Big Sky rankings — Putting 2012-13 in the past

Let’s put a big, fat, bright pink bow on the 2012-13 Big Sky rankings.

Why pink? It should be maroon with silver polka dots in honor of the Montana Lady Griz who rolled through the regular season and postseason tournament in dominating fashion, picking up player and coach of the year honors.

Northern Colorado had a bit of deja vu-ish end to its season, falling short in the Big Sky championship to the host school.

Idaho State continued its winning ways, but the finale jumped up much earlier than expected.

We had a Weber State squad make history (the very worst kind).

And there was a conference race with teams battling for position until the final weekend of the season.

So for the last time, without further ado.
   
    1. Montana 24-8, 16-4
    Last week: No. 1
Yeah, OK, big shock here, I know. Montana’s season ended in the first-round of the NCAA tournament. After a competitive half, the Georgia Bulldogs outscored the Lady Griz by 18 points in the final 15 minutes to advance going away 70-50 (Georgia made it past Iowa State to the Sweet 16, too).

The postseason title is Montana’s 20th. Head coach Robin Selvig received his 18th coach of the year honor dating back to 1982-83, and senior forward Katie Baker was the Big Sky player of the year (the 11th time a Lady Grizzly has earned that distinction).

Personally, I would have tabbed Eastern Washington’s Wendy Schuller for COY and D’Shara Strange as POY, but to the victors go the spoils, I guess.

And they probably should considering Montana won 75 percent of its games, had the conference’s top scoring margin (9.7) and were a combined 10-4 versus the other six opponents that made the postseason tourney.

Montana does lose three starters and its two leading scorers, but 10 players averaged at least 13 minutes and as always with the Lady Griz and Selvig it’s more about reloading than rebuilding.
   
    2. Northern Colorado 21-13, 15-5
    Last week: No. 2
Northern Colorado made it to the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament before falling at home 68-58 to Saint Mary’s.

Of the three teams that did compete in the WNIT from the Big Sky, UNC was the lone program to pick up a win (taking out Wyoming 71-63 on the road).

The Bears’ 21 wins is tied for the school record for a single season. Yet, I wonder if there’s not a feeling of disappointment in Greeley after coming in second again.

Strange, a junior, has started in 95 of Northern Colorado’s 97 games since she joined the program, winning 38 conference contests in the regular season.   

But the Bears lost to Montana in the conference semifinals, to the Bengals in the title game a year ago and to the Lady Griz in the finals a couple weeks back. UNC has been consistently great but never quite good enough.

With Strange back for her last hoorah and a slew of junior and sophomores returning with experience, UNC will contend in 2014. Whether the Bears finally break through might depend on if they can stop finishing as runner-ups and find a way to host the tournament.

    3. Eastern Washington 19-13, 14-6
    Last week: No. 3
In the first round of the WNIT, Eastern Washington lost to Washington 65-60 in double overtime.

In the last rankings, I went through a big hullabaloo explaining why Idaho State was better than Eastern Washington and deserved the No. 3 spot ahead of the Eagles.

Turns out I was wrong.

Powered by its shooting — the Eagles had the Big Sky’s top field-goal percentage — EWU beat Idaho State twice, claimed the No. 3 seed and advanced to the conference semifinals before bowing out to Northern Colorado.

For a team picked eighth in the preseason poll, that’s not too bad.

While the present is pretty good for Eastern (though it’s too bad so few in Cheney are there to witness any of it considering the Eagles averaged 473 fans for home games), the future is even brighter.

All-conference first-team guard Lexie Nelson is a terror to defend and she’s flanked with shooters and talented wings like Aubrey Ashenfelter and Hayley Hodgins.

Eastern does lose one senior starter, Carrie Ojeda. She was their toughest player and a battler in the post. But with the returning talent Schuller has to work with, I doubt they’ll enter next season as such a darkhorse.

    4. Idaho State 18-13, 13-7
    Last week: No. 4
The third team to make the WNIT from the Big Sky, Idaho State lost to its first-round opponent, BYU, 69-54. By the way, the Cougars advanced to the third round after knocking off San Diego State last Saturday.

So the Bengals go from tournament champs in 2012 to preseason favorties for 2013 to today where five graduating seniors — including two of the greatest winners ever at ISU — leave more questions about the future than answers.

Courtesy of Mark Liptak (Kaboom!), the play-by-play announcer for the ISU women, the Bengals’ 60-33 record the past three seasons is the best in the Big Sky over that span. For comparison, Montana and Northern Colorado are both at 58 victories and Weber State has nine (about seven more than I would have guessed).

