Women’s basketball: headed for a first-place showdown at Alterowitz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu January 26, 2016 Women’s basketball: headed for a first-place showdown at Alterowitz MSUB Women’s Basketball on Facebook MSUB Women’s Basketball on ISSUU Preview Interviews with junior Alisha Breen, senior Janiel Olson, and head coach Kevin Woodin GNAC Standings GNAC Release

Senior Janiel Olson is second in the GNAC in rebounds per game at 8.6.

If all goes well, this Saturday the MSUB women’s basketball team is heading for a showdown at home against the No. 2 team in the nation for sole possession of first-place in the conference.

BILLINGS, Mont. – If all goes well this week, on Saturday the MSUB women’s basketball team is headed for a showdown in Alterowitz against No. 2 Alaska Anchorage for sole possession of first-place in the Great Northwest Athletic

Conference. First though, the Yellowjackets will have to get past an Alaska team that is on a 2-game hot streak, winning its last 4-6, including a big conference victory last weekend against Seattle Pacific.

Montana State University Billings (13-5, 9-1 GNAC) has won seven straight GNAC games and is sitting on a combined 9-1 record for a tie of first-place in the conference standings. The Yellowjackets share their record with the No. 2 Seawolves.

MSUB lost its first conference contest against UAA in Anchorage. The Seawolves lost a game to Western Washington on the road.

Last week, MSUB took care of one of the teams who were in a 3-way tie at the top of the standings and now just two teams remain in first-place. After half of the conference games this season, both UAA and MSUB have lost just one contest, and this week the potential for redemption after being defeated at Alaska Anchorage is an exciting challenge for the Yellowjackets.

Last week at home, MSU Billings defeated Western Washington, 53-47, and then turned around two days later and finished Simon Fraser, 67-61. Both games were very different, but a theme that remained important in the two wins was defense.

After being down by nine points in both games last week, the Yellowjacket defense held opponents at bay until the offense could rally. MSU Billings leads the league in conference games as a scoring defense averaging 55.0 points and leads the GNAC in 3-point defense (29.1 percent). The ‘Jackets are second against conference opponents in turnover margin (+2.7) and third in steals (9.3 pg).

For the first time this season, the Yellowjackets entered the D2SIDA west region poll. With their overall record, and the win against Western Washington, MSUB enters the season ninth in the rankings. From the GNAC, only Alaska Anchorage at No. 1 is above the ‘Jackets.

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT: For the fourth straight game, MSUB opened with a cold offensive start. Both Western Washington and Simon Fraser built up leads in the first quarter before the Yellowjackets pushed back. Junior Alisha Breen began both scoring drives and the ‘Jackets had help from several areas.

DEFENSE CREATES SCORING OPPORTUNITIES: In the game challenging Western Washington, MSUB used nine steals and created 18 turnovers from the Vikings, turning those into 17 points, holding WWU to a season-low 47 points. Against Simon Fraser, the ‘Jackets converted 11 turnovers into 13 total points.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: The conference recognized the efforts of the Yellowjacket team by naming them the Red Lion GNAC Team of the Week. This is the first honor for the women’s basketball team since the 2013-14 season, and the third honor for MSUB this year, with both the MSUB men’s and women’s soccer teams receiving the honor in the fall.

MSUB earned GNAC Team of the Week honors after wins over WWU and SFU.

REIGNING PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After scoring 43 points and adding nine rebounds and four assists, Breen was honored with her second career GNAC Player of the Week nod. The forward from Choteau, Mont., was instrumental in leading MSUB in both games. Breen is shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from the 3-point arc.

YELLOWJACKET FREE-THROW SANDWICH: Part of Breen’s 43 points last week was an 11-12 performance from the freethrow line. Adding to her career total, Breen has registered 309 free-throws for MSUB which sandwiches her in-between No. 3 Shelley Altrogge (310, 1990-91) and No. 5 Kayla Ryan (308, 2007-11).

JUST A WEEKEND’S AVERAGE AWAY: Breen has also registered 313 points this season and has 966 total for her career.

The junior needs 34 more points to reach 1,000 – which is just a little less than two of her average games right now of 17.4 points per game.

REBOUNDING ROLE: Senior Janiel Olson recorded her fifth double-digit rebounding performance this season against Simon Fraser, finishing with 13. The Billings West High School graduate has moved into second in the conference with an 8.6 rebounding average per game as well as averaging close to two steals per game at 1.6. Olson has 884 career rebounds for MSUB which is No. 2 all-time. Robyn Milne (2002-05) totaled 957 in her career as a Yellowjacket. With 10 guaranteed games left in the season for MSUB, if Olson stays at her average, the senior could move into the No. 1 spot.

INTO DOUBLE-DIGITS: Senior Monica Grimsrud has kicked it up a notch. With 30 points last week, the native of Montana City, Mont., has pumped her per game average into double-digit range at 10.2. She scored seven 3-pointers as well and now has 35 this year. Grimsrud is shooting 36.5 percent from 3-point territory and is part of a trio of MSUB players in the top-10 in outside shooting percentage in the GNAC. 3-3: Junior Tiana Hanson was 3-3 from the free-throw line for MSUB last week and stays atop the GNAC in free-throw percentage as she is now 55-61 on the season for 90.2 percent. The transfer from Sheridan College also provided seven points, six rebounds, and one block in 25 minutes for the ‘Jackets.

OPEN LOOKS: Sophomore point guard Rylee Kane has contributed six assists in each of the past three games. She is averaging 7.9 points for the team and has been relentless at creating space and finding an open shooter on the. Kane has also not been afraid to take an outside shot, she had two 3-pointers last week – a quarter of her season’s total.

YELLOWJACKETS TO BE FEATURED ON ROOT SPORTS FEB. 11: The MSUB women's basketball team will be featured during the GNAC's ROOT SPORTS Game of the Week in February, when the Yellowjacket welcome Western Oregon to Alterowitz Gymnasium. Tipoff during the basketball program's annual Pink Zone game is set for 7:00 p.m. Mountain time in a game televised on the ROOT SPORTS network throughout the western United States.

Thursday, January, 28 – Alaska Nanooks – 700 p.m.

Sophomore Rylee Kane

2015-16 Record: 9-11, 4-6 GNAC Head Coach: Codi Bench, 4th season Alaska enters the week