Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Montana
Wildcats End Road Swing with Loss to Montana
1/3/2010 4:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MISSOULA, Mont. -- The Weber State women's basketball team was swept in its opening weekend of Big Sky play following a 73-67 loss to the University of Montana (6-7 overall; 1-0 Big Sky) on Saturday night at Dahlberg Arena.
The Wildcats (6-9; 0-2) took the early lead and extended out to a 13-point advantage on a Sarah Conner basket with 8:40 left in the opening half. WSU held an 11-point lead with 1:28 left in the half, but the Grizzlies closed with six-straight points to cut the margin to 36-31 at the break.
Montana scored another eight-straight to open the second half and wrestle the lead away from Weber State. An Ali Thorderson three-point basket stemmed the run and knotted the score at 39-39, but a 9-2 run by the Griz gave the lead to Montana for good. Overall, the run was 23-5 over eight minutes and 48 seconds of game time.
Weber State did pull within two points at 52-50 with 6:43 left, but the Wildcats could not get over the hump and the Grizzlies pushed back to a 10-point advantage with just over three minutes left.
Caitlin Anderson and Tonya Schnibbe each scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats, with Schnibbe adding a game-high eight assists. Sarah Conner added 11 points for WSU.
Montana was led by Katie Baker, who scored a game-high 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the floor. Lauren Beck added 16 points, while Stephanie Stender scored 15 and Sarah Ena had 14. Baker also led all players with eight rebounds.
The game marked the end of a six-game road swing for the Wildcats, who will be glad to return to the Dee Events Center after going 1-5 over the stretch. The Wildcats, who are 5-0 on the season at home, will face Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona next weekend in Ogden. The two-game set will begin against the Bears on Friday, followed by NAU on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.
