FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu March 10, 2016 Preview: MSUB women’s basketball to face host Azusa Pacific in NCAA tournament MSUB omen’s Basketball on Facebook | MSUB Women’s Basketball on ISSUU NCAA Bracket | West Region Tournament
Senior Monica Grimsrud will help lead the MSUB women’s basketball team during the NCAA national tournament.
The MSU Billings women’s basketball team is in California for the NCAA Division II national tournament and will face host Azusa Pacific in the opening round. BILLINGS, Mont. – Road warriors. The 2015-16 MSUB women’s basketball team has come a long way this season. Picked to finish in a tie for seventh in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll, the Yellowjackets finished the regular season third. Fighting through the conference tournament, MSU Billings (21-10) had to win back-to-back games just to play for the championship last Saturday. In the title contest, the ‘Jackets fell to Alaska Anchorage for the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division II tournament, but the season isn’t over yet.
Sliding into the final spot awarded to the west region, MSUB earned the eighth seed and will face host and No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific on Friday, Mar. 11, at 8:30 p.m. Mountain time during the opening round of the NCAA Division II national tournament. Not bad for a team picked to finish out of the top-6 in the conference much less the runner-up at the GNAC tournament. Not too shabby for a program that has spent five of the last six weeks living out of suitcases and playing in hostile gymnasiums hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles away from home. With over 10,000 miles travelled lately, yes that is right, in just over a month the Montana State University Billings women’s basketball team and its staff has logged more miles than it takes to traverse the United States from east coast to west‌five times over. The Yellowjackets have trekked back and forth from Billings to cities and airports all over the western half of the United States, and have now arrived at the national tournament. MSUB is one of 64 teams out of 307 that has earned the right to compete in the national dance, and this Friday will open the tournament with a team that burst through the rankings to claim the No. 1 seed and hosting duties for the west region. HOW THE YELLOWJACKETS GOT HERE: MSU Billings earned the final at-large bid into the west region tournament during the NCAA selection show last Sunday night. The Yellowjackets were ranked No. 8 heading into the final week of rankings and retained their position with two wins at the conference tournament Offensively, junior Alisha Breen has led the Yellowjackets all season. The 5-foot-10 junior is averaging 17.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Last week, the native of Choteau, Mont., poured in 64 points and 28 rebounds at the conference tournament along with 13-15 shooting from the free-throw line. Breen was a first team all-conference selection for the Yellowjackets and was the only active member of the 2013-14 team that played in all three west region games two years ago at Cal Poly Pomona. Senior Janiel Olson is averaging 8.4 rebounds along with 7.6 points per game. The Billings West High School graduate tied the GNAC tournament record in the first round game against Northwest Nazarene with 17 rebounds. Olson recorded 30 rebounds and 28 points in the conference tournament and was also clutch at the free-throw line shooting 13-15. Olson is the MSUB leader in total rebounds and at 991 in her career, is nine shy of sending that number into quadruple digits. Monica Grimsrud has become an impressive force for the Yellowjackets this season. The senior has started every game for MSUB this year and leads the team in 3-point baskets at 1.9 per game. The native of Montana City, Mont., is averaging 10.1 points per game with a team-leading 58 3-pointers on the season. Sophomore Marissa Van Atta has turned in some big numbers for the Yellowjackets this year. Stepping-up into a starting role, Van Atta is averaging 7.3 points and 1.7 steals per game. The 5-foot-11 guard began the season coming off the bench as a defensive spark, but while her defense continues to play an important role for the team, the Billings Senior High School graduate has become an offensive force as well. Last week, Van Atta scored 35 points and secured 19 rebounds for MSUB. Rylee Kane has started at point guard in all 30 games for the Yellowjackets this season and has been the floor general for MSUB for over 30 minutes per game. The 5-foot-6 native of Red Lodge, Mont., is averaging 4.5 assists, 7.2 points, and
