The Grizzlies claw down ‘Cats in fourteenth straight loss

The Wildcats put up a good fight against the Montana Grizzlies on Feb. 11 but took home another loss with a final score of 61–46.

Daryn Hickok was the leading scorer in the Feb. 11 game against the Montana Grizzlies. — Daryn Hickok, 21, was the leading scorer in the Feb. 11 game against the Montana Grizzlies. Photo credit: WSU Athletics

The Weber State women’s basketball team’s first win of the season continues to elude them with the team falling to 0–14 overall and 0–11 in the Big Sky with the season winding down.

Daryn Hickok and Vicky Parra brought home the most points for the Wildcats with 11 and eight points, respectively.

Vicky Parra, 20, takes a shot during the Feb. 11 game against the Montana Grizzlies.

Jadyn Matthews, Emma Torbert and Aloma Solovi finished the game with seven points each.

Kori Pentzer energized the Wildcats in the first quarter with a monster block and running in transition which lead to an easy layup, and her lone basket of the game gave the Wildcats a 6–4 lead in the first quarter.

Weber State clawed the lead away from the Grizzlies after Hickok flew through the air to steal a pass and then dished the pass ahead to Matthews for the go ahead layup, taking the score to 12–11 in the Wildcats favor early in the second quarter.

But after a flurry of baskets from Montana, the Grizzlies took a 24–23 lead into the locker room at the half.

“The first half was about defense because because both teams were only shooting 29 percent, so it wasn’t a good shooting half, it was about defensive stops,” Wildcats Head Coach Velaida Harris said.

The Wildcats finished the half making 10 of 34 total shots made while Montana made 9 of 31.

The Grizzlies then went on a tear to start the second half going on an 11–0 run.

The third quarter ended with the Wildcats trailing 40–30.

“In the third quarter, I told the team, if we’re not shooting well, we need to be defending, if we’re not defending well we’ve got to be scoring,” Coach Harris said. “We didn’t do either in the third quarter and that was the difference in the game.”

Charlotte Hegvold faced off against the Grizzlies on Feb. 11. — Charlotte Hegvold, 1, faced off against the Grizzlies on Feb. 11.

Not a 3-pointer was made for the Wildcats who shot 0 of 13 from beyond the arc, and the team only shot 12 of 20 from the foul line.

“We can’t leave eight points on the free throw line. We’ve just got to shoot the ball better,” Coach Harris said.

But, determination and fight has not left the team even though the season has been tough on them.

“What I appreciate about these young women is they come out competitive and we’ve just got to understand that’s got to be for an entire game,” Coach Harris said.

The Wildcats again face Montana at the Dee Events Center on Feb. 13, before heading south for the desert to face Northern Arizona on Feb. 18 and 20.