Big Sky player of the week

Johanna Closson, a graduate of Whitefish High School and a senior forward for the University of Montana's Lady Griz basketball team, was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. The Player of the Week honor is the first of Closson's career. On Dec. 28, she scored a season-best 20 points against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. She stepped up after junior forward Britney Lohman was benched after being charged with a DUI earlier in the week. Closson scored 17 points against Mississippi on Dec. 30. She averaged 17.0 points per game on 60.9 percent shooting and was named the Lady Griz Holiday Classic tournament's MVP. Closson is third on the team in both scoring (9.8 ppg) and rebounding (5.2 rpg) and leads Montana with 23 steals. She is shooting 45.1 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from 3-point range and 81.3 percent from the free throw line.