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December 2004
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Volume 1, Issue 3
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Junior trio leads record-setting team
The 2004-05 Grizzly golf roster lacks senior experience, but that doesn't mean it lacks leadership. MORE
March 20, 2004: A look back
Relive the thrilling Lady Griz NCAA Tournament first-round contest against Louisiana Tech last March. MORE
A letter from Athletic Director Don Read
Hi Griz Fans: This late fall report features success for The University of Montana on the courts and athletic fields. MORE
GSA announcements
Want to know all the hapenings of the Grizzly Scholarship
Association? Check out the announcements for the month. MORE
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Click below for complete statistical capsule
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Junior trio leads record-setting team
by Timothy San Pedro, MontanaGrizzlies.com |
Golf is often thought of as an individual sport where the inner workings of the mind are tested on every shot. Yet, The University of Montana women's golf team has profited from team unity to shatter numerous records and have already proved that they don’t need any seniors on the team to have powerful leadership.
In 2004, the Montana golf team destroyed the three-round team score for the Big Sky Championships by an unprecedented 25 strokes and in the same tournament they set the two lowest team rounds with 307 and 310 combined scores.
Mary Hasselberg |
Part of the reason for their success, according to head coach Joanne Steele has been the outstanding examples that the three Juniors — Jasi Acharya, Mary Hasselberg and Jill Walker— have set for the rest of the team.
"They all have done their part in going above and beyond what I could ever ask for as a coach when it comes to practice and making the younger players feel welcome and making them understand that they do have a part on the team; that they’re all equal," Steele said.
But for Acharya, Hasselberg and Walker, the realization that they are looked up to for leadership has snuck up on them.
"I think I’m defining myself as a leader, not knowing that I was one," Hasselberg said. "We’re showing that we are trying our hardest and hopefully the younger players see that."
"Before we’ve always been the youngest players, the three of us," Walker said. "It’s strange thinking that, yeah, we are the oldest and should be setting examples."
"I’m more of a silent leader," Acharya said, who earned three of the four lowest individual three round totals in 2004. "I don’t get too excited when I’m out there."
On the course their extra time spent in practice has paid off and been a great example to the younger players as far as self motivation, Steele said.
Off the course, they’ve hosted a spaghetti dinner and a halloween party, set up team lunches, watched every Grizzly sporting event they could together and helped out with school fundraisers. They’ve also set up team meetings to talk about goals they want to achieve over the year.
Jasi Acharya |
"The players that we have all really want to do well and have many goals set," Hasselberg said of this teams recent success. "It makes a big difference when we all have dreams and goals that we want to reach."
This sort of on-the-course, off-the-course team cohesion may not seem like much, but "getting along well makes trips and practices more enjoyable," Acharya said. "I’ve heard the horror stories of teams who don’t get along well. It doesn’t work."
Freshman Britney Hayes has noticed that the three Juniors have made coming to practice and the game of golf much more enjoyable. "Mary’s a lot like me, she has a lot of intensity and that’s fun to see that you can bring that over to the college scene. From Jill and Jasi I’ve learned to stay calm under pressure and the best ways to work on my short game."
"They really took in the freshman," Steele said. "They understand that it’s a hard transition to make between coming out of high school and coming into the college atmosphere, not knowing anybody else ... sometimes having someone to trust and talk to makes a big difference."
Each player, in their own way, have developed leadership roles, said Steele.
Acharya’s role has been setting the standard for the rest of the players and allowing them to realize that lower scores are attainable, Steele said.
"It would be nice to be thought of as that," Acharya said when asked if she saw herself as a pace setter.
Jill Walker |
"Jasi has continued her strong play from last year and is once again the top player on the team," Steele said.
Steele said she’s noticed Hasselberg’s perseverance, her outgoing support for the team and her willingness to make sure everybody understands what their importance is on the team.
"I think mostly my attitude when I come off the course is what the other players can feed off of," Hasselberg said. "If somebody has a rough round I can be their support. We all help each other."
Walker’s will to want to become a better player has fueled others to do the same, Steele said.
"Jill has come full circle," Steele said. "It’s been quite amazing to see the improvement from her freshman year till now. She’s dropped her stoke average in two years probably about ten to twelve strokes."
"On the course, I think other players see me as a player who sticks with it," Walker said.
The fact is, the 2004 season has broken numerous Grizzly records and done it without any senior leadership. Acharya, Walker and Hasselberg have coined their own term as far as leading a team to victory — Junior leadership.
"Golf is an individual sport," Acharya said. "But in the end we all have to come together."
[Back to the Grizzly Times]
March 20, 2004: A look back
by Joel Carlson, UM Sports Information
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The Montana women's basketball team advanced to its 15th NCAA tournament last spring, earning a No. 12 seed in the Mideast Region. The Lady Griz hosted No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech in a first-round game at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. Before a capacity crowd of 7,413, Montana fell behind early, but battled back to within two at halftime. In the second half, the Lady Griz built an 11-point lead with just over 10 minutes to play, but the Lady Techsters stormed back to claim an emotional 81-77 victory and moved on to the second round.
This is the story.
The thought first struck him while he was eating a bag of peanuts, 26,000 feet over the state of Idaho: Maybe this No. 12 seed could actually compete against Louisiana Tech.
Despite the fact that he had been hired by ESPN to produce the NCAA tournament first- and second-round games in Missoula, the producer had found out which teams that would include just like the rest of America. He had sat in his chair the previous Sunday afternoon, glued to ESPN2.
"In Mideast Region first-round games in Missoula, Mont., the Black Bears of Maine, the champions of the America East Conference, will face the Texas Tech Red Raiders, an at-large selection from the Big 12 Conference. In the other matchup in Missoula, Louisiana Tech, the automatic qualifier from the WAC, will take on the host Montana Lady Griz, champions of the Big Sky Conference."
He wasn't upset with the draw, but he couldn't hide his disappointment either. Like most television sports producers, he had been hoping for a primetime matchup that ESPN would feed to a majority of the country. But at first glance the opening-round games of No. 13 Maine versus No. 4 Texas Tech and No. 12 Montana against No. 5 Louisiana Tech didn't appear to be the type of games that would draw much attention outside of those home areas.
He didn't expect much from those early games.
Once we get through Saturday's first-round games and get the lower seeds off the board, he had thought to himself right after seeing the brackets, we might have a solid second-round matchup between Texas Tech and Louisiana Tech.
Maybe Monday's game between the two Techs would get some national attention for his production.
It was not a surprise that he would have such a narrow view of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Perhaps more than any other playoff - collegiate or professional - Division I women's basketball traditionally was the answered prayer to those fans who disdained upsets, who would give up parity for the sake of advancing the top 16 seeds in the tournament to the regional level, something which actually happened in 1999. But that was still in the days when the top four seeds in each region hosted the first and second rounds. The NCAA had eliminated that practice. It had originally been done to guarantee better attendance, but at the same time it had nearly eliminated the possibility of any upsets like the men's tournament routinely had.
Plus, like most other casual women's basketball fans who only have limited exposure to Division I women's basketball, he was of the understanding that the women's college basketball universe revolved around only the nation's brightest programs, teams like Tennessee, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Louisiana Tech, Texas, Stanford, Georgia, Texas Tech and LSU to name a few. Get past the top 10 schools and all of a sudden you're dealing with programs that might have nice teams, but they aren't about to take out the Lady Vols or the Huskies, teams that have made advancing to the Elite Eight year after year seem like their birth rite, in a first-round game.
And Montana fit in perfectly with this thinking. He knew about the Grizzly football team because of its regular appearance in the NCAA I-AA playoffs, and he thought he'd maybe seen the Montana men's basketball team in the NCAA tournament bracket at some point, but Montana women's basketball?
