Sonja Rogers scored 21 points and shot 4-of-8 three pointers to lead the Montana Lady Griz past the Washington State Cougars 74-54 Tuesday.
The heady point guard engineered a Montana charge midway through the first half for a 13 point Montana lead, which the Lady Griz maintained for a 36-25 halftime lead.
PHOTO: Sonja Rogers scores on a fast-break drive to the bucket. Rogers shot 50 percent from three point range on 4-for-8 shooting.
Lady Griz center Tamara Guardipee added 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks, dominating the paint at both ends of the floor.
Forward Britney Lohman had a sub-par shooting night, but -- with 12 rebounds --
dominated the boards at both ends for the lady Griz, who outrebounded the Cougars 42-37. Lohman made 3-for-11 shots from the field, finishing with eight points.
The Cougars netted three early three-point field goals to keep pace with Montana in the early going, but then the Lady Griz zone defense took charge. Even though the Cougars had some success stretching the Montana zone, the Lady Griz held WSU to only 6-for-26 shooting from long range. The Cougars were held to 31.8 percent for the game.
PHOTO: Tamara Guardipee controlled the paint at both ends of the floor, scoring 11 points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots.
The Lady Griz had seven blocked shots in the game, several on perimeter shots, including a decisive block of an attempted Cougar three-point shot by
guard Lauren Beck.
Behind Rogers’ steady floor game, the Lady Griz methodically picked apart the Cougar defense with a potent inside-outside shooting game. The Lady Griz shsot a deadly 7-for-=13 from three point range (53.8%), but were even more effective in the low blocks as Guardipee, Lohman and freshman reserve forward Sarah Ena repeatedly found seams in the paint for point-blank buckets.
The Lady Griz scored 22 points in the paint compared to 8 for the Cougars. Guardipee, who drew double-team coverage by the Cougars front court defenders, dished out five assists.
PHOTO: Britney Lohman pulled down 12 rebounds and had two assists, one blocked shot and two steals in 28 minutes of play.
The Lady Griz made 15-for-22 of their
shots from the free throw line compared to 6-for-10 for the Cougars, who lost front-court players Heather Molzen and Ebonee Coates to fouls with several minutes remaining in the second half. Reserve Katie Calderwood led the Cougars with 10 points. No other WSU player broke into double figures.
The Lady Griz led by as much as 27 points late in the game.
BOTTOM PHOTOS: Guard Laura Cote and forward Sarah Ena drive to the bucket in second half action against the Cougars.
Montana hosts Montana Western Wednesday (Dec. 19th) and then takes a nine-day break before hosting the Lady Griz Holiday Classic Dec. 29th and 30th. The classic is in its 28th year.