1.4 steals per game. At the conference tournament, Kane had nine steals and 12 assists along with 23 points and nine rebounds. Vanessa Stavish had four 3-pointers for 16 points adding in six rebounds at the GNAC tournament. The sophomore is shooting 37.0 percent from the 3-point arc and played in 40 minutes for MSUB last week. Tiana Hanson came in off the bench for MSUB contributing some solid minutes for the ‘Jackets. She was 5-6 from the free-throw line and leads the team on the year at 86.6 percent (71-82). Coming in for double-digit minutes last week in Lacey, Lexi Prevost had an assist and a steal for the ‘Jackets. Prevost has found her footing as a defensive talent and has been putting up more points on offense for MSUB. Heading into the tournament, MSU Billings is shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from the 3-point arc. The team is shooting 71.3 percent from the free-throw line and is averaging 35.4 rebounds per game. WHO THEY ARE FACING: Azusa Pacific is on a 14-game win streak and was ranked No. 13 in the last NCAA national poll. The Cougars split the PacWest regular season title with No. 5 Cal Baptist as both teams finished with a 19-1 conference record. APU has not dropped a game since Jan. 16 against Cal Baptist, losing the game by 1-point, 63-62, at CBU. APU is entering the tournament with a 27-3 overall record. Since the loss in January, the No. 13 Cougars have rolled through the rest of the season, avenging their defeat to the Lancers in the PacWest title game with a 17-point, 75-58, win over Cal Baptist for the PacWest tournament title. Azusa Pacific was ranked No. 2 heading into the last NCAA west region poll, but moved up a spot in the final week to earn the No. 1 seed and hosting duties for the west region tournament. Azusa Pacific is led by senior forward Kelly Hardeman. Hardeman was named the PacWest Player of the Year after living up to her title as the Preseason Player of the Year. She ranked sixth in the conference in scoring (17.6 ppg), third in rebounding (9.3 rpg), eighth in field goal percentage (.443), third in three-pointers (76), fifth in blocks (1.5 bpg) and 10th in steals (1.9 rpg). She became a four-time All-PacWest selection, making the first team for the third-consecutive season. Behind Hardeman is Cydnie Jones (12.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 4 apg), Miriam Zabinsky (11.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Allison Greene (10.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.2 apg). Greene was fifth in the PacWest in assists per game and first in assist/turnover ratio at 2.7 with Jones right behind her. From the free-throw line, Greene is shooting a team-leading 81.7 percent (58-71) with Zabinsky shooting 75.0 percent (63-84). In the PacWest semifinal game against Dominican, the Penguins led by as many as nine in the second quarter and held a six-point, 40-34, edge at half-time before Azusa Pacific battled back. APU bought the lead back in the third quarter on a jumper from Zabinsky and never looked back. APU’s defense held Dominican to 24.0 percent shooting while making 15 steals against the Penguins. In the title game against Cal Baptist, APU used a strong third quarter to clamp down on the Lancers. Defense also played a big role as the Cougars held CBU to season lows in points and field goals made. In the third quarter, APU went ahead by double-digits, eventually pulling away by 16 points at the end of the frame. Azusa Pacific cruised through the final quarter for the team’s first PacWest tournament title. Jones was named the Tournament MVP as the team earned its first automatic NCAA tournament appearance.
Coming into the NCAA tournament, No. 13 Azusa Pacific is shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from the 3-point arc. The Cougars are also shooting 69.0 percent from the free-throw line and collecting 42.6 rebounds per game. YELLOWJACKETS VS. COUGARS MSUB and Azusa Pacific have never met in competition. APU made the move from the NAIA to NCAA Division II full membership just two years ago in 2014. Azusa Pacific was accepted into transition in 2011, was accepted for provisional membership in 2013 and has been eligible for postseason competition since 2014. Azusa Pacific University is located in the San Gabriel Valley community of Azusa, 26 miles northeast of Los Angeles. From the GNAC, Alaska Anchorage earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 Cal State Dominguez Hills. Cal Baptist was selected the No. 3 seed and is set to face fellow PacWest opponent No. 7 Academy of Art. UC San Diego was named the fourth seed and will square-off against No. 5 Cal State East Bay. In twelve seasons under Coach Woodin, the Yellowjackets have advanced to the NCAA tournament four times. The last time MSUB qualified was in 2013-14. The Yellowjackets entered the 2013-14 NCAA tournament as the second seed, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and west region championship game against host Cal Poly Pomona. The NCAA tournament runs Mar. 11, 12 & 14. 2016 NCAA Div. II Women's Basketball West Region Championships Felix Event Center – Azusa, CA Friday, Mar. 11 - Quarterfinals 1 PM – #6 Academy of Art (24-8) vs #3 Cal Baptist (28-2) 3:30 pm - #7 Cal State Dominguez Hills (22-9) vs. #2 Alaska Anchorage (33-2) 6:00 pm – #5 Cal State East Bay (27-4) vs #4 UC San Diego (24-4) 8:30 pm – #8 MSU Billings (21-10) vs #1 Azusa Pacific (27-3) Saturday, March 12 – Semifinals 6 pm - AAU/CBU vs CSUDH/UAA winner 8:30 pm – CSUEB/UCSD winner vs MSUB/APU winner Monday, March 14 – Championship 8 pm - Semifinal winners *All times Mountain time HOW TO TUNE-IN All of the games at the tournament will have a live video stream available on the Azusa Pacific Stretch Internet Portal here. Also available will be live stats which will be provided on the NCAA website here. For more information on the tournament itself, including tickets and directions please visit the tournament website here --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--