It wasn't until his plane had taken off for Missoula and he had had a chance to sit back and start looking over the information - media guides, press releases - that each team had sent him that the thought started entering his mind. Maybe he'd been too quick to give Louisiana Tech a free pass to the second round.
He would never have guessed that Montana had advanced to the NCAA tournament even five times in its history, much less 15 times.
And could this be right? He'd heard of these other coaches like Adolph Rupp, Pat Summitt and John Wooden, but Robin Selvig? Could this really be correct? Had he actually just passed 600 career wins faster than only five other coaches in NCAA history? Faster than Dean Smith at North Carolina? Quicker than Phog Allen at Kansas? How could this not have been a national story? Geno Auriemma gets a mention on ESPNews every time he sneezes, yet he had never even heard of this Selvig guy.
Brooklynn Lorenzen |
The Lady Griz had a point guard who was the league MVP and the Big Sky Conference career leader in assists? It's always a good thing when an underdog has solid point-guard play. And this must have been a misprint: 241 assists on the season with just 57 turnovers? Who puts up numbers like those?
And Montana had two different 1,000-point career scorers - Hollie Tyler and Julie Deming - that Lorenzen could get the ball to?
And the Lady Griz ranked in the top 25 nationally for average home attendance?
The producer's first impression of the Louisiana Tech-Montana matchup had been more David and Goliath than Ali-Frasier, but maybe this had the potential to be better than he'd originally thought. Montana could still play the role of David, but only if David had one of the best stone-throwing coaches in the Middle East. And instead of happening on a battlefield in the middle of a sandy nowhere, let's put the two combatants in front of what seemed to be the entire nation of Israel and see how Goliath fares.
This was the kind of David and Goliath matchup that could draw viewers: One that at first glance might seem like a mismatch to the uninformed, but might actually turn out to be a great game.
He leaned back and wondered. He thought back to his Sunday School days and remembered that David went to battle against Goliath only after hand-selecting five smooth stones from a stream. Of course it wouldn't be secular enough for his bosses at ESPN, but wouldn't it be fun to use the David versus Goliath angle for the introduction? He could get film of Coach Selvig sending his five starters to the floor for the start of a game and have a background image of a David look-alike picking out his five favorite stones. And they could use an actual Montana stream or river! How great would that be?
While the plane was descending into Missoula, he thought to himself, maybe. Just maybe.
It was an annual tradition in Ruston, La., like the arrival of spring. The women's basketball team would convene at the home of Dr. Daniel Reneau, the Louisiana Tech president, on a Sunday afternoon in mid-March and see how the NCAA tournament selection committee would snub them again.
In 2003 they had been ranked in the top 10 nationally and had been given a No. 5 seed and that hadn’t been the first time the NCAA selection committee had stuck its tongue out at the program.
Now they sat again, last Sunday, March 14, ready to find out their fate.
The Lady Techsters had just won their ninth straight conference tournament title, had a 27-2 record, a top 10 national ranking and a 19-game winning streak. They held out hope for a No. 2, maybe a No. 3 seed, but they weren't surprised to hear that they were once again a No. 5 seed. They were accustomed to not getting the respect and the seed that they felt they deserved.
This they'd grown used to, but having to travel halfway across the country to play on the home court of a No. 12 seed that loses at home about as often as Tech did at the Thomas Assembly Center? This was a new low for even the NCAA.
But at least the opponent was from the Big Sky Conference. Sure, Montana had a good record and a 22-game home-court winning streak, but it wasn't like the Lady Griz had been playing in the SEC or the Big 12.
If he had been coaching in his very first NCAA tournament, The Coach may have been a little distraught at what he had seen on the television screen. Montana versus Louisiana Tech. Certain programs inspire awe simply when their names are mentioned. The Lady Techsters were like that. They had that air about them, even if they were a No. 5 seed.
But having taken teams to 14 previous NCAA tournaments, he knew one thing was certain: Every team that was involved in the tournament was there because it was a good team. He had heard talk and had been asked about the seeds all week, whether Montana had too low of a seed and whether Louisiana Tech should have popped up with a two or three beside its name instead of a five, but in his mind it really didn't matter.
He preferred the approach that if you think you received a bad seed from the selection committee, that's fine, but there is only one course of action, and it didn't involve whining about it in the paper. Just go out on the court and prove it to the doubters.
The more he thought about the matchup and everything it involved, the more excited he got. The Coach always viewed the NCAA tournament as an opportunity, and playing a team like Louisiana Tech, on your own floor and in front of your own fans, was as big an opportunity as a program that does not have a permanent spot at the Top 10 dinner table can get.
He had spent the early part of the week taking congratulatory phone calls on the Big Sky Conference tournament title and the ensuing NCAA tournament selection and breaking down film with his assistants, but only when he was able to get breaks from the constant stream of well-wishers who had worn a path in the carpet to his office.
So when it came to thinking about the game, really thinking in an undisturbed setting, he repaired to the spot where he usually did his best thinking: at home in his recliner. Not that the game ever really left his mind. Whether he was in the shower, driving, eating, it didn't matter. For four months every winter, the Lady Griz' upcoming opponent was his primary focus. This particular week, first and foremost on his mind were the Lady Techsters.
It was mid-week, after watching film and meeting with his assistants, when he came up with his keys to the game.
Head coach Robin Selvig |
First and most obvious, his players would need to handle pressure. Before even looking at any film of the Lady Techsters, The Coach knew they were leading the nation, forcing their opponents into over 25 turnovers per game. What he saw on tape only reinforced it. They pressured the point, they pressured the wings, they were active inside. And they could do it in a half-court setting or full-court.
He also knew that taking care of the ball had been a season-long key to his team's success. The Lady Griz would enter the NCAA tournament ranked second nationally in that category, averaging just over 12 turnovers per game. They had taken care of the ball all season, but never against pressure like they would see on Saturday night.
Second, he knew it would come down to rebounding. He'd been in enough games against enough top programs to know that one question usually provided the answer to his team's ability to compete. Could they get a rebound? Montana's defense was always solid. That didn't change. You can force teams into taking low percentage shots, but if you can't keep them off the offensive glass, you are not going to have a chance.
That's why rebounding had been his emphasis all week in practice. He knew for certain, especially after getting a look at the size and athleticism of Tech's post players on tape, that his team had to rebound with the Lady Techsters if it was going to have a chance to compete. He thought his team could get the missed shots it needed, but if it couldn't follow that with a rebound, it would be a long night.
On game night The Coach walked purposely out of the locker room, his final pregame talk to his team finished. The Coach had been able to sense the thunderous nature of the fieldhouse as it filled to capacity, the electricity snaking up his legs from the locker room floor, but it wasn't until he actually entered the fieldhouse that he finally saw what was happening. It was almost enough to take his breath away.
It appeared full already, but he could see that even more fans were streaming in through the gates, all there to cheer his Lady Griz.
As he walked to his bench, the crowd saluted him as they had done just moments before when the team had hit the floor. There were now just minutes to go before the opening tip. He had the confident gait of a coach who has won over 600 games, but inside he felt like he always did before games: fearful.
To him it didn't matter if it was Louisiana Tech or Montana Tech, The Coach never went into a game with a lot of confidence. Yet it's never a fear that his team won't perform well - he's almost always sure he has done what he has needed to do to prepare his players - but rather a respect for the opponent.
Some may wonder how he is unable to be confident of victory after doing it more than 600 times.
Others would argue that this characteristic is the very reason he has recorded so many wins.
