Grizzlies vs. Bobcats, Take Two

The Missoula half of the rivalry has run its course for this season. Now, it's Bozeman's turn host the rivalry. For the Montana Grizzlies, it's a chance to sweep the Montana State Bobcats for the season and do so on the Bobcats' home floor. For the Lady Griz, on the other hand, it's a chance to get even after what MSU did in Missoula on Saturday afternoon.

Let's start with the Lady Griz. Last Saturday afternoon they stumbled out of the gate and trailed Montana State by as much as 17 points early in the second half, and the Bobcats' Rachel Semansky and Lyndi Seidensticker were scoring points and getting open looks at will. Then Montana began to rally and erased the Bobcats' big cushion, and tied up the game on two occasions late in the second half. But they never were able to take the lead in the second half, and MSU went ahead for good after Ausha Cole hit a free throw with 14 seconds left in regulation (which was then followed by Sarah Bailan making a pair of free throws of her own three seconds later) to preserve a 72-69 win. For the rematch in Bozeman, Montana will have to make do without standout sophomore center Katie Baker, who had to undergo emergency surgery early Monday morning which will keep her out of action for at least three weeks. Jessa Loman Linford and Ali Hurley will both have to pick up the slack in Baker's absence on Saturday afternoon, and possibly the next few games after that.

And then there's the Grizzlies. In front of a packed Dahlberg Arena, the Grizzlies surged to a 25-10 lead within the game's first 10 minutes and held a 40-29 lead at halftime, with Griz point guard Will Cherry scoring 15 points in the first half. The momentum continued into the second half, as Brian Qvale and Art Steward both scored double figures in the second half (Qvale scored 11, Steward scored 13), plus Qvale added 13 rebounds from the five he got in the first half. It remains to be seen during the rest of this week if the momentum is still going to be there when the teams meet again in Bozeman on Saturday night. It can be a sure thing the Bobcats will be ready to settle the score on their home floor after never having much of a chance in Missoula, but the Grizzlies will pretty much have the same factors ready to keep the Cats at bay again. It's always an exciting matchup whenever these two intrastate rivals meet, and should the Grizzlies win on Saturday, they'll have all the statewide bragging rights to themselves through at least next basketball season.

Photo Credit: AP