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Lady Griz over NAU 66 - 60

GrizBaba said:
It was a gritty win. NAU has notable wins over Weber St. and Idaho St.

I agree 100% GrizBaba. Northern Arizona is a team that capitalizes on balance, offensively and defensively. They were the Big Sky's second-ranked offense coming into the game vs the Griz, leading the conference in assists and a leader as well in field goal percentage. They outshot the GrizWBB by a ton, but shot their lowest field goal percentage of the year in the loss to Montana. A lot of that was because Montana is the top-ranked Big Sky team in defense, but NAU just point-blank missed a lot of in-paint buckets. That was a mirror image of Montana though: Abby Anderson and Carmen Gfeller had subpar offensive games in the paint (12 of Gfeller's 18 points were free throws) and they also missed a bunch of open looks in the paint.

The winning edge for Montana is very promising, though. Wing Sammy Fatkin and shooting guard Haley Huard were the difference offensively, especially in the third quarter. Combined, the two made 49% of their field goals, good for 24 points of Montana's offense... with a couple of treys, but mostly on outstanding dribble-enter looks. If Huard can continue to drive for buckets when she's defended hard on the perimeter, that might be the offensive combo to force defenses away from double-teaming Abby and Carmen. If/when that happens, the GrizWBB will be tough to beat. Another positive: sr point Sophia Stiles, while scoring 9 points, was NOT looking to score but was instead working hard on feeding the ball into the low blocks. Sophia had a lot of open shots at the free throw line that she did not take. I think that when she starts taking those shots earlier in the offense, that will also open things up in the paint for Carmen and Abby.

Another positive sign that was impactful most in Montana's win against PSU is rotation depth. The two games this week showcased a 9-player Griz rotation that gets better game by game. Montana's second 5 rotation was the group that really blew the game open vs PSU. Nine players had double digit minutes vs. NAU and 10 played double digits vs PSU, with all 10 scoring at least four points. That's a very good sign.

So, how wil they fare vs. Montana State? It will be a battle. The Bobcats have played very aggressive trapping D against Montana's point guard over the past 4 seasons... and the Griz simply had no answers. If the trend continues, Sofia will be attacked hard at the tip of the key. Montana will need a safety valve double point guard attack, and I really think Sammy is ready.

Otherwise, on paper these teams are pretty even. They've beaten the same teams with both teams' losses to ISU and Weber State. I really think the game could be a standoff in the paint. The Cats have a powerful post in Kola Bad Bear, but I think Carmen is tough enough to match her. Sophomore Cat forward K Limardo is 6-2, but I also think Abby can match her on defense.

The Cats have likely the top offensive point guard in the Big Sky in White and a versatile young 2 guard in Beattie -- the daughter of former Griz guard Kelly Pilcher Beattie -- who happens to play very much like her mother did for the Lady Griz. I think Beattie might defend Sammy. If so, there is opportunity for Huard and Katrina Tsineke.

The last three years the Cats pounded the GrizWBB early & they never recovered. Intimidation was a huge factor. So, I think a key might be for Montana to play even with the Cats over the first half. If they do, it could be a good, tough, close battle. I know this: coach Holsinger knows how important the Griz-Cat games are. I'm pretty certain he's prepared. We'll see. Go GrizWBB.
 
ESPN+ So in the aftermath, was not able to watch, as the system just didn't deliver. Anyone else had this problem? I hear in the wind they screwed up the time of broadcast, was to be at 2:00pm, but the broadcast went on at 3:00pm?
 
I watched after the game finished (on-demand on espn+), so don't know if there were any issues. Production seemed normal, but that not always indicative of the "live" broadcast. Not sure how long they keep the game available to watch afterwards.
 
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