He took a seat on the bench, knowing that this would be the final moment of relative calm before he began coaching every possession like it was the most important one of the game.
With the national anthem and player introductions less than two minutes away, he had a sense of calmness about him, despite his surroundings. The air was thick with anticipation, but he had forged a tremendous belief in his team over the long season, and now he had few doubts that it would once again give him everything that it had.
Because of this belief, he didn't change his team's approach to the week of practice or its game plan. He had come to the conclusion during the week that the Lady Griz were going to go out and be themselves. And in a perfect competitive philosophy, he wanted the Lady Techsters to go out and be themselves. Then let's see who wins. Let's put our strengths versus their strengths, and let's just see what happens.
Of course that mindset was easier to accept earlier in the week, when he didn't have to look directly in front of his bench and see opposing post players who looked like they could be WNBA material and guards who looked even quicker in person than they had on tape.
He was relaxed, yet one thing continued to plague him. Who would step up for his team and shoot the ball? Who was going to have that memorable, once-in-a-lifetime performance that would be attached to their name every time it was mentioned in Lady Griz lore? Like Marti Leibenguth's 27 points against Stanford in 1988. Like Shannon Cate's 36 points against Iowa in 1991. Like Cate's back-to-back games against Wisconsin and Southern Cal in 1992 when she put up 60 points?
If that failed to happen, he knew it would be a long night. There was no way Montana would be able to shut down Louisiana Tech and hold it to 50 points. The Techsters were just too talented. But he was certain his defense could keep them to 65 or 70. And if he had a couple of kids shoot the ball well, then he liked his team's chances.
"Renovated" Dahlberg Arena record crowd (7,413) |
From the size and the sound of the crowd, which was already louder than anything that had been seen in Dahlberg Arena in a number of years, the fans appeared to like Montana's chances as well.
Just before the one-minute horn sounded, he had a quick flashback to March 20, 1988. He shuddered in eerie reminiscence. The Coach had seen this crowd in this facility before, when Montana hosted Stanford in another NCAA first-round NCAA tournament game. As he was then, he was appreciative that this team got to feel and experience this unique situation, because events like this don't come around very often.
They are the type of games and the type of pressure and importance you can't plan or force. You just know you are involved in one when the one-minute horn sounds and there is nothing left to do but get it on.
The Louisiana Tech radio broadcaster finished his pregame show and cut to a break just as the national anthem was commencing in the Adams Center. Lady Techster nation had gotten the full breakdown before the game: How first and foremost La Tech needed to get off to a good start and take the crowd out of the game. How Montana had solid post play and that the Techster perimeter players would need to crank up their pressure on the Lady Griz guards. How Montana had the size advantage but how La Tech had more quickness. How Tech coach Kurt Budke didn't want to get away from anything his team had been doing during its recent winning streak.
He wanted to put his strengths out on the table, let Montana do the same, then let's see what happens.
When the game tipped off, the only people not sitting in their seats were those that were forced to remain seated out of decorum. Scoretable workers, press row, the coaches. The noise level was probably only measurable on a decibel meter, but there was so much more to it than just a lot of cheering and clapping. There was an energy, raw and unforced. The fieldhouse was humid with it.
There was a spirit of united cause: To get the Lady Griz off to a good start.
The tension at the opening jump was almost too much. There had to be a release somewhere. Something had to give. Something had to break out.
It was the Louisiana Tech offense.
On the Lady Techsters' third possession, guard Erica Smith-Taylor introduced herself to the fans with a 3-pointer from the right side. Twenty-four seconds later she hit from the left side. La Tech 6, Montana 0.
With just under two minutes gone, Smith-Taylor grabbed a defensive rebound and passed ahead to a streaking Trina Frierson, one of the Louisiana Tech posts that The Coach had been so worried about. The 6-2 senior had beaten the Lady Griz transition defense down the court, and she laid the ball off the glass, uncontested, for an 8-0 lead.
With Smith-Taylor's first 3-point shot, the crowd had been fazed, but only for a second. It remained standing, attempting to will its collective mojo on the Lady Griz players.
The second three staggered the crowd, like an uppercut between heavyweight fighters. The crowd hushed, but regathered itself after taking a quick inventory and deciding things were still fine.
The breakout layup was the big blow. The crowd sat down, suddenly worried that this wasn't heavyweight against heavyweight, but maybe more like heavyweight against middleweight.
The worst was coming true for The Coach, and he was forced to call a timeout to try to slow the Techsters' momentum. He didn't recognize his offense in the early going. Hadn't this been a team that had based its 17-game win streak on taking care of the ball and good shot selection?
In its first four possessions, Montana had forced up two quick 3-point shots and had turned the ball over twice, both turnovers coming on careless entry feeds to the post. Hadn't he stressed all week that the Tech posts were active and quick inside and wouldn't be content to just remain and play behind the Lady Griz post players? Hadn't he emphasized to his post players to hold their seals because their defenders would try to fight around and force turnovers?
If he could have made a checklist of 10 things he didn't want to see early in the game, nine had happened on the court. The tenth came when he was forced to use a timeout less than two and a half minutes into the game to allow his team to collect itself.
Words of wisdom and calm were used by The Coach during the timeout, stressing the importance of taking care of the ball.
Out of the timeout, Montana had possession.
Turnover, UM's third in less than three minutes to an opponent that feasted on teams which didn't take care of the ball.
But just when the game could have gotten out of hand, Frierson traveled inside and one of The Coach's seniors, Julie Deming, hit two free throws to get Montana on the board.
Deming's free throws had sparked the crowd back to life, but it was quickly quieted again on Louisiana Tech's next possession, when The Coach's greatest fear was put on display.
Frierson missed a close-range jumper, but Tech's Amber Obaze fought around an attempted block out and grabbed the offensive rebound. Her putback was off, but she grabbed another offensive rebound and scored and put La Tech ahead 10-2.
The Lady Techsters bounded with joy down the floor, high fives and huge smiles all around, fully prepared and expecting to continue the early blitz.
The Coach looked at his three assistants, sitting silently to his left.
"Damn, this might be a long night."
The Tech radio broadcaster was pleased. What he saw on the court was a team that was excited and playing with tremendous confidence. Sure, he wanted to see them get through this game in a hostile environment, but he thought this team could go far, maybe Final Four far. And to see them playing like this, it was like they knew they were in the NCAA tournament, where one misstep means the end of the season, and they had picked up their collective level of play from the very start of the very first game of the tournament.
Katie Edwards |
The shooting guard was born without a conscience. And dominating high school sports in Lewistown, Mont., for years had rid her of anything resembling self-doubt.It never entered Katie Edwards' mind that her team needed to work for a great shot on its next possession, or that she'd missed her first two shots of the game. What she did know was that the crowd that had been so frenzied before was now sitting on its hands and that her teammates seemed to be looking for someone to take the next shot.
She got the ball in her hands, took one of the stones out of the bag, and let one go from behind the 3-point arc.
It was the type of shot - early in the shot clock and three feet beyond the 3-point line - that made The Coach jump out of his chair, ready to yell, "Katie, NO!" After the ball swished through the net, all he could do was sit back down, give a clap of the hands and say, "That a kid, Katie!"
And the game was on.
Why did it have to be this game? Julie Deming had played 31 games of her senior season prior to this one and had totaled 61 fouls, fewer than two per game. Why did it have to be this one, the biggest of her career, when she finally got into serious foul trouble, something that would change the entire tone of the game?
The first foul came with 14:24 remaining in the first half. Tasha Crain missed a jump shot for the Lady Techsters and Frierson grabbed the offensive rebound. On Frierson's way back up for the putback, Deming reached in to slap the ball away and got more skin than leather, and the referee was right there to call it.
