Hill's helping hand leads UM at home

MISSOULA - Sophomore Torry Hill scored 18 points and handed out a career-high seven assists to lead the Montana women's basketball team to a 79-54 victory over Sacramento State Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The Lady Griz (14-10, 7-4 BSC) limited the Big Sky Conference's top scoring team to a season-low point total on 29.7 percent shooting to rebound from Monday night's 54-48 loss at Big Sky Conference leader Idaho State.

The win moves Montana into sole possession of fourth place in the Big Sky on a night when the league's top four teams all won at home.

Idaho State (18-6, 10-1 BSC) defeated Northern Arizona (7-17, 2-10 BSC), 62-54, Eastern Washington (16-9, 10-2 BSC) beat Weber State (2-22, 0-11 BSC), 78-45, and Montana State (16-8, 8-4 BSC) topped Northern Colorado (14-10, 6-5 BSC), 58-50.

Montana will host Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.

When Montana and Sacramento State (8-17, 3-9 BSC) met in California in mid-January, the Lady Griz needed all the offense they could generate to hold off the Hornets, 88-79.

Montana was nearly as productive Thursday night, but Sacramento State was held in check after a solid start. The Lady Griz limited the Hornets' transition game and dominated the boards, finishing with a 62-38 advantage.

The rebounding total included a season-high 29 offensive rebounds that resulted in 24 second-chance points.

Sacramento State was hot from 3-point range early. The Hornets hit five triples in the first 13 minutes and opened 5 for 11 from distance. Emily Christensen's deep ball gave the Hornets a 21-20 lead.

Sophomore Jordan Sullivan put Montana up 22-21 with a pair of free throws, and that started a 17-2 run to close the half and sent the Lady Griz to the locker room with a 37-23 lead.

After Christensen's three at the 7:27 mark, Sac State went 1 for 15 from 3-point range the rest of the game.

Sacramento State was never able to make a run in the second half. Junior Kenzie De Boer put the Lady Griz up 20, 48-28, at the 16:12 mark, and Montana led by at least 20 points the rest of the game.

"We were able to get away from them with a nice run late in the first half, but these guys still scare the heck out of you, no matter what size lead you build," UM coach Robin Selvig said.

"We attacked them well, and I thought we did a good job defensively. We got them in a half-court offense and never allowed them to get much going in transition, which is where their comfort zone is.

"To have these guys in the 50s, you have to feel pretty good about that."

Hill sparked Montana as a scorer in the first half and as a playmaker in the second. She hit 3 of 4 threes in the first half and led both teams with 11 at the break. She dished out six of her seven assists in the second half when the Lady Griz scored 42 points.

De Boer finished with 16 points, swiped four steals and extended her consecutive-makes streak at the free throw line to 16. Junior Katie Baker scored 11 points and had three blocks.

Sullivan ripped down a career-high 15 rebounds. She was one of nine players to grab at least three boards.

Montana's bench totaled 22 rebounds, with junior Ali Hurley grabbing seven and redshirt freshman Carly Selvig six.

The rebounding effort came three nights after getting outrebounded at Idaho State, 45-36.

"Rebounding was the big difference," Selvig said. "We didn't put a lot of them back in, but we got a ton of offensive rebounds.

"We got our butts kicked on the boards at Idaho State, and that probably cost us the game. The ladies have been hearing about that for a couple of days, and we did a nice job in that area tonight."
Sacramento State, which would likely see its postseason tournament hopes almost certainly come to an end if the Hornets lose at Montana State Saturday afternoon, were led by Kylie Kuhns' 16 points and eight rebounds.