While the rest of Ogden was likely in class or at work, the Weber State Wildcats prepared for their Feb. 13 morning tipoff against the Montana Grizzlies. The early start time meant that no WSU students would be expected to attend, so it was instead for local elementary students that came to the game via field trip.
Despite the 11 a.m. tipoff, freshmen guard Ula Chamberlin was energized and scored the first nine points for the ‘Cats. The first quarter came to an end with Montana leading 18-13 as the Grizzlies offense came alive to end the quarter.
In the second quarter, Weber State went on a spurt in the first 5 minutes to force a Griz timeout. A Game that once was 18-13 quickly turned into a 22-20 lead for WSU as the team found openings on offense and stepped up on defense.
WSU shifted their focus on offense to junior forward Kayla Watkins who was finding her mismatch in the post. She added eight points to their first half efforts as the Wildcats trailed 35-28 at the break.
At halftime, the audience was treated to the Utah Jazz’s dunk team while the elementary schoolers screamed their hearts out.
Early in the second half, Montana began to take control of the game as they jumped out to a 43-32 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the third period. They ended the quarter on a 13-4 run to give them a 56-36 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Throughout the final quarter, the Grizzlies continued to pound WSU and what once was a close game turned into a blowout. When the final horn rang, the Grizzlies had secured a victory with the scoreboard reading 78-46 in favor of Montana.
The Wildcats were back in action a few days later on Feb. 15 as they faced off against the Montana State University Bobcats, the top team in the Big Sky.
Weber State kept things close in the opening quarter before MSU showed why they are the conference’s top team as they pounded the ‘Cats for the rest of the game, and Montana State walked away with a 102-67 win.
These two losses bring Weber State’s record to 3-21 and 1-14 in conference play.
