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MISSOULA- The Montana women's basketball team will face its first two-game Big Sky Conference road trip of the season this week when it plays Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. The Lady Griz will meet the Bears Thursday at 7 p.m. at Greeley, Colo., and the Hornets Saturday at 3 p.m. (MT) at Sacramento, Calif.

Montana has played three of its first four Big Sky Conference games at home, venturing only to Cheney, Wash., for a 53-46 victory over Eastern Washington.

Where things stand: Montana is 10-7 overall and sitting alone in second place in the Big Sky at 3-1, Northern Colorado is 11-7 and at 3-2 is one of four league teams with a pair of conference losses and Sacramento State is 7-11 overall and in seventh place in the Big Sky at 2-3.

Why it's important (Thursday): Montana and Northern Colorado are two teams with championship aspirations who have hopes of hosting the Big Sky Conference tournament in early March. The Lady Griz were picked second in the preseason coaches' poll (behind Portland State), the Bears third.

With Idaho State sitting without a loss at 5-0 in league play, a win would keep Montana within a game of first and hand one of its pursuers a third league loss. A UNC win would vault the Bears into second place by the end of league play Thursday night.

What to expect (Thursday): A game in which neither team reaches much beyond 60 points. Montana and Northern Colorado are two of the Big Sky's toughest defenses -- they along with Idaho State make up the Big 3 when it comes to that end of the court -- and they rank as the lowest-scoring teams in the league -- UNC at 60.8, UM at 61.1.

Because of their styles of play, the teams are now locked in an intense, at times contentious, budding rivalry. Northern Colorado picked up its first win over Montana since joining the Big Sky last January when the Bears won at Missoula, 65-56. The Lady Griz went to Greeley in February and came away with a 53-51 win.

That game was decided when UNC's Lauren Oosdyke was called for an offensive foul in the final seconds and the Bears down 52-51.

Montana won the rubber game, 55-46, in March in a Big Sky tournament semifinal game at Portland.

Numbers at odds: Northern Colorado is the Big Sky's top shooting team at 42.9 percent. The Bears are also the lowest-scoring team in the league because of a deliberate offense and a propensity for turning the ball over (18.1 times per game). UNC has taken 77 fewer shots than any other Big Sky school this season.

What to expect (Saturday): As is becoming the norm under third-year coach Jamie Craighead, the Hornets lead the Big Sky in scoring (72.6/g) but also have a sieve-like defense. Sac State is allowing 81.0 points per game, a number that only Arkansas-Pine Bluff (81.7/g) and CSU Bakersfield (82.7/g) can top.

The Hornets have taken nearly 400 more shots this season than Northern Colorado and will try to turn Saturday's game against Montana into a high-possession, up-tempo contest. Sac State is particularly effective at home, where it averages over 81 points per game.

Montana has lost just once to Sac State in 30 meetings, but that was two years ago when the Hornets were able to force their style of play, winning 100-83. It was the only time in program history the Lady Griz have allowed a team to hit the century mark.

In their next meeting last January, Montana held Sac State to 35 points in a 78-35 win and to 99 points total in their two season meetings.

The center point: Holding everything together for Sac State is junior forward Kylie Kuhns, who averages a double-double at 14.1 points and 11.9 rebounds and has double-doubles in 14 of the team's 18 games this season, which leads the NCAA (only nine players in the nation have even 10).

Kuhns leads the Big Sky in rebounding and ranks third nationally.

Why a sweep for Montana is going to be difficult to pull off: Northern Colorado (7-1) and Sacramento State (7-2) are 14-3 at home this season; Montana is 2-3 in road games and 2-5 in all games away from Missoula.

Denver, which won 66-57 at Greeley in late November, is the only team to win at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion this season. Sacramento State only has lost to Cal State Fullerton, 81-64, and Santa Clara, 96-76.

Both teams are perfect through a pair of home league games. UNC knocked off Northern Arizona, 77-71, and Sac State, 68-58. The Hornets took care of Northern Arizona, 91-85 in double overtime, and Weber State, 78-60.

Most recently: Montana won for the sixth time in seven games with a home sweep of Northern Arizona, 60-48, and Weber State, 77-70, last week. The Lady Griz' only loss since Dec. 11 was a 58-51 setback to Big Sky leader Idaho State on Jan. 7.

Northern Colorado is 6-2 since losing at Texas-El Paso on Dec. 13 and could/should be 7-1 over that stretch (see rankings below). The Bears went on the road last week and nearly pulled off a sweep of Portland State and Eastern Washington, losing by one at Portland, 62-61, and winning by three, 56-53, at Cheney.

Sacramento State has lost three straight, all road games, since opening 2-0 with home league wins over NAU and WSU. The Hornets lost at Cheney last Thursday, 78-62, and at Idaho State Saturday, 78-57.

Montana notes

Baker named Player of the Week: Junior Katie Baker was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Monday for the first time in her career after averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds in wins last week over Northern Arizona and Weber State. Baker has four double-doubles in six games since Christmas.

Cole becoming instant offense off the bench: Redshirt freshman Kellie Cole has averaged 14.0 points the last three games. In the season's first 14 games Cole averaged 4.9 points on 29.4 percent shooting. The last three games she has shot 45.5%. In Saturday's win over Weber State, Cole had 11 points, six assists and six steals.

"Kellie's versatility has been a surprise for us. She has been really good at the point as well as the two, and that's really helping this team," UM coach Robin Selvig said.

"As the season has gone on, she's gotten more confident and is shooting the ball better. And she's doing a nice job defensively for a freshman. She's been a big plus."

Balanced scoring something new: Montana's 77 points Saturday were the second-most scored this season, and the Lady Griz did it with balanced scoring. Six players finished in double digits, all five starters and Cole off the bench.

Montana had averaged 54 points per game for its first three league games, so time will tell if Saturday's output was an anomaly or the start of a trend.

"If we're going to be in the hunt for this thing, we have to become a better scoring team. That's why Saturday was very encouraging," Selvig said.

Miscellaneous: Junior Kenzie De Boer has scored in double digits in eight of the last 10 games to raise her season scoring average to 11.0 points, and she has 17 steals through the team's first four Big Sky games. ... Montana has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent its last 10 games. ... The Lady Griz' shooting percentage of .455 against Weber State Saturday was just the fifth time this season Montana has been .400 or higher.

More on Northern Colorado: The Bears returned three starters this season from last year's team that was within a win at Idaho State in their regular-season finale from winning the Big Sky outright and hosting the league tournament. ... Sophomore guard D'shara Strange leads the team in scoring (14.1/g), rebounding (8.4/g) and assists (2.7/g). ... Strange was the Big Sky's Outstanding Freshman last season. ... Oosdyke, a first team All-Big Sky selection last year, averages 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds and is shooting 48.1 percent. ... UNC went 17-14 last season, 12-4 in league, and closed on a three-game losing streak: 69-61 at Idaho State to finish the regular season, 55-46 to Montana at the Big Sky tournament semifinals and 83-74 at CSU Bakersfield in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational.

History: Montana is 10-1 against Northern Colorado since the Bears joined the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07. The Lady Griz have not lost at Greeley in five visits. Their last two wins at Butler-Hancock have been by a total of five points, 63-60 and 53-51.