The second foul came less than two minutes later.
A large percentage of the coaching fraternity would have immediately sat Deming for the remainder of the first half, loathing to see her pick up her third foul before even making it to the locker room for halftime. But The Coach isn't just any coach, and he left Deming in the game.
Rather than follow a structured set of rules about when players sit and when they play, The Coach had always taken each situation of foul trouble independently, player by player, game by game. He could have sat Deming for the final 12:49 of the first half, but who was to say she couldn't play until halftime without picking up her third foul? And wasn't it worth the risk, especially now that she was just starting to pick the team up and put it upon her back?
She stayed in, and because of it, Montana stayed in the game.
Deming had her full offensive game on display at the perfect time, just when Montana needed her. She scored 14 of the Lady Griz' first 18 points. She scored on slashing drives to the basket, she scored on pull-up jump shots, she scored from the line.
The only problem was that the Lady Techsters were matching her. They had 25 points at the 10-minute mark, on pace to put up 100. They were shooting better than 50 percent from the field and had already grabbed six offensive rebounds.
With just under eight minutes remaining in the first half and the score 27-19, Smith-Taylor missed an open jumper for Tech and Obaze grabbed the offensive rebound, the Techsters' seventh of the half. Deming did her best to defend Obaze in the low post, but picked up her third foul in the process, leaving The Coach in a seemingly hopeless situation.
The player who had scored 16 of Montana's 19 points up to that moment had just committed her third foul and there were still nearly eight minutes remaining in the opening half. He had to take her out, didn't he? What other option did he have? What made it even worse was that two of Deming's three fouls had come after his team had given up offensive rebounds.
What a position for The Coach to be in. He had a hot scorer who was lighting up the opposition and keeping Montana in the game. But the more she played, the deeper she was getting into foul trouble. There was only one decision to make. Deming had to come out.
She had been feeling it like Michaelangelo had been feeling it when he first laid on his back and peered up at the blank ceiling of the Sistene Chapel. For 12 electric minutes the court had been her canvas, and now she was seated on the bench.
With Deming on the bench, Montana just needed something. Some sort of spark that would ignite the team.
Two possessions later, with the lead still at eight, Lorenzen battled pressure just past mid-court and allowed Crystal Baird to set up at the top of the key for a screen. Lorenzen drove her defender down the left side and came across the top of the key, running her defender into Baird.
As Lorenzen was hoping when she called the play, the on-ball defender went under the screen and hustled to pick Lorenzen up on the other side, while Baird's defender left her to help contain Lorenzen and the ball. Lorenzen was now double-teamed, which allowed Baird to step back, take the pass from Lorenzen and put up the 3-point shot.
If it had been taken from the wing, the shot would have sailed over the rim by three feet. But since it was from the top of the key, the ball banged off the backboard and went in. The lead had been cut to five.
Was this the play that would change Montana's fortunes?
No.
Instead, Tech responded by scoring the next seven points and grabbing its largest lead of the first half, 34-22, with just over five minutes to play.
The Coach called a 30-second timeout. The Techsters had just grabbed their eighth offensive rebound of the half and had scored on the putback to increase the lead to 12, but what was remarkable was what didn't happen in the Lady Griz huddle.
At an emotional and critical spot of the game, when Louisiana Tech had seen its lead cut to five and had answered with seven unanswered points, The Coach's methods didn't change. There wasn't yelling and beseeching. Instead there was teaching and reminding, a stern lecturer, sure, but not the madman that some coaches would become.
That's why the coach has won 602 times and has his name mentioned with Rupp, Wooden and Summitt. That's why high school players want to play for him. That's why you want you daughter to play for him.
If you are looking for a key play from the first half, try this one. On Montana's first possession out of the timeout, Tyler came out beyond the 3-point line to help relieve some of the pressure on the Lady Griz guards. A pass hit her in the hands and the ball went to the floor, bouncing away from her. Tyler's defender saw the loose ball and ran at it, seeing nothing between the ball and a 14-point lead.
Instead, Tyler got there first and immediately passed ahead to an open Edwards, who nailed a 3-point shot.
The crowd, which could have given up hope, was back. And the Lady Griz gave them reason to return to their earlier levels of fanaticism.
Edwards scored inside, then hit another 3-pointer. Tyler hit back-to-back short jumpers inside.
On the other end of the court, Louisiana Tech was missing five straight shots and turning the ball over three times.
With the lead narrowed to three, 37-34, and under a minute to play, Tech's Lakiste Barkus turned the ball over. The ball made its way into Lorenzen's hands and she pushed the ball up the court. Edwards was patiently spotted up on the right wing, knowing full well that Lorenzen would get her the ball, that she would take the open three and that the game would be tied at 37-37.
Lorenzen pushed the ball just past half and then spotted Edwards.
For the first time in her four-year career, Lorenzen went deaf on the court when Edwards' shot went through the basket. She back-peddled to the defensive end and couldn't even hear her own voice, much less any defensive calls from the bench.
Crain came back down and hit a tough jumper over Lorenzen with seven seconds remaining, but the Lady Griz had still closed out the final 5:01 of the first half on a 15-5 run.
The halftime score was Louisiana Tech 39, Montana 37.
What had just minutes earlier seemed impossible, now seemed entirely possible.
He told Lady Techster nation exactly the way it was playing out before sending them to their halftime programming.
"Oh Lord, here we go. Now the crowd's into it, and the Lady Techsters are facing a team that has a lot of confidence, the one thing Coach Budke didn't want to see. An eight- or 10-point halftime lead would have been preferable to this. Now it's going to be anybody's ball game in the second half.
"And to tell you the truth, I'm not even sure you're able to hear me over the noise in this place. I've brought you games from Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., and from Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., but I have never heard a crowd like this. Never."
Walking to the locker room The Coach tried to collect his thoughts before addressing a team that he believed was 20 minutes away from raising eyebrows from Durham, N.C., to Palo Alto, Calif., by moving onto the second round of the NCAA tournament with a shocking victory over Louisiana Tech.
One of his keys to the game had been that he was absolutely certain Montana had to get off to a good start, both for his team's confidence and to shake Louisiana Tech's. That had not even come close to happening, yet they had come back. And he had his seniors to thank for that. All week long in practice their leadership had come through with this message: We can win this game.
There wasn't overblown excitement in the room when he walked in. Instead every set of eyes focused on him and every player was ready to take in what he had to say. It was a team of maturity, confidence and purpose. They were in the game and had sent Louisiana Tech a message that it was going to take its best game to beat them.
There weren't a lot of adjustments that The Coach needed to make.
He got them ready to continue playing both man and zone. Man had worked better in the first half, but he still wanted to get back to a zone and see if those outside shots Tech had hit in the first half had just been flukes.
He liked the spots where his offense was getting the ball. Tyler and Baird were getting good looks inside, and he thought they could continue to score in the paint.
He emphasized Smith-Taylor and doing a better job on the boards, then it was time to retake the floor.
They huddled, and he could feel their collective confidence and resolve. His final words were simple, but filled with his belief in the 15 players now silently squeezing around him.
"We can handle this team. Let's go."
Julie Deming |
In case anyone had missed it, Deming let everyone - the fans, Louisiana Tech, the ESPN audience - know that she was back from the bench and ready to make up for lost time.
Her jumper 27 seconds into the second half tied it at 39. Her driving layup on their next possession put the Lady Griz up two, 41-39, less than a minute into the second half.
Julie Deming was feeling unstoppable.
