By AUSTIN SCHEMPP/Photos By AUSTIN SMITH
Kellie Cole couldn’t miss.
The redshirt junior guard led all scorers with 22 points and had five assists as the Montana Lady Griz cruised to a 67-46 win over the Montana-Western Skylights in front of 2,360 fans in Dahlberg Arena Thursday.
Cole hit her first six of seven shots and had 14 points by halftime. Montana held the lead the entire game, but UM-Western kept the game close for much of the first half and tied the Lady Griz at 12 off a basket from forward Sammi Bignell with 11:34 left in the first half.
Junior guard, Kelli Cole. Photo by Austin Smith.
A 3-pointer from freshman forward Kaleigh Valley gave Montana a 20-17 lead with 6:26 to go in the first and sparked a 22-2 run for the Lady Griz. Montana headed into halftime leading 39-19.
In the second half, shooting for the Lady Griz cooled to 25 percent, but Montana extended its lead to as many as 25.
Bignell scored 16 points and added five rebounds for the Skylights. UM-Western hit just one of its 12 3-point attempts, shooting 30 percent from the field for the game.
No other players on either team scored in double figures.
Forwards Carly Selvig grabbed 11 rebounds and Jordan Sullivan added 10 to give Montana the edge in rebounding, 56-34.
Montana will start its regular season and nonconference schedule Nov. 10 when the Lady Griz host Montana-State Northern at 2 p.m.
BOX SCORE & GAME STATS (PDF) CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE