FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu October 29, 2016 Women’s basketball heads to Rocky for exhibition game MSUB Women’s Basketball on Facebook | MSUB Women’s Basketball on ISSUU | 2016-17 MSUB Roster
Senior Tiana Hanson and MSUB play an exhibition game at Rocky Mountain College on Monday.
The Yellowjacket women’s basketball team is heading to Rocky Mountain College for a Monday game on Oct. 31, at the Fortin Center. BILLINGS, Mont. – The MSUB women’s basketball team is playing a preseason exhibition game at Rocky Mountain College on Monday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m. at the Fortin Center. With just one game under each of their belts (both exhibition contests), the match-up on Halloween night between MSU Billings and Rocky Mountain College will feature two relatively unknown teams. Rocky Mountain College has seven upper classmen and five underclassmen on its 2016-17 roster. The Battlin’ Bears played a game against Mount Royal on Oct. 22, winning at home 85-50. In the uneven contest, Mikayla Jones scored 17 points, made 11 assists, and collected seven rebounds and seven steals. Keisha Engelhard scored 16 points, Jayde LeFevre 13 points and Eboney Jackson 10 points.
Last season, Rocky Mountain College finished with a 15-16 overall record and 7-11 in the Frontier Conference, to finish fifth of seven teams. Montana State University Billings was picked to finish fourth in the 2016-17 Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll. Senior Alisha Breen was named the preseason GNAC Player of the Year and was a preseason Super 16 All-American honoree by the DII Bulletin. Breen led the GNAC last season, scoring 17.4 points a game and contributed 5.4 rebounds per game. Senior Tiana Hanson returns to the team for her second season as a Yellowjacket. Hanson finished last season averaging 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. The native of Shepherd, Mont., was second in the GNAC in free throw percentage at 86.6 percent. The 2016-17 MSUB team has five juniors on the roster. From Red Lodge, Mont., Rylee Kane has started every game since her freshman year at point guard for the ‘Jackets. Last year, Kane averaged 7.4 points per game and was No. 4 in the GNAC in assists per game with 4.5. Marissa Van Atta averaged 7.2 points per game and 3.9 rebounds. She led the team in steals and shot 41.2 percent from the field. Last season, MSUB finished 21-11 overall and 15-5 in the GNAC. The Yellowjackets advanced to the NCAA Division II national tournament, playing host and No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific in the west region tournament. This year, the Yellowjackets competed against an alumni team on Oct. 21, to open their season. The game at Rocky on Monday will be a non-counter for the ‘Jackets. Last season, MSUB lost an exhibition game to the Battlin’ Bears, 73-69, at the Fortin Center, but a week later at home won the second exhibition game 69-58. “I am looking forward to seeing how our team plays in the preseason exhibition game at Rocky,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “It will good for our team to play in a difficult environment against a good team. It will also help us prepare for our regular season which begins on Nov. 11th.” Live video and live stats will not be available for Monday’s game at Rocky. MSUB has an exhibition game at home in Alterowitz on Friday, Nov. 4, against Montana Tech at 5:30 p.m. The Yellowjackets open their regular season in California against UC San Diego on Nov., 11. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--