Smith-Taylor missed at the other end for a Louisiana Tech team that still appeared to be reeling from Montana's first-half run, and Deming grabbed the rebound. She raced down the court with the ball, head up, one on three, but to her it didn't matter. Bring all five defenders down and let them try to contain her. She wasn't going to be stopped.
When all three Tech defenders retreated into the lane to stop a player that had scored most of her points on slashing drives to the basket, Deming pulled up just inside the 3-point line, rose up and let the ball go with the most confident release you'll ever see. No one in the fieldhouse doubted that is was going in. For the next 20 minutes, this was going to be Deming's world. Everyone else - the fans, the players, the media - was just going to along for the ride.
Hit rim? Maybe. Miss? Never.
But it did. In and out, and the ball bounced toward the Lady Griz bench. Deming was in such a zone that almost everything she was doing was turning to gold. Nothing wrong could come from hustling after the loose ball. Except that Smith-Taylor got there first, corralling the ball just before Deming came crashing into her for her fourth foul of the game.
Deming remained supine on the floor, staring up at the fieldhouse roof in disbelief as the crowd was reduced to uneasy glances at The Coach and each other as the public address announcer told them what they didn't want to hear:
"Montana foul on No. 55, Julie Deming. Her fourth personal foul."
Such a development - Deming going to the bench with 18:41 remaining - could have been disastrous, but by this point, the Lady Griz team had emerged, ready to show that they had won 27 games and gotten to this point by being more than just a single player. They were a collection of parts, but their whole was much more than those parts taken individually.
Hollie Tyler |
Tyler scored seven straight points, and Louisiana Tech was missing its first seven shots of the second half. Unbelievably, the lead was approaching double figures.
It just seemed to be happening too easily. It was just too perfect of a script. It was the Little Engine That Could. It was Rocky. It was Rudy. All rolled into one and embodied as the Montana women's basketball team.
It flew in the very face and nature of Division I women's basketball. Big-name schools don't get shown up like this. But The Coach was getting exactly what every coach of an underdog wants. His team was playing flawlessly, and the other team's confidence was showing cracks. Loose passes were being made. Words and looks were being exchanged by players who hadn't been in this position for a number of months and who certainly hadn't expected to be in this position tonight. Post players were getting into foul trouble."
By the time Edwards hit a 3-pointer with 12:48 to play to put the Lady Griz up 11, 54-43, the run had become 32-9 over a 12-minute stretch, and most of the fans just tuning in at home were probably beginning to wonder if maybe ESPN had the wrong graphic on their television screens. Who exactly was the No. 5 seed here?
Lorenzen hit two free throws with 10:26 to play, making the score 60-49, and the game had come full circle. The team that had been getting dominated was executing to perfection. The team that had been allowing easy putbacks on offensive rebounds was now scoring its own second-chance points. The team that had been facing relentless pressure was now exerting some defensive pressure of its own.
The fat lady had entered the building and could be heard somewhere deep in the arena, warming up with some scales that sounded oddly like the Montana fight song.
The radio report back to Louisiana was not one that the Tech faithful were expecting or prepared to hear. The key word that kept getting repeated was that Louisiana Tech was one frustrated basketball team. The crowd, the refs, the entire atmosphere seemed to be against the Techsters.
The producer sat in his truck outside the fieldhouse, watching it all unfold. Despite how well the Lady Griz had played over the last part of the game, he still wasn't sold on Louisiana Tech going away quietly. And it didn't.
In a remarkable turnaround, the Lady Techsters got off the canvas, seemingly down and out. But they rose and, for the first time since late in the first half, started hitting back.
In the truck, the producer nodded in acknowledgement. This is where it was going to happen. This would be where the better team finished messing around and gave ESPN the 4-5 matchup it wanted for Monday night.
A three-point play by Smith-Taylor cut the lead to eight. Edwards hit a free throw at the other end to get the lead back to nine, but it was simply a pebble on the path of an awakened juggernaut. La Tech was coming. A switch had been flipped somewhere. Everyone in the building could feel it.
Another jumper by Smith-Taylor. Seven-point lead. Two free throws by Tasha Crain. Five-point lead. A layup inside by Frierson. The lead was down to three. Two more free throws by Shan Moore.
In just over two minutes, Montana's lead had gone from 11 points to one.
Even the reemergence of Deming from her four-foul purgatory couldn't slow the run.
The Lady Griz, on their own end, went missed jumper, turnover, missed jumper, turnover.
In the truck, the producer nodded in acknowledgement. Not that this was what he wanted after getting temporarily caught up in Lady Griz fever, but this made sense.
On the Montana bench, the coach dropped his head for just a second and said to himself, "Dang, I knew they were going to react."
In the stands, delirious and confident fans started shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Wild cheering had quickly become uneasy shouts of encouragement.
In November, the Lady Griz had faced Texas at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Hawaii. It was their third game of the season and they were hanging with the Longhorns, then ranked No. 2 in the nation, in the early going. Then Texas took over, dominating every area of the game on its way to an 85-46 victory.
But this wasn't the same Montana team. Deming had sat out the 2002-03 season with an ankle injury and against the Longhorns the Lady Griz were still trying to figure themselves out.
Even The Coach's approach to the Texas game had been different. He had asked himself the night before the game, "What do we have to do differently to compete with a team like this?"
That was the one thing he didn't ask himself against the Lady Techsters. His team had become a confident group and he was certain that he didn't need or want to make any changes. Let's go us versus them for all the marbles.
And their answer to the Louisiana Tech run showed how much they had gelled and improved since the Hawaii trip.
Deming came down after both teams, perhaps showing the tenseness that had suddenly closed in on the court, had missed jumpers on four straight possessions and hit an ice-water-in-the-veins 3-pointer from the left wing.
Smith-Taylor got the Lady Techsters to within two, but Tyler scored inside and Deming scored on a driving layup to get the lead back to six, 68-62, with just over four minutes to play.
After a Frierson turnover, the game's final media timeout was taken with 3:51 remaining. The score was 70-64 and Montana would have possession of the ball coming out of the timeout.
What would the next 3:51 bring?
Would the Lady Griz keep the lead into the final minute, hit all their free throws and allow the coach to bring out his seniors in the final moments to the recognition they deserved for one of the biggest wins in program history? Would Montana be facing Texas Tech, an earlier winner over Maine, on Monday night in what would be a scene similar to this one, if not even more intense?
Would it come down to one final possession and either Deming or Smith-Taylor, embroiled in their own mini-drama to see who was the best player on the floor, trump the other with the game winner?
Would Tech somehow come back and pull out a win, leaving the floor with victory in hand and the crowd with nothing but sick stomachs in its wake? Would this moment keep The Coach thinking "what if" for months to come, wishing his team had a three-minute stretch of the game back?
Watching the end of the game on tape in slow motion eight months later, it is so much different than watching the game live and in real time. It all seemed to happen within the blink of an eye back in March, but now it plays out in disappointing detail, frame by frame.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. They had played too well. They had battled and given it everything they had.
Did the first two possessions out of the timeout decide the game?
Julie Deming |
Deming got the ball on the left wing during Montana's possession and drove the lane. Her scoop shot was partially blocked by Frierson, but Deming ran the loose ball down, turned and saw she had no one on her and just an easy 17 footer from the right baseline.
That's a seven-out-of-ten shot for Deming any day of the week. Heck, maybe she hits all 10. But this time it was off the back of the rim.
A potential eight-point lead was left standing at six and the Lady Techsters had the ball.
At the other end, Frierson got the ball at the right mid-post and spin-dribbled into the lane. She was immediately double-teamed and passed the ball out to Smith-Taylor on the left wing, standing alone right in front of the Louisiana Tech bench. The 3-point shot was good from the moment it left her hand.
