The Montana Lady Griz will face a familiar foe when they open the women’s NCAA basketball tournament Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M.
Montana, which received a No. 13 seed, will play No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt, the same team the Lady Griz battled in their last appearance in the NCAAs in 2005.
Montana lost that game, which was played in Seattle, 67-44.
The time for Saturday’s game, as well as television coverage, have not yet been announced.
This time around, the Lady Griz, 25-6, face a Vanderbilt team that finished third in the blue-chip Southeastern Conference behind No. 3 Tennessee and No. 6 LSU.
Montana and Vanderbilt were slotted in the Spokane Region. Maryland earned the top seed, while Stanford was No. 2. The regional semifinals and finals will be played in Spokane on March 29-April 1.
The Commodores, 23-8, are ranked No. 21 in the country. The only common opponent for the two teams this year was the University of Mississippi, a conference rival of Vanderbilt. Vandy finished 11-3 in the SEC.
Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss 83-50, while Montana handled the Rebels 84-77 in the Lady Griz Holiday Classic.
Montana went 13-3 to win the Big Sky Conference regular-season title, and then throttled cross-state rival Montana State 101-65 in the postseason tournament championship game.
Montana is 10-2 in its last 12 games, and star guard Mandy Morales has been especially effective of late after recovering from a midseason injury. The junior scored 55 points in the two Big Sky Conference tournament games, including a 6-for-6 performance from the 3-point line in the title game against MSU.
So what do you think of their chances?  Obviously this is a tough draw, but if Montana can shoot like they did against MSU, I guess you never know.

What a game by Mandy Morales. After battling injuries much of this season, the junior guard stepped up in a big way Friday night with 31 points to lead Montana past Portland State and into the Big Sky Conference women’s tournament championship.

And awaiting the Lady Griz? None other than an old nemesis, cross-state rival Montana State.

I don’t know about you, but these UM-MSU matchups are always fun, and they don’t get much better than having an NCAA ticket on the line.

Morales will need to play another great game Saturday against Montana State and their leading scorer Rebecca Mercer.

Can’t wait to see what happens.

Well, the Griz are done. It’s a debatable point, but a lot of people seem to think this team didn’t fulfill expectations. Then again, they might have done just about what could be expected. In my mind, it really came down to guard play, which just wasn’t consistent enough. I don’t think they were able to really make use of their inside game, and settled for long bombs too often. You could argue that was the fault of inexperience or poor coaching … tough to say.

Or, you could say the Griz finished right where they should have. Tinkle certainly seems to have the respect of his team.

I’m curious to hear what you all think.

Clearly, some teams in the conference have been able to beat Portland State, and the Griz gave them a tussle in Portland. But then came last week when the Vikings rampaged through the state like a horde of, well, Vikings.

A 108-56 victory over the Griz certainly seemed to indicate things are going well, but you also have to point your finger at Montana. For that to happen indicates you have some pretty serious flaws that either aren’t being addressed - or can’t be addressed. Sometimes, you just don’t have the bullets, no matter how well the gun is aimed.

But to lose by 52? At your own place? In conference? Something isn’t right … or at least it seems that way. We’ll see. Maybe the Griz can turn things around. But somehow they have to do better on offense. There are long stretches where they seem to have no rhythm at all.

As for Portland State. They ARE good. Very good. Last Saturday night was the best slice-and-dice exhibition I’ve ever seen on a basketball court. Granted, everything they put up seemed to go in, but it wasn’t like they weren’t creating and then taking advantage of those open looks. And their defense was outstanding. There were times UM shooters might as well have turned their backs to basket and just hucked it up.

Unless PSU falls on its face in the Big Sky tourney, it will be very interesting to see what kind of respect the conference gets in the NCAAs, and what kind of matchup the Vikings get. They’re a legitimate threat to win at least one game, I think. We can give Montana credit for that. Their NCAA performances under Krysco hopefully opened some eyes, and might lead to a better seeding for a team like Portland State this year.

It will be fun to watch.

Just a few weeks ago, Montana gave Big Sky Conference regular-season champion Portland State everything it could handle on its home floor. Not Saturday night in Missoula. The Vikings destroyed the Griz 108-56. In 30 years of watching UM basketball I’ve never seen anything like it.

Portland State turned it on over the week in Montana, drilling Montana State in Bozeman in Thursday. It’s pretty clear the Vikings are going to be tough to beat when the Big Sky tournament starts.

And, honestly, short of the Griz pulling off a miracle and somehow reaching the NCAA tournament, I’d love to see what the Vikings can do in the Big Dance. This is one of the best all-around Big Sky teams I’ve seen in a long time. Unless they were to get screwed in the seeding, I can see them being a definite threat for a first-round win, especially if they shoot like they did Saturday night.