The point is this: Head coach Seton Sobolewski has things rolling right now in Pocatello, and with a talented recruiting class coming in it’s fair to assume more good times will come. But when? Can Kara Jenkins and Lindsey Reed avoid a “rebuilding” season. Or do the Bengals take a step back for a year?

    5. Sacramento State 19-12, 13-7
    Last week: No. 5
The first team on the list to not make a postseason tournament of any kind.

Sacramento State’s year ended in Missouala when the Hornets were shellacked by Montana 74-53.

Sac State finishes the season at No. 5 in our rankings, and it seems fitting considering it’s where the Hornets were for some time. For a program that relies on 3-point shooting and a fast-paced game — like as fast as they can go — Sac’s ceiling was always about here.

No Big Sky team averaged more points (73.0, 17th in the nation) but only Weber gave up more (71.2, 324th in the country).

When the Hornets looked good (evidence: see game versus Idaho State in the postseason), they looked unbeatable. Forcing turnovers, sprinting in the open court, feeding open shooters off of penetration, Sac could confound teams defensively.

But if they weren’t hitting shots, teams like Idaho State, Montana and Northern Colorado could control the glass, slow the pace of play and methodically take apart the Hornets.

Sac State head coach Jamie Craighead does, however, play an entertaining style of basketball and we’re talking about a program here that was as bad as Weber State is now a decade ago. Things are headed in the right direction.

So can we encourage some fans to show up to a few games? Only Northern Arizona had fewer people at its home contests than Sac State.

    6. Southern Utah 15-16, 9-11
    Last week: No. 7
Southern Utah upset Northern Colorado twice during the regular season, but the Bears solved the Thunderbird riddle in the third meeting when SUU lost 67-56 to UNC in the Big Sky tournament.

An up-and-down season for Southern Utah — the T-birds didn’t capture a postseason bid until the last week of the season — with wins over UNC and Sacramento State but losses to Northern Arizona and anyone any good other than the Bears (SUU was a combined 0-6 versus UM, ISU and EWU).

But I think the biggest victory for Southern Utah this year has been my own personal journey where I’ve now come to accept its mascot, the Thunderbird.

I’ve taken a lot of digs at it the past few months, but one thing has really calmed me down about the whole thing.

At least they’re not the Thundercats.

    7. Montana State 17-13, 11-9
    Last week: No. 6
With wins over Colorado State, Clemson, Utah State and Montana, the Bobcats rode into Pocatello on a seven-game winning streak.

MSU was 14-4 overall. With senior post Rachel Semansky’s scoring inside, plenty of perimeter shooting and tough defense, Montana State looked like a juggernaut.

But after losing to Idaho State by eight in Reed Gym, MSU fumbled its way to a 3-9 finish down the stretch. Fittingly, after a solid first half, Eastern blew out Montana State in the final 20 minutes to win 68-53 in the Big Sky tourney.

    8. Northern Arizona 8-21, 7-13
    Last week: No. 8
After stumbling through its preseason schedule, Northern Arizona was 1-8 but the Lumberjacks, behind the Big Sky’s leading scorer Amy Patton, found a way to seven conference victories and had a chance to reach the postseason.

First-year head coach Sue Darling deserves a lot of credit for keeping her players engaged and believing in the system.

Patton, Paige Hayens, Tyler Stephens-Jenkins and Aubrey Davis are all gone, but Amanda Frost and Erikka Banks might be part of the solution that helps turnaround the program.

    9. North Dakota 11-18, 6-14
    Last week: No. 9
For the most part, mascot-less North Dakota occupied the bottom of these rankings. It wasn’t always easy for UND in its inaugural year in the Big Sky (head coach Travis Brewster was suspended a game for criticizing officials and two players transferred out of the program before the season was over), but with three Division II titles and a strong following (only the Montana schools averaged more fans at home games) North Dakota women’s basketball will contend for the top at some point.

    10. Portland State 12-17, 6-14
    Last week: No. 10
Injuries derailed Portland State but the Vikings were a disappointment from the beginning of Big Sky play, starting out 1-6.

In three short years, PSU has slipped from regular-season champs, to posteason favorites and now to the bottom of the conference.

Portland State was riding the most successful five-year stretch it ever had in Division I, winning 98 games under
the command of head coach Sherri Murrell (compared to 46 the five seasons before Murrell arrived).

So the turnarounds (both the upswing and now the down) have been dramatic. Where do things go from here?

    11. Weber State 0-29, 0-20
    Last week: No. 11
There’s really nothing to say about Weber State is there. Of the 343 teams in Division I, only two lost by more points than WSU did on average, and the Wildcats were the only squad to not post a W in the left-hand column.

In honor of putting this season to a rest for all WSU alumni, I’m not even going to bring up the losing streak until next year rolls around.

Just know “The March to History” continues, and we’re all very excited about it.