Seventy to 67.
After Deming came right back and hit a floater from 12 feet out to make it 72-67 with 2:42 to play, Budke called a 30-second timeout. He knew this would be a huge possession amidst a series of huge possessions.
The Techsters ran the play just like their coach had diagrammed it. Get the ball to the left wing, overload the Montana zone, then quickly reverse it, forcing one Montana defender to try to stop two Tech perimeter players on the opposite side.
The ball wound up in Barkus's hands and she had an open look at a 3-pointer from the right wing. The shot was off the mark, but in a good way: It banked in.
The score was 72-70 with just over two minutes to play.
After Edwards was hand-checked on the perimeter on Montana's possession, she hit one of two free throws.
Louisiana Tech pushed the ball up, partly hurrying out of semi-desperation, but more hustling because it was an offense clearly playing with confidence at this point.
Carter caught the entry pass at the left elbow. She turned and squared herself to the basket, took one big dribble into the lane and hit a floater that hit the rim three times before dropping.
The lead was one, 73-72, with 1:56 remaining.
The Lady Griz had handled the ball about as flawlessly as possible against Tech's pressure defense to this point. After turning the ball over three times in the early going, Montana had given up the ball just six more times in 36 minutes against a team that forced over 25 turnovers per game.
The Lady Griz would have three turnovers in the next 42 seconds.
The run-and-jump defense was first employed by North Carolina coach Dean Smith to force the ball out of a primary ball-handler's hands and to make a team pass the ball and play faster than it wants. All five defenders match up with an offensive player and when the spacing is right, an off-ball defender runs at the ball handler.
One option is to then double-team the ball-handler and zone up the other four offensive players with three defenders and try to get steals from the pass out of the double team.
The other option is to have the on-ball defender leave her player when the other defender arrives and pick up the now-unguarded player. The ball-handler's first instinct is that she has a player wide open since she's been double-teamed.
With one minute, 48 seconds to play, that's exactly what Lorenzen thought as she dribbled against pressure in the backcourt near the free throw line. Deming's defender had left her and Deming appeared to be wide open on the right sideline near halfcourt.
But Lorenzen's intended pass to Deming was deflected just enough by the defender rushing at her that Crain, switching from the point guard to Deming, grabbed the fluttering pass just before it got to Deming.
Crain took the ball and went toward the basket, seeing nothing in her eyes but a two-on-one break and a lead for her team, but she forced a cross-court pass before making a back-peddling Lorenzen commit to guarding the ball.
Unfortunately, Lorenzen could only deflect the pass and the loose ball bounced toward the sideline. She rushed toward it, grabbed the ball as she was jumping out of bounds and casually flipped it to an open Tyler, who was coming back to the defensive end after the original turnover.
In a perfect world, Lorenzen would have been able to gain possession for herself and calm the out-of-sync offense. In a moment like this, the team needed the ball in her capable hands.
Instead, Crain draped herself over Lorenzen once Tyler had the ball, not allowing Lorenzen to get the return pass.
Tyler, uncomfortable with her hands on the ball in the backcourt in that situation, dribbled twice to get across halfcourt and then picked up her dribble. With Lorenzen still unable to get the pass, Tyler looked for someone else.
Now that she had picked up her dribble, Tyler was being hounded by Smith-Carter, and every other defender was shutting down potential passing lanes.
Deming broke to the left wing, and Tyler tried to force the ball into her hands. Ninety-nine percent of the teams in the country allow that pass. Tech's Carter, 6-2 and as athletic a post player as has stepped foot on the Dahlberg Arena floor, got her hand in the passing lane at the last second. The ball bounced free, and Smith-Carter grabbed it and headed the other way in a three-on-one.
With only Lorenzen once again back on defense, Smith-Carter executed a textbook break, forcing Lorenzen to commit to the ball, then hitting Barkus in stride for an uncontested left-handed layup.
Louisiana Tech led for the first time since the early moments of the second half. With just 1:29 to play the score was 74-73.
The Coach called a timeout to settle his players and to diagram a play that would give the Lady Griz the lead back. He wanted to start out of a stack set. The options were for Juliann Keller, as automatic in the low post as anyone he had on the court, to be isolated down low and for Deming to come off a weakside screen at the high post.
Lorenzen dribble-entered the ball up the left side to initiate the play. Keller ended up one-on-one on the left block, but Lorenzen couldn't get her the ball. Instead Lorenzen hit Deming, who had curled around Tyler's screen at the free throw line and was now flashing open in the lane on her way to the basket.
Deming didn't even have to break stride and went up for the scoop layup that would put Montana back in front. Such a quick hitter would work most times against most teams, but Carter left Tyler and came across the lane just in time to get her hand on the shot as it left Deming's hand.
The ball rolled toward the Lady Griz bench.
Edwards, who was spotted up on the 3-point line, grabbed the ball right in front of the UM bench, took two left-handed dribbles toward the top of the key and picked the ball up. She was immediately swarmed by a Tech defender, and all her passing lanes were locked down by relentless opponents who were now sensing blood in the water.
The game clock showed just over a minute to play. Montana was down one, the crowd was anxious and loud and it was the NCAA tournament. And if that wasn't enough pressure, her teammates on the bench started the shot-clock countdown just feet behind her.
"NINE! EIGHT!! SEVEN!!!"
Deming, coming to the ball and to the aid of her teammate as she'd been taught the last five years, came up from the baseline and ran between Edwards and the Montana bench for the handoff.
This would be it, the defining moment. Deming would get possession of the ball with five seconds on the shot clock, with Smith-Taylor defending her. Both players had scored 27 points in the game and had gotten their teams to this spot, but this was the possession that would make a hero out of one of them.
Deming on offense, Smith-Taylor of defense. A storybook matchup at the biggest moment of the game.
But Smith-Taylor refused to give up her defensive position on Deming and stepped between the two Montana players before the handoff could even take place. She knocked the ball away and Frierson was there to grab the loose ball.
She immediately gave it back to Smith-Taylor, who went the distance for the uncontested layup.
A three-point lead had become a three-point deficit in 70 seconds.
When a team is in attacking mode like the Techsters were, turning that aggressiveness off after a stretch of turnovers and steals is not an easy thing to do. Which is why, when Deming inbounded the ball to Lorenzen after Smith-Taylor's layup, Crain went for another steal. She ran through Lorenzen in her attempt to get to the ball and was called for a foul.
Lorenzen hit two free throws to pull Montana within one, 76-75, with 57 seconds remaining.
Hundreds of plays had been made in the game to this point, and all would have an impact on the end result, but these were the moments that would be broadcast to the nation on highlight shows when the game was over and stick in the minds of the losing team for an entire summer.
With under a minute to play and a one-point game, this was a Big Possession, the kind that a crowd rises for and for which the players on both benches stand.
Louisiana Tech set up in a three-out, two-in offensive set, with Frierson and Carter working inside to get open for a high-percentage shot. The Montana interior defenders were denying any entry passes and they were getting help from the other zone defenders who were sinking in when they were not guarding the ball. The ball was passed around the perimeter until it got to Obaze on the left wing.
What happened next was exactly what The Coach would have asked for in this situation. A low-percentage shot early in the shot clock.
With 42 seconds to play, her team up by a single point and just 15 seconds elapsed from the shot clock, Obaze went up for the 3-point shot.
Keller, who had been helping out on the post players, left the lane and flew at Obaze, taking a perfect angle to challenge the shooter. She would not be in jeopardy of running into the shooter, yet Keller could distract Obaze and possibly get a piece of the ball as it left her hand.
Which she did.
