Dec. 3, 2006

MISSOULA, Mont. - Utah State's women's basketball team will put its 2-3 record on the line against Montana (5-1) in a match-up Monday night at UM's Dahlberg Arena at 7 p.m.

Utah State games can be heard on KLGN (1390 AM) in Logan with Evan Nyman calling the play-by-play and Clair Anderson providing color commentary for home games. They can also be heard on the web by going to the women's basketball home page at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the LISTEN link.

CLICK HERE for Montana's Live Stats Link

The Aggies are 2-3 overall, on an alternating loss-win pattern. Recently, Utah State beat St. Mary's, 67-61, on Monday at Moraga, Calif., before dropping a 56-49 contest to Pacific on Wednesday at Stockton, Calif.

Junior guard Taylor Richards (5-4, West Valley City, Utah), leads Utah State with 14.0 ppg, dishing out 3.2 apg and swiping 2.2 spg. Richards ranks fourth in the WAC in assists, fifth in assist-turnover ratio (0.8), tied for fifth in three-pointers made per game (1.4 pg), sixth in field goal percentage (.400) and ninth in scoring. In Wednesday's loss, Richards posted a team-high 19 points, tying a career-high with three three-pointers, and also pulled down a season-high six rebounds.

Brittany Phillips, (SR, F, 6-0, Orem, Utah), nets 13.2 ppg and pulls down a team-high 5.8 rpg. Phillips also is .500 from behind the three-point arc (4-8), but does not reach the required minimum to qualify for the league stats. Phillips does rank fifth in free throw pct. (.842, 16-19) and tied for 11th in scoring. In Monday's win over St. Mary's, Phillips tallied a season and game-high 15 points to go with a season-high eight rebounds. Wednesday against Pacific, Phillips had 13 points, hitting two three-pointers, along with five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Danyelle Snelgro (5-5, Altadena, Calif.) posts 8.8 ppg, along with dishing out 2.2 apg and swiping 2.2 spg, ranking fourth in the WAC in steals. Snelgro also is fourth in the league in free throw pct. (.875, 14-16).

Sophomore forward Lindsey Freeze (6-0, Provo, Utah) leads the WAC in free throw percentage (1.000, 10-10), adding 6.8 ppg).

The Grizzlies are 5-1 on the year, beating Portland, 74-54, Saturday night in Missoula, as Montana improved to 4-0 on its home floor, and the Grizzlies have an eight-game home winning streak dating back to last season. UM opened the season with three wins before losing at the Ohio State Tournament to host Ohio State, 83-43, last Sunday.

Montana has two players averaging in double-digits, led by 5-9 sophomore guard Mandy Morales with 16.7 ppg, including a game-high 29 points in Saturday's win over Portland and a game-high 27 points in Thursday's 70-59 win over Wyoming. Morales is also dishing out a team-high 5.0 assists per game. Last weekend at the Ohio State Tournament, Morales was named to the all-Tournament team after posting 8.5 points and 5.0 assists per contest.

Sonya Rogers, a 5-7 sophomore guard, posts 11.3 ppg, and is averaging a team-best .520 three-point percentage, hitting 2.2 per game. Six-foot-two sophomore center Tamara Guardipee posts a team-leading 6.3 rpg.

Montana is coached by coaching legend Robin Selvig (Montana, 1974) who has a 650-189 (.774) in his 29th season at the helm of his alma mater. Saturday's win was Selvig's 650th victory of his career, moving him to No. 10 on the winningest active NCAA Division I women's basketball coaching list.

Montana leads the all-time series, 4-2. USU beat Montana in the first meeting in the 1978-79 season-opener at Logan, before losing in 1979 at Missoula. The Aggies beat the Grizzlies in 1980 at home, but lost at Missoula in 1983 and 1985. USU and UM did not meet again until last season, as the women's basketball program was discontinued at Utah State from 1987-2003.

Monday will be the Aggies' first trip to Missoula since 1985, and Utah State is 0-2 on the Grizzlies' home court.

Utah State continues its five-game road swing by heading to Bozeman, Mont., on Wednesday to face Montana State at 7 p.m.

The Aggies wrap-up their five game swing against Wyoming on Dec. 17 at Laramie, Wyo., before returning home to host

Portland on Dec. 20 and Saint Louis on Dec. 22, with both contests tipping off at 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Ticket prices for the regular-season games are $5 for adults, $1 for youth. Contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office at (435)797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) for more information.