Missoula, Montana - The Thunderbird women's' basketball team took on the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon on the road, falling in their second straight Big Sky Conference matchup in a close contest 66–60.

Despite not picking up the win, SUU head coach Chris Boettcher said he was happy with the way his team competed.

“They came out with a different mindset and were definitely more confident and aggressive in executing the offensive gameplan,” he said.

Early in the first quarter the Grizzlies jumped out on a 7–0 run and they were able to keep control of the first 10 minute period, holding a 21–12 advantage. Montana upped their lead to double digits in the second quarter but the T-Birds stayed within striking distance winning the quarter 17–15, but Montana led going into the halftime break 36–29.

The T-Birds went on a run coming out of the halftime break and cut the Grizzlie lead to three and stayed close throughout and only trailed 50–46 after three quarters.

Montana came out in the fourth quarter firing, and their lead got as big as 16. The Thunderbirds responded with a 9–0 run, including a pair of threes from Jamie Smith, but it wasn't enough as the Grizzlies were able to pull away with a 66–60 victory.

T-Bird forward Jessica Richardson led the way for the T-Birds once again, ending up with a double-double scoring 18 points and pulling in 12 rebounds. Smith dropped in 11 points for the Thunderbirds, along with a game high seven assists.

Boettcher said  Smith is getting to a point where she's very comfortable running the offense for the Thunderbirds.

“She's making really good reads and understanding matchups more,” Boettcher said about the way smith has been playing. “That was the position we were most worried about at the beginning of the season, was having a solid point guard, and she's really stepped up and is starting to become comfortable in that position.”

Ashleigh Munns and Breanu Reid both finished with 10 points for the Thunderbirds.

Kayleigh Valley led the way for Montana scoring a game high 27 points and pulling in a game high 13 rebounds. Valley did a lot of damage at the free-throw line, hitting 10-of-14 from the charity stripe.

“She is a tough matchup because she's so physical,” Boettcher said about Valley. “She can play inside and outside and does such a good job of creating shots, getting to the free throw line and that was the biggest difference.”