wildcats are also last in the league in field goal percentage at 36.5 percent.
Lady Griz come to Ogden Saturday
The Wildcats will host the Montana Lady Griz Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. The game will be broadcast live on KWCR 88.1 FM with Eric Knighton calling the action. Audio and live stats are available at weberstatesports.com and live video will be on bigskytv.org.
About Montana
The Lady Griz enter Saturday's game with a 13-4 overall record and a 3-1 conference mark, following a 90-77 loss at Idaho State Thursday night that snapped a ten game winning streak. The Lady Griz are 10-0 at home this season but just 1-4 on the road. Thursday's game was their first road game since December 5.
Montana ranks first in the Big Sky in scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, three-point percentage, rebounding, rebounding defense, rebounding margin, and turnover margin. They are also second in scoring offense, free throw percentage and blocked shots. The Lady Griz are averaging 74.8 points per game, compared to just 57.6 points per game for the Wildcats. Saturday's game will feature the league's second best offense (UM) against the best defense (WSU) and the third best defense (UM) against the league's worst offense (WSU).
The Lady Griz are led by junior Mandy Morales, last year's Big Sky MVP, who is averaging 17.1 points per game after posting 21 at Idaho State Thursday night. Morales has only played in 11 of Montana's 17 games, missing six with a foot injury. Sonya Rogers is seventh in the Big Sky in scoring at 13.6.
Head coach Robin Selvig
The Lady Griz are coached by Robin Selvig who is in his 30th season as head coach at Montana. Selvig has an all-time record of 686-195 at Montana and among active coaches he has the sixth best winning percentage and the seventh most wins of any coach in the country.
Selvig has a career record of 51-9 all-time against Weber State and has coached in all but one game of the 61 played between the two schools. WSU head coach Carla Taylor is 7-36 in her career against Montana.
All-time seriesMontana has dominated the all-time series leading 51-10 over Weber State. WSU won the first two games ever played in 1977 and 1978 and Montana proceeded to win the next 38 games played. It has been better for WSU in recent years. Of the last four games played the series is 2-2, including a Weber State 64-49 win over the Lady Griz last season in Ogden, Montana's only Big Sky loss during the regular season. In games played in Ogden Montana leads 22-5 all-time and they have won three of the last four.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's game the ?Cats will hit the road again next week when they play at Sacramento State on Thursday and at Northern Arizona next Saturday.
