The Montana Lady Griz trailed through most of the first three-quarters of their four-point, 73-69 win over a tough Northern Colorado Bears squad Saturday.
But a late surge -- fueled by excellent defense from Laura Cote and several key drives into the key by Johanna Closson -- turned the tide for Montana's win.
Closson hit a jumper in the key with 6:01 remaining that gave the Lady Griz a one-point57-56 lead over the Bears. Seconds later reserve forward Dvera Tolbert nailed a nice post-up shot before Sonja Rogers drained a trey. The three-strait scores sprung the Lady Griz to a 62-56 lead.
PHOTO: Sonja Rogers drives the baseline past Northern Colorado defender Chelsie Luhring. Rogers scored 14 points and had 4 rebounds against the Bears.
Though the Bears kept within two possessions throughout, Montana's maintained the margin for their fifth conference victory against one loss. The
Bears slipped to 5-2 with the loss, but remains in the hunt for the Big Sky Crown with Montana, Portland State and Idaho State.
Point guard Mandy Morales had a quiet 19 points for Montana, sinking 10-of-11 free throws, grabbing four rebounds and distributing four assists on the evening.
Closson's second half drives into the paint helped Montana keep pace with the Bears, who led through much of the game on 8-for-19 shooting from Jamie Schroeder and an evenly distributed long-range shooting game by the Bears, who converted 13 of 28 treys.
Rogers scored 14 points for the Lady Griz, nailing four of her eight treys while grabbing four rebounds.
PHOTO: Laura Cote goes up against Bears defenders Danielle Hagen and Lizzie Cooper. Cote scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and had two assists for the Lady Griz.
The Lady Griz will host Portland State Thursday in a match between conference leaders. Each team has suffered only one loss, Montana on the road at Idaho State and Portland State at Northern Colorado.
