it was the late 80's, early 90's. the lady griz had a successful coach (robin selvig) and a player (shannon cate) who was on her way to becoming an kodak all-american. in her senior year, cate led us past wisconsin at wisconsin the the ncaa tournament, and came within a few seconds of knocking off one of the great women's programs ever, the u.s.c. trojans--on their homecourt. women's basketball was taking hold, yet the big schools had yet to devote the resources to the sport as they would over the next two decades. it appeared, however briefly, that montana had what it took to become a national power and not just a "big sky power."
but then a few things happened that diminished my interest in the lady griz. first, the injury bug hit. her senior year, cate was plauged with a dislocated shoulder, one that forced her back into the locker room at a key moment of the usc game. vicky austin, the first black player ever at montana, the key point guard on the team, had gone down with a knee injury earlier in the year, wiping out her season. those injuries seemed to set the tone for a program that has been beset by key injuries through the years.
then selvig failed to recruit black players. starting his 37th year, selvig has had a grand total of three black players in the program, one of them anthony johnson's wife, shaunte, who was there more as a favor to wayne tinkle than anything else. nowhere was this oversight more glaring than at the point guard postion. while the men have had black point guards like leroy washington, travis decuire, shane christiansen, will cherry and now mario dunn, the women have not really had a bona fide point guard since brooklyn lorenzon graduated more than a decade ago. at possibly the most important position on the court, the lady griz have come up woefully short over their history. i recall only lorenzon and skyla sisco as exceptional point guards.
i bring all this up by way of mentioning that for the first time in memory, gogriz has profiled a freshman point guard, sierra anderson, who has yet to play her first game as a lady griz. when's the last time that happened? she's supposed to be quick with a good shot, and i doubt she'd be having a profile if there wasn't a lot of excitement about her within the program. is it a harbinger of better things ahead for the lady griz? a real true point guard??
but then a few things happened that diminished my interest in the lady griz. first, the injury bug hit. her senior year, cate was plauged with a dislocated shoulder, one that forced her back into the locker room at a key moment of the usc game. vicky austin, the first black player ever at montana, the key point guard on the team, had gone down with a knee injury earlier in the year, wiping out her season. those injuries seemed to set the tone for a program that has been beset by key injuries through the years.
then selvig failed to recruit black players. starting his 37th year, selvig has had a grand total of three black players in the program, one of them anthony johnson's wife, shaunte, who was there more as a favor to wayne tinkle than anything else. nowhere was this oversight more glaring than at the point guard postion. while the men have had black point guards like leroy washington, travis decuire, shane christiansen, will cherry and now mario dunn, the women have not really had a bona fide point guard since brooklyn lorenzon graduated more than a decade ago. at possibly the most important position on the court, the lady griz have come up woefully short over their history. i recall only lorenzon and skyla sisco as exceptional point guards.
i bring all this up by way of mentioning that for the first time in memory, gogriz has profiled a freshman point guard, sierra anderson, who has yet to play her first game as a lady griz. when's the last time that happened? she's supposed to be quick with a good shot, and i doubt she'd be having a profile if there wasn't a lot of excitement about her within the program. is it a harbinger of better things ahead for the lady griz? a real true point guard??
I can still vividly hear Monty screaming "No Leroy, don't shoot." 