Speaking of shooting, it’s also clear that if teams can bottle up Montana’s 3-point game, the Griz have virtually no shot. They can’t seem to consistently get it in to their big guys, and Saturday night they were left constantly heaving up prayers from 22 feet - not a good recipe, especially against PSU.

More than likely Weber State awaits in the quarterfinals. We’ll see …

While the Montana Lady Griz have already locked up a tournament berth - and home-field advantage to boot - the Griz are also rolling. Thursday night’s victory over Northern Colorado secured a spot in the tournament, and a victory over Portland State on Saturday could even land them a home game in the first round.

Both teams deserve a lot of credit for their play of late. But what’s it going to take for them to make the push into the NCAA’s. The path for the Lady Griz is pretty clear, but there some big speedbumps out there with Idaho State and Montana State.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, will have a tougher road, but if their outside shots are falling, they can handle anyone.

What an outstanding effort by Montana today. Great to see the Griz finally come back and pull one out after a lot of close calls and heartbreaking losses.

Not only that, but coupled with Eastern Washington’s loss to Northern Colorado on Saturday, the Griz have punched their ticket for Portland and the Big Sky tournament.

Clearly this team is capable of beating anyone in the league, although they definitely match up better against some teams than others. Also, this team can lay an egg at any point, particularly when the 3-pointers aren’t going down. And that brings up a couple of interesting topics - if anyone out there wants to chat about it:

1) Am I the only one, or does it appear like this team does an awful lot of standing around on offense? Ceylon Eldgin-Taylor seems to have a great effect, as far as keeping the offense moving when he’s in there, but a lot of times it seems like guys are just waiting for someone to drive to the basket and then hoping for an open trey.

That’s obviously not the way it’s drawn up, but too many times it appears like Montana finds itself scrambling for an open look late in the shot clock.

It seems like UM has the most success when it can enter it in to the big guys, who can then choose to shoot, dish it to a cutter or move it back out. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like the Griz don’t do that enough.

What do you guys think?

2) That’s the negative, now a positive. Aside from the stinker at Weber (one of those bad matchups), and close one at home to NAU, the Griz have definitely been playing pretty good ball. The big difference, I think, has been the level of intensity throughout the game, especially on defense. Instead of going into long lulls where teams would make big runs, Montana has been able to sustain solid play longer. Credit there has to go, in part, to Tinkle, who seems to be getting these guys focused a little better.

Another great night by the Lady Griz, especially the second half. With Montana’s 76-54 win over second-place Idaho State, UM moved very close to wrapping up the regular season title.

Lady Griz fans were at their finest with a huge and loud crowd. Despite a dip recently in the overall popularity of basketball in Missoula, the scene for women’s basketball in Missoula just doesn’t get any better.

The 74-61 victory by the Lady Griz on Thursday night was another impressive example of the pedal-to-the-medal push by UM toward the finish line of this regular season.After destroying Northern Arizona last Sunday, Montana has continued to blitz opponents with its seventh win in the last eight games.

Saturday night’s matchup with Idaho State at Adams Center is HUGE. A win and the Lady Griz not only avenge their toughest Big Sky loss of the season, but they can move that much closer to another league title and a host role for the tournament.

What do you see as the keys for a successful run to finish the season and another trip to the NCAA tournament?

After Thursday night’s 76-67 loss to Weber State, Montana is now just scratching and clawing to get into the Big Sky men’s tournament, which this season will be in the Rose Garden in Portland.The Grizzlies now sit at 6-7 with three games left on their schedule. Eastern Washington, Montana’s chief rival for the sixth and final playoff spot sits at 6-8 with two games left. It certainly appears that the Griz still have the inside track, but let’s not count our urban chickens before they’ve hatched.Montana will play a Sunday TV game at Idaho State (Altitude), followed by Northern Colorado and Portland State to close the season. Realistically, unless they find their shooting touch sometime soon, UM is likely looking at a 1-2 finish and 7-9 league record. Meanwhile, EWU plays at Northern Colorado and at league-leading Portland State. The bet here is that the Eagles will also finish 7-9.

The good news for the Griz and their fans under that scenario, however, is that a season sweep of the Eagles would put Montana in the tournament.

So, what do you think Montana’s chances are? And if they get to the Rose Garden, what do the Griz need to do to possibly find themselves dancing in the NCAAs? The one quick answer is they better start shooting the ball better. Two straight dismal efforts from the 3-point line doomed them against NAU and Weber, and without solid outside shooting, teams can pack it in against UM’s biggest weapons - Andrew Strait and Jordan Hasquet.

So what’s the answer? Let us know.