MISSOULA — Izabella Zingaro scored 21 points and Tyler McCliment-Call added 19 and the Montana Lady Griz topped Northern Colorado 70-64 on Thursday evening in front of 2,327 fans at Dahlberg Arena.
It's the third win in a row for the Lady Griz who improve to 10-12 overall and 6-5 in Big Sky Conference play, while UNC fell to 10-12 and 3-8. UM split the season series with UNC with the win as well.
Avery Waddington notched a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win as well. In a slug-out matchup, Montana led 28-26 at halftime before three straight 3-pointers from McCliment-Call, Zingaro and Waddington made it 37-28 with 6:57 left in the third quarter as UM built some breathing room.
McCliment-Call, who made her third straight start in place of Aby Shubert who did not play, scored 14 second-half points while Zingaro scored 12 of her points in the second half. Zingaro came off the bench in the first half but started in the second after Dani Bartsch exited with an undisclosed injury in the first quarter and did not return.
The Lady Griz shot 50% from the field and were 9 for 16 from deep. They held UNC to 46.2% shooting and the Bears were just 6 for 14 from 3-point range. UM out-rebounded UNC 32 to 26 and dished out 19 assists with Mack Konig and Waddington each dishing five assists.
Montana is back at home on Saturday as they host Northern Arizona at 2 p.m.
