The Ole Miss Lady Rebels took away Montana’s dominant inside game. But the Lady Griz responded by shooting 11-for-28 from three point range for a convincing 84-77 victory in the final game of the Lady Griz 28th Holiday Classic Sunday.
Four Montana players reached double figures, led by 20 from guard Mandy Morales, who nailed 5-for-9 from long range to pace the Lady Griz. Sonja Rogers had 15 points with two conversions from outside the arc while reserve guard Laura Cote added two treys for 10 points.
PHOTO: Johanna Closson drives past Lady Rebel Kayla Melson on early offense. Closson scored 14 points and -- with 20 points on Friday -- was named the MVP of the 28th Lady Griz Holiday Classic.
Forward Johanna Closson -- who was named
the tourney MVP -- scored 14 points on a variety of jumpers off of Montana’s press-breaker early offense.
The final 7-point margin was as close as the Lady Rebels could get to Montana, who jumped to a 10-2 lead on three straight treys and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the game, including a 12-point 40-28 halftime lead.
PHOTO: Though Ole Miss outrebounded Montana, Lady Griz post Tamara Guardipee was a force in the paint, pulling down a game-high 10 boards and snaring two steals. Here she passes over Melson. Guardipee was named to the all-tourney team.
Montana led by as many as 18 points with 8 minutes remaining before Ole Miss forward Carla Bartee and reserve guard Lindsay Roy led a brief rally that was too little too late. Bartee led the Lady Rebels with 18 points, while post Shawn Goff added 16 and guard
Elizabeth Robertson scored 12.
The pace of the game was set early as Ole Miss put the paint into lockdown with a tight inside and baseline defense. But that left the wings open and the Lady Griz were able to get good looks with a simple reverse of the passing flow. Five perimeter Lady Griz players converted treys, moving Montana to a comfortable early lead and forcing the Lady Rebels to scramble from behind.
PHOTO: Sonja Rogers drives the baseline past Lady Rebel Elizabeth Robertson. Rogers scored 15 points, dished out four assists and committed only one turnover.
Employing a variety of full court pressure and trapping zone defenses, the Lady Rebels disrupted the flow of the game throughout. But -- with only a few exceptions -- Montana was able to easily break down the pressure for early offense looks by Closson and post Tamara Guardipee, who scored 7 points, and reserve forward Dvera Tolbert, who turned three early offense looks into nifty post moves from the left baseline.
It didn’t help that the Lady Rebels turned the ball over 28 times, many of them on unforced traveling calls.
For the second straight game, Montana shot nearly 50 percent from the field, finishing at 49.2 percent, 39.3 percent from three point range.
Morales, still showing the signs of her foot injury, nonetheless handled the Ole Miss pressure with aplomb, and notched five assists, several on seeing-eye early offense passes over the Ole Miss full court pressure. Rogers was also instrumental in breaking the Lady Rebels pressure and added four assists to Montana’s 17 assist total.
Joining Closson on the all-tourney team were Morales and Guardipee. Gott of Ole Miss and Kat Suderman and Meghan Williams of UC Santa Barbara also made the all-tourney team.
With the win, the Lady Griz close out an impressive pre-season at 10-3. Ole Miss dropped to 5-7.
