Let’s not waste time with an introductory paragraph or two and get right to it. These rankings are like Tony Green’s Highland Rams, we attack from the start.
1. Montana 17-6, 11-3
Last week: No. 1
The Lady Griz traveled to Greeley and lost to Northern Colorado 54-41, a team Montana had beaten at home by 14 in Missoula Jan. 12. Then UM traveled to Grand Forks and blew out North Dakota 61-42.
Was that game in Greeley a preview of the Big Sky championship? And did the result display just how important homecourt advantage is?
The Bears have now won six in a row and UNC’s win over Montana snapped a five-game winning streak for the Lady Griz.
UM and Northern Colorado are tied in the loss column, but I’m leaning towards keeping the Lady Griz at No. 1 — at least for now — for two reasons.
First, Montana has its next three games at home, and UNC goes back out on the road for three contests. Second, the Bears are 3-3 away from Greeley in the Big Sky while the Lady Griz are 5-2. For now, advantage Montana.
2. Northern Colorado 13-9, 10-3
Last week: No. 2
Northern Colorado kept its unblemished home record intact with 13-point and 11-point victories over Montana and Montana State.
Against the Lady Griz and ‘Cats, the Bears were spectacular defensively holding UM and MSU to 23 and 13.7 points a game below season scoring averages, respectively. UNC in holding opponents to a league-low 54.2 points a night.
Lauren Oosdyke — the Big Sky player of the week — averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two wins and D’shara Strange averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds.
Wait, am I convincing myself that the Bears should be No. 1? I mean they’re the ones with the six-game winning streak. Who’s running this? Can we get a recount?
3. Idaho State 13-9, 8-5
Last week: No. 4
In its only game of the week, ISU beat Southern Utah 60-50.
Let’s say before the Bengals’ win against the Thunderbirds, we told ISU head coach Seton Sobolewski that Kaela Oakes, Ashleigh Vella and Lindsey Reed would shoot a combined 7-for-29 from the field and score 25 points between the three of them (together, the trio averages about 34 a game). But ISU would still win by 10 points.
What kind of scenario would Sobolewski — or any of us — have conjectured? Raise your hand if you would have surmised that Cydney Horton would blow away her career high on the way to 28 points on 14 field goal attempts?
Horton has shown the capability to score in the past (the junior has seven double figure games this season), but those 28 points against the T-Birds were huge, obviously.
And let’s not overlook the fact that ISU held SUU to 50 points, well below the Thunderbirds’ average of 70. Horton was huge on offense, but the Bengals’ defense won the day.
4. Eastern Washington 13-10, 9-5
Last week: No. 3
In Cheney, Eastern Washington defeated Sacramento State 63-49 before losing to Northern Arizona 62-58.
The Eagles would have been No. 3 on this list if they hadn’t squandered a 12-point, second-half lead against the Lumberjacks. In a way, the NAU loss typifies EWU’s season. Great at times (two five-game winning streaks, beating Montana and Northern Colorado, holding Sacramento State to a season-low 49 points two days before the Jacks’ loss) but still with the ability to play poorly (three-game losing streak, season sweep at the hands of NAU and a 25-point loss at Montana).
A win over the Lumberjacks would have kept Eastern a game behind Northern Colorado and Montana, but now the Eagles sit tied with ISU and Sacramento State. A dangerous position considering three of the next of games for EWU are away from Cheney.
5. Sacramento State 13-9, 8-5
Last week: No. 6
Sacramento State lost to Eastern Washington 63-49 on the road and then beat Portland State 88-82 in Portland.
Can anyone explain how Sacramento State can score 49 points on a Thursday and then put up 88 on a Saturday? Something similar has happened before. ISU held Sac. State to 49 points two days before the Hornets eclipsed the century mark against Weber State.
Of course, part of it is pace and the willingness of Sacramento State’s opponent to play fast. Eastern slowed down the game and held the Hornets to 33 percent shooting. Portland State allowed Sacramento to play in the open court, score 52 points by half and Fantasia Hilliard was fantastic in 36 minutes against the Vikings scoring 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
6. Montana State 14-9, 8-6
Last week: No. 5
Montana State’s free fall in the rankings continues after losing to North Dakota 62-55 and Northern Colorado 62-51.
The Bobcats were once 8-1 in the conference and on a seven-game winning streak before Idaho State beat the ‘Cats in Reed Gym back on Jan. 26. When Montana State welcomes ISU Thursday, its last win will have been three weeks ago.
When MSU was winning seven in a row, its defense allowed 55 points a game, while the offense was nearly reaching 68 points a night. In the losing, the defense is giving up 66 points and the offense has dropped off by more than 10 points a game.
One almost has to assume, however, that the ‘Cats still have the capability to reach the level of play that had them in first place. Motivation shouldn’t be a problem when the Bengals arrive.
As far as dropping MSU even further down the rankings ... well, take a look at what’s below ...
7. Portland State 11-12 5-9
Last week: No. 7
The Vikings beat Northern Arizona 66-61 before losing to Sacramento State 88-82, both contests in Portland.
PSU has six Big Sky games left, four are on the road and three are against teams ahead of it in the standings. At 5-9 — tied with North Dakota and a half game behind Southern Utah and Northern Arizona — the loss to Sacramento State at home had to have been particularly painful, especially when a freshman nailed six 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 25 points.
The freshman, Emily Easom, even after the scoring outburst, is still averaging less than five points a game.
8. Northern Arizona 6-16, 5-8
Last week: No. 8
Northern Arizona fell at Portland State 66-61 and then pulled a magic trick — one could almost say NAU pulled a Jack (rabbit) out of a hat — and beat Eastern Washington 62-58.
As I wrote above, EWU was in control of the game before Northern Arizona game alive to nab a win and the season sweep of the Eagles last Saturday.
NAU trailed by six with 3:08 left before scoring the next 11 points. More than anything, the win keeps the Lumberjacks in position to claim the postseason’s last spot. And five of the Jacks’ last seven games are in Flagstaff. That’s the good news.
The bad? They play UNC, Sac. State, ISU, UM and MSU.
9. Southern Utah 11-12, 5-8
Last week: No. 9
Southern Utah beat Weber State 72-54 and lost to Idaho State 60-50.
In this space I usually take a few moments to make fun of Southern Utah’s mascot, the Thunderbird. But you know what, Cydney Horton did enough damage last Saturday to last a few days.
Thunderbirds everywhere get a week off from ridicule.
10. North Dakota 10-13, 5-9
Last week: No. 10
Mascot-less North Dakota beat Montana State 62-55 and lost to Montana 61-42 in frigid Grand Forks.
(The projected high for Grand Forks today is actually 33 degrees today with a 70 percent chance of snow. Hardly “frigid” but using a description of semi-comfortable Grand Forks with a decent chance of snow doesn’t roll off the tongue like frigid Grand Forks.)
As far as the basketball team, UND could jump one spot ahead of SUU considering its three wins in the last five games. But, personally, I was more impressed with SUU than I was with North Dakota. So UND stays at No. 10 — for the moment.
11. Weber State 0-22, 0-13
Last week: Um, yeah, Weber State is on what I’m calling “The March to History” watch. As long as that continues, WSU will have as firm a grasp on No. 11 in these rankings as Alex Rodriguez does on repeated PED use in baseball.
Can we take a moment, though, and give the Wildcats some credit. This past week was a rough one (WSU lost its only game by 18 points), but it’s clear the Wildcats haven’t capitulated in total spectacular fashion, yet.
WSU gave Montana all it could handle in Ogden Jan. 26, and North Dakota escaped with a five-point victory Jan. 31.
Now, as far as “The March to History” goes, Weber State is a mere four games away from breaking Sacramento State’s 44-game losing streak.
No comments:
Post a Comment