GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence women's basketball team outrebounded (12) Rocky Mountain College 42-27 including 12 offensive rebounds on the way to a 73-65 upset that also ended a four game losing streak. That losing streak all came on the road and returning home seemed to make a big difference.
 
"I didn't think we were playing hard at some points during that road stretch. You have to play at your best every night in this conference and I thought tonight we were at our best," Head Coach Bill Himmelberg said. "We played with pace and tempo tonight and we played hard on offense and defense the whole night."
 
UP didn't look at its best in the first few minutes, missing 2 shot attempts and committing 2 turnovers in the team's first three offensive possessions. That allowed the Battlin' Bears to take a 6-0 lead which the Lady Argos spent the rest of the first quarter trying to erase.
 
The Lady Argos only had mild success in doing that, climbing to within 3 points by the end of the period, but that first 10 minutes helped establish some important trends. The first of those trends was UP getting to the free-throw line often and converting when they did. In the first 10 minutes of play, UP shot 6 free throws and hit every one.
 
Another important starting point was a made 3-point shot from freshman guard Jenna Randich about four minutes into the game. That was her only bucket of the quarter, but it was a sign of things to come.
 
In the middle of the second quarter, Randich turned a single made shot into a shooting streak by sinking 2 more threes in the span of just over 30 seconds. The second of those shots gave UP its first lead of the game with the score at 24-23.
 
"It was bound to happen. I'm in the gym getting extra shots before and after practice," Randich said. "I was in a little bit of a slump, but I just have to keep shooting and take shots I need to take. Fortunately, I was hitting them tonight."
 
Rocky would tie the game twice later in the half, but it was the Lady Argos that went into the break ahead by 5.
 
After the first 20 minutes, the Lady Argos had yet to make rebounding an advantage. The team had just one more board than the Battlin' Bears with the totals standing at 15 and 14 rebounds respectively.
 
UP's shooting cooled off significantly in the second half, following up a 57 percent second quarter with 38 percent in both the third and fourth. Those misses meant more rebounds though, and most of those went to the Lady Argos.
 
In the third quarter, UP outrebounded Rocky 12-7 and that disparity exploded in the fourth where the Lady Argos grabbed 15 boards to RMC's 6.
Despite all of that, Rocky mounted a comeback and in the first 90 seconds of the final period the Battlin' Bears took back the lead 53-50. Right on cue, Randich got hot again, scoring the next 5 points to give UP a lead it would never again relinquish.
 
"A lot of the shots that our girls made were timely baskets. It doesn't matter if you have 2 or 6 or 8 points, timely points are as important as the totals," Himmelberg said. "We really talked about getting to the basket, getting offensive rebounds and getting that R.B.P. – Really Big Play."
 
As she's ton time and time again, senior guard Stephanie McDonagh played the role of UP's closer, particularly when the game came down to foul shots. The team's leading scorer scored 11 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter including going 9-10 from the charity stripe.
 
UP ended up shooting 28 free throws and made 82 percent of them as a team.
 
The rebounding advantage was led by freshman post Parker Esary who finished with 12, but it was an overall team effort with four other Lady Argos getting 5 or more boards. Both Randich and Himmelberg attributed that to assistant coach and former Argo basketball great from the 1970s, Rick Goodman.
 
"Coach Rick, that's his thing. He loves it. From day one it's been rebound, rebound, rebound," Randich said. "We have a size advantage over so many teams that we should have an advantage there. We're just doing what we're supposed to do."
 
Esary, the team's leading scorer was actually shut down offensively by the Battlin' Bear defense with a career low 4 points. Those missing points were made up for and then some by Randich who scored a career high 20 points on 8-14 shooting. 
 
UP's other big post player, junior Tristan Murphy, also had a big impact on the game with 8 points and 8 rebounds. McDonagh had another outstanding effort with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. 
 
UP's record goes to 17-9 (8-7) and the win keeps the Lady Argos ahead of Lewis-Clark State College for fourth place in the Frontier Conference standings. LCSC lost to Montana Western, giving a two-game lead with three games left to play.
 
That is the good news. The bad news is that UP's next opponent will be (11) Carroll College, the only conference team the Lady Argos haven't beaten in 2017-18. That game will be played on February 17 at 5:30 p.m. It will also be Senior Night for the Lady Argos.