Pentzer shooting, team defense puts Weber State women’s basketball over Montana 66-56
Isaac Fisher, Weber State Athletics
Weber State guard Kori Pentzer (4) plays defense against Montana on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.Weber State women’s basketball finished a stunning pair of weekend home wins Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats used another stifling first-quarter effort, Kori Pentzer caught fire and WSU defeated seeming Big Sky favorites Montana convincingly, 66-56, at the Dee Events Center.
And that first quarter was all the difference: Weber State (7-6, 3-1 Big Sky) held Montana (9-4, 2-2) to a 1-of-10 shooting mark and forced a whopping nine turnovers to take a 16-4 lead. Pentzer scored inside and hit consecutive 3-pointers to put Weber up 8-4 early.
The Griz cut it to 46-40 at the end of three quarters, and that’s when Pentzer sparked WSU to a decisive run. After Emma Torbert opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, Pentzer scored on a drive and drained a 3 for a quick 8-0 run. WSU led 54-40 with 8:20 left and that was enough to claim the win.
Montana made one more push, cutting its deficit to eight points with five minutes left, when Torbert made a 3-pointer and scored inside on consecutive possessions. That put the game away at 61-46.
Pentzer led WSU with 20 points, shooting 7 of 10 overall and 4 of 5 from deep, adding three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Daryn Hickok had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Emma Torbert totaled 10 points and five rebounds, much of which came in the fourth quarter after she was called for four fouls in four minutes through the first three quarters. In her stead, Ava Williams totaled six points and seven rebounds, much of which came in the first half.
Jadyn Matthews had eight points and eight rebounds. WSU shot 44.2% overall and 42.1% (a season-best 8 of 19) from deep.
Abby Anderson led Montana with 14 points and Sophia Stiles grabbed 10 rebounds. Montana shot 32% from the field and 3 of 14 (21.4%) from 3.
WSU’s seven wins this season are the most in a season for fourth-year coach Velaida Harris, with 16 games still remaining. WSU went 6-25 in her first season.
Weber State finishes a six-game homestand by hosting Idaho State (7-6, 3-1) — a game between teams tied for third place — at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8.