The Coach's first reaction was, "She got it!" and he immediately looked at the path of the blocked shot to see which of his players would be able to grab it.
The crowd, already doing its best to distract the Tech players during their offensive set, erupted even more with the blocked shot. But its elation was short-lived.
Keller had also hit Obaze's hand and wrist on the shooter's follow-through.
The whistle blew. Obaze would go to the line for three free throws.
She hit the first, then the second, then the third to put the Techsters up four, 79-75, with 42 seconds to play.
When Louisiana Tech called a 30-second timeout after the third free throw, The Coach diagrammed a play that he knew would result in an open 3-point shot. He just needed a player to step up and hit it.
Lorenzen brought the ball up the right side, then cut across the top of the key, using a screen from Tyler. Edwards then came up and back-screened for Tyler, who popped out to the 3-point line, wide open. Lorenzen lobbed a pass back to Tyler, who let go with a shot that could have cut the lead back to one.
The ball hit high on the backboard, but this time the shooter did not get the bank shot. Each team had received one gift at the other end, one in the first half, one in the second, and fate wasn't in the mood to hand out any others.
The shot missed the rim entirely and the rebound went straight to Barkus, who was fouled by Keller with 25 seconds to play.
Barkus went one-for-two from the line. Deming took the ensuing inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup to make it 80-77 with 18 seconds to play.
The Coach called a timeout to set his defense.
There are few options at that point, and out of the timeout Montana employed the one that had the best chance of creating a turnover.
The Lady Griz left the inbounder uncovered, then face-guarded the four remaining players. With Deming now free from any individual defensive responsibility, she roamed just behind the two Tech players who were in a stack at the free throw line.
The other two Louisiana Tech players were set up at halfcourt, one near each sideline.
The goal was to force the inbounder to try to lob an overhead pass to one of her teammates after the face-guarding defenders took away the option of the direct pass. Deming would try to read the eyes of the inbounder and get to the lob pass before the intended offensive player could.
The odds weren't good, but it was a chance.
Obaze, one of the two players positioned at half court, flashed into the backcourt when the ball was handed to the inbounder, and she received the entry pass without challenge. She was fouled with 17.6 seconds to play.
This would be it. This was Montana's final chance. It needed two misses to have a realistic shot of tying the game.
With the opportunity to send her team to the second round of the tournament, Tech's senior guard hit the first free throw to make the score 81-77.
She missed the second shot, and with all five Louisiana Tech players defending the 3-point line, Montana was not able to get off a 3-point shot until four seconds remained.
Keller's shot was off and Frierson grabbed the final rebound, holding on until the horn sounded.
The Louisiana Tech radio broadcaster repeated one thing to his listeners over the final few seconds of play and immediately after the game had ended. The Lady Techsters had escaped to play another day.
If you were at the game, you probably missed it. When the horn sounded and you were looking silently at the people you were sitting next to, all of you stunned and disappointed and not able to say anything, in that moment it hit the coach like a tidal wave of emotion he'd rarely felt before.
By the time your focus returned to the court, The Coach was taking his long strides past the scoretable, head down, on his way to congratulate his fellow coach on the Louisiana Tech bench for a game that both coaches deserved all the kudos that would come their way in the Sunday paper write-ups. But by then it had already hit.
And this time it hit almost as hard as any other season-ending loss.
It was never the singular loss that hurt, but what the loss meant. Twenty-six seasons of coaching and 25 of those ended with a loss. Only in his third year - a 56-45 home-court victory over Washington in the Northwest Women's Basketball League postseason tournament - did he leave the court after the last game of the season with a victory.
But that's the nature of being part of a successful program. Every team that advances to postseason play - conference or national tournament - ends the season with a loss, except one: the national champion.
Midway through the second half, with an 11-point lead and an opponent that seemed to be on the verge of imploding, he allowed himself the briefest of lapses, taking his mind off the possession at hand and looking ahead.
"Jeez, we might win this thing by 20."
And as quick as the thought came to mind, Louisana Tech had cut the lead to one.
Even after Obaze put the Lady Techsters up by four with 40 seconds remaining, he still kept the faith. He knew his team could run a play that would get an open look at a 3-point shot and he had every reason to believe they'd make it. Then you call a timeout, put on some full-court pressure and maybe get a steal. If not a steal, you foul and at worst you have the ball and you are only down three. He'd seen it play out like that dozens of times from the bench.
Except the 3-point shot didn't drop. And Tech didn't miss the free throws he needed them to miss. And when Keller's 3-point shot bounced off the rim with under five seconds to play, the loss hit. And then an ever worse feeling set in.
Yet the basis for that feeling is the very reason he coaches. He recruits the players, they become his extended family for four or five years and he ends up loving them like he does his wife and two sons. He is certain he has the best job in the world.
But the feeling is also the reason coaching is such a difficult, kick-in-the-teeth profession. The end comes quick: The end of the final game … the end of the season … the end of another senior class, a group of loved players who will be leaving the nest. Sure, more will be entering the other end of the program in the fall, but that does not make it any easier, even after 26 years.
As a matter of fact, it is probably more difficult these days than it was early on. Coaching is different for him these days. The relationships mean so much more to him.
And while the horn was sounding and the Lady Techsters were jumping and celebrating and the Lady Griz were walking toward their bench, disconsolate, he thought of his two seniors, Brooklynn Lorenzen and Julie Deming.
They were everything he wants in seniors: great leaders, players willing to put the team above their own individual desires and two people who had one goal at the beginning of the year: Get this team to this point. And they had.
When pressed, the coach will admit that there are some seasons when practices become chores and games become just another step toward the end of the season, but this team had something special.
He was enjoying the team and how well they were doing. He just wanted another game. Just one more. Over the course of two months he had come to believe that this team could play with anybody in the country. They were not better than Louisiana Tech, but he now knew they were just as good. And that meant his team was just as good as nearly any team in the country.
He wanted them to go further, to live to see another day. Not for his benefit, but he wanted it for them. He'd already been there as a coach. He wanted one more game for them.
In the briefest of moments, that all hit him. He was disappointed, but so proud of the battle his team had put up. He had the immediate sense when the game ended that it was a great game, but he was sorry that his team, the one that had played so hard for him, hadn't won.
You're battling, battling and battling some more, tooth and nail, every possession a critical one. Then the game is over, the wind comes out of the sails and all that's left to do is try to keep your rushing emotions in check enough to tell the team in the locker room how proud you are and how much they mean to you and get through the entire thing without your voice cracking or looking at the seniors.
There wouldn't be film work the next day. There wouldn't be another practice. The players he'd spent nearly every day with over the past six months would now go about their lives just being regular students.
Practice would start again in the fall, but each team is different. And this one had taken hold of his heart.
The stat sheet confirmed what everyone had witnessed. Deming and Smith-Taylor had traded shot for shot, big basket for big basket. Fittingly, both ended up with 29 points. For both players it was a career high.
Louisiana Tech grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the first half. The Lady Griz limited that number to just four in the second half, 13 for the game. Montana ended up with 18 offensive rebounds.
The Lady Techsters entered the game forcing over 25 turnovers per game. Only five teams in 29 games prior to the Montana game had turned the ball over fewer than 20 times. Eight teams turned the ball over more than 30 times. Boise State turned the ball over 38 times in a single game against Tech, 33 in another meeting. The Lady Griz turned it over 12 times, matching Tulsa's total as a season low against the Techsters' pressure.
Fresh off earning WAC Player of the Year honors, Amisha Carter was held to seven points on two-of-eight shooting. Her teammate in the post, Trina Frierson had 12 points. The two were limited to 6-for-20 shooting.
Katie Edwards had 19 points, hitting five-of-eight from 3-point range, while playing 38 minutes. Brooklynn Lorenzen had 10 assists in 39 minutes.
The two seniors from Billings West High had been late arriving at the game. The weather on the trip from Billings to Missoula had made travel difficult, and when they showed up on the Montana campus, parking was nonexistent.
The mood in the car on the drive over, despite the slow going, had been festive and was dominated by talk of basketball. Two of the girls riding in the car had just recently led the Golden Bears to a perfect record and their second straight Montana state title.
Both had already signed National Letters of Intent - one to play at Montana, one to play at Arizona State - and going to the NCAA tournament game at Missoula was going to put a perfect cap on a perfect winter. The 5-10 shooting guard who had signed to play for the Lady Griz once she graduated in May had a more vested interest in the game, since these were players she would be playing with in another five months, but the 5-9 point guard, the Montana Gatorade Player of the Year, was just as excited.
The state of Montana is like that. The Lady Griz roster is always dominated by players from the state, and the 2003-04 roster was no different. There was a player from Libby in the northwest, a player from Dillon in the southwest, a player from Lewistown, right in the middle, and wasn't the coach from Outlook? That's so far up in the northeast corner of the state that if you take 10 steps to the north you have to trade in your stars and stripes for a maple leaf.
The 2003-04 Lady Griz had the state pretty much covered. They were Montana’s team.
Montana is the type of state that if you are driving in a different state and see a vehicle with Montana plates, you are halfway expecting to recognize the driver. Just the same, you cannot be a top girls' basketball player in the state and fly or play under the radar. These weren't unfamiliar names playing for the big state university that recruited mainly out-of-state players on a national scale. These were players the two stars from Billings West had either played against, seen play in person in high school or had read about for years.
And now Montana was already down 8-0 when the two players finally made it to their seats: Obstructed view spots in the first row of the upper north bleachers.
The chills hit them when they first walked in the door. They felt the same thing The Coach had talked about: The thickness of the air. It enveloped everything associated with the game.
As the game wore on, they realized that neither one of them had ever experienced anything like they were seeing.
The support from the crowd. The way the Lady Griz never got down, never doubted what they had come out to accomplish. The way the players were slapping hands, picking each other up and constantly supporting each other.
But that's why Montana had a chance against Louisiana Tech and would have had a chance against any team in the country.
That's why both of those players from Billings West ended up in Lady Griz jerseys this winter.
That's why The Coach loves his job as much as he does.
And that's why Montana will always have a chance.
Joel Carlson - UM Assistant Sports Information Director
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
| A letter from Athletic Director Don Read |
Montana A.D. Don Read |
Hi Griz Fans:
This late fall report features success for The University of Montana on the courts and athletic fields. Soccer, volleyball, cross country, football and basketball have been doing their thing and doing it well. All Griz can be proud of the athletes and coaches who have been competing this fall. Great moments have highlighted our team’s performance and some big wins give us reason to celebrate.
SOCCER
After a successful season, advanced to another Big Sky Tournament only to fall short for the Big Sky title in the final game, losing 1-0 to Weber State.
VOLLEYBALL
Huge wins against Northern Arizona, Idaho State, Weber State, Portland State and Gonzaga to end the season.
CROSS COUNTRY
Good show, strong finish second half of season by both men and women. Finished the season in the middle of the pack, which was good for this young team.
FOOTBALL
Big wins over Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Weber, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and Montana State. Winning Big Sky Championship and getting into the National playoffs for the 12th straight year.
GRIZ BASKETBALL
Good first scrimmage and good-looking effort in exhibition season. The team is playing hard and committed to improvement. Look for this program to surface big in the years to come.
LADY GRIZ BASKETBALL
Impressive looking team as always. Excellent season begins. Well disciplined and fun to watch.
Besides these accomplishments, our staff has been involved in various capacities this past month:
October 6-9 - Big Sky Conference Meeting – Salt Lake City – discussing conference expansion, NCAA matters and revenue-producing ideas.
October 15-18 - Trip to Eastern Montana fundraising, recruiting and public relations work highlighted Athletic Department staff trip.
October 27 - U of M Athletics staff and National Advisory Board for Grizzly Athletics visited the University of Oregon to compare operational procedures. Twenty-two NABGA members made this trip, and also had an opportunity for a wonderful tour of Nike headquarters in Beaverton, OR – hosted by Eric Sprunk , a UM grad and VP for Global Footwear/Nike
October 29 - National Advisory Board for Grizzly Athletics had a very productive meeting. Brad Kliber, Dave Enger , Bob Minto, Paul Williams , Walt Brett and Chuck Bultmann provided outstanding input and/or leadership
November 5 - Quarterly financial report – positive and on track
November 19 - Griz-Cat Auction went well and provided needed revenue
For this Athletic Director, October and November allowed 13 speaking
opportunities. Long-range planning, scheduling activities, a whole bunch of
meetings, “mucho” paperwork and some time for observation of U of M
sports programs. All in all, we are staying busy enjoying what we are doing and
doing everything possible to keep Athletics at our University ahead of the rest of
our peers in the Intercollegiate Athletic world.
We have good solid coaches in place in all our sports programs. They are
supplying excellent leadership and program direction. They definitely are team
players each and every one with respect to their overall contribution to our total
athletic activities.
Philosophically, our coaches are united with respect to policy and procedure.
Their mission, like mine, is clear; out work the opposition, do things right and
always with class. Our main goal is to help educate our wonderful and talented
student athletes.
It’s wonderful to be a Griz. Please always remember you are a big part of our
family and the help you provide me allows continued direction to our coaches
and athletes. Pride is always our theme and we have reason to be proud. We
pledge to continue to do the kinds of things you respect and give you reason to
care. GO GRIZ!
Have a late Happy Thanksgiving but an early Merry Christmas,
Don Read -
Athletic Director
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| Grizzly Scholarship Association announcements |
GSA and Grizzly Prowl apparel available
GSA and Grizzly Prowl apparel is available at the GSA offices in the Adams Event Center. Stop by to check out the selection and help support the Montana Grizzly Scholarship Association.
GSA Truck Raffle in progress
The second annual Grizzly Scholarship Association Truck Raffle is underway. Tickets for this year's drawing are $10 each, or 15 for $100. Proceeds go toward funding scholarships for UM student-athletes. The Ford F-150, custom-detailed truck will be drawn at this year's Griz-Cat men's basketball game in Missoula. Tickets are available at the GSA office in the Adams Center, as well as from members of the Missoula GSA Board of Directors and members of the State GSA Board of Directors. For more information, contact the GSA at 406.243.6485.
GSA sponsoring 'Griz Prowl' fundraiser
The Montana Grizzly Scholarship Association has launched the Grizzly Prowl, an effort that uses art to raise money for athletic scholarships for student-athletes.
The Grizzly Prowl is similar to other fund-raisers/art exhibits that have been started around the country. Chicago used cows in its exhibits, Seattle had pigs and Billings had horses. Missoula, of course, will use grizzlies.
Thirty-five life-size, fiberglass grizzly bear sculptures will arrive in Missoula by June to be decorated/painted by regional artists. Each bear will be six feet long, three feet high and 20 inches wide. Once the bears are given the artistic touch, they will find their homes in area businesses that have sponsored them. Then by early fall, people will be able to take the "Grizzly Prowl" and view the bears at various sponsor locations. In 2005, the bears will be available for purchase during an auction. For more information, visit the following web site: http://grizzlyprowl.com or call C.J. Peterson at 406.531.9444. Also, information is available at the Grizzly Scholarship Association at 406.243.6485.
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