MISSOULA, Mont. – It was an exhibition game for the University of Great Falls, but it was the first regular season game for the University of Montana Griz under new head coach Shannon Schweyen. Despite having significantly less at stake, the Lady Argos were only down 3 at the half, before eventually losing to the Griz 66-55.
 
The game was neck-and-neck through the first two quarters, with freshman Jenna Randich scoring 12 of the Lady Argo's 31 first half points off of 4-5 shooting from 3-point range. UGF's defense also caused problems for the Griz, holding Montana to just 12 field goals, a 40 percent free throw percentage, and forcing 8 turnovers.
 
That defensive performance was the standout take away for UGF Head Coach Bill Himmelberg who was looking to learn a few things about his team in the contest again an NCAA Division I.
 
"The biggest thing I learned about our team is that we can defend people. We can flat out defend anybody," Himmelberg said. "I thought we contested well and really got up and did a lot of good things defensively. It was good to see our girls fight and compete. I also learned we need to work on our rebounding."
 
Rebounding was the big difference down the stretch. In the second half the Griz outrebounded the Lady Argos 31-15, including 13 offensive boards.
 
Randich also cooled off a bit in the second half, but still finished with 15 points, the most of any player in the game. The total was the second highest of the season for the freshman and came in just 22 minutes of play.
 
"Jenna had a great night shooting. We knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time but she really kept us in it a little bit," Himmelberg said.
 
The other top scorers for UGF were senior guard/forward Nneka Nnadi who scored 10 points and redshirt-junior guard/forward Kallee Wilson who came off the bench to score 6 points and shoot a perfect 3-3 from the field. Wilson was also one of just two UGF players with a positive +/-.
 
On the defensive end, senior center Whitney George was handed a tough assignment against Griz senior Alicia Sims and still came away with 4 blocks. Junior guards Stephanie McDonagh and Molly Herron also fair well on the perimeter, holding Montana's startking guard to 4-18 shooting from the floor.
 
Montana played two other Frontier Conference schools earlier this year, although both of those games were exhibitions for the Griz. U of M beat MSU-Northern 64-56 while trying to empty its bench, and then beat Carroll College 61-39.
 
It will be another NCAA DI opponent up next for the Lady Argos, as the team travels to Bozeman, to play Montana State University on Saturday, November 11 at 2 p.m.