Cal Poly Women's Basketball Hosts Montana Saturday in Mott

Saturday, December 16

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

6 P.M.

Montana

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Women's Basketball Hosts Montana Saturday in Mott

12/14/2023 12:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Coming off its best performance of the season last Saturday, Cal Poly women's basketball will look to continue that momentum this Saturday when hosting Montana. The Mustangs (3-5) will tip things off against the Grizzlies (3-3) at 6 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center. The game will air live on ESPN+ with Daniel Gillman providing the play-by-play. A link to that as well as live stats can be found on the schedule page. In last Saturday's home opener against the Bulldogs, Cal Poly put on an impressive offensive showing, scoring 84 points on almost 60-percent shooting. The 84 points are the most a Cal Poly team has scored since Jan. 1, 2021. The Mustangs beat Fresno State 84-59 while also committing just 10 turnovers, their fewest this season, and dishing out 21 assists. Five players scored in double figures, led by senior Natalia Ackerman's double-double of a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect 9-9 shooting. Redshirt freshman Sierra Lichtie had a career-high 17 points in addition to four assists. Junior Annika Shah finished with 16 points while junior Sidney Richards had 12 and graduate Ania McNicholas added 10 points. Ackerman is off to a great start this season. She is tied with Shah in leading the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game. She leads the Big West in field goal percentage at 56-percent and blocks at 1.8 per game. She also leads the team and is fifth in the Big West in rebounding at 7.5 per game. She's had six double digit scoring games and two double-doubles. Shah meanwhile is third in the Big West in three-point percentage at 42-percent while averaging two made threes per game. As a team, the Mustangs lead the Big West in blocks at 4.4 per game. They are also second in three-point percentage at 35-percent and third in rebounding at 36 per game. The Mustangs have been doing this all with a very new and young team. There are nine newcomers to the team with just four returners. The four returners are Shah, Ackerman, redshirt freshman Sierra Lichtie, and junior guard Sydney Bourland. The nine newcomers consist of four Division I transfers and five true freshmen. Folllowing Saturday's game, the Mustangs go back on the road next week for their final game of non-conference play when they take on Sacramento State Dec. 21 at 11 a.m. Cal Poly will begin Big West play Dec. 28 on the road against CSUN at 6 p.m. Scouting Montana: The Lady Griz had their three-game winning streak snapped with a 78-69 home loss to Colorado State last weekend in Missoula. Montana had previously defeated Grand Canyon, Dickinson State and Loyola Marymount. Montana has also lost to Washington State and Gonzaga this season. They lead the Big Sky in scoring so far at 75.7 points per game. They also lead the Big Sky and rank 47 nationally in threes made per game at 8.2. Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw ranks 13th in the nation in three-point percentage at 51.6 percent. She leads them in scoring at 14.7 points per game. There are a couple Cal Poly ties to this Montana team as two of their players, Macey and Haley Huard, are cousins of Cal Poly football sophomore quarterback Sam Huard. The Lady Griz are 3-0 all-time against Cal Poly, with all three meetings taking place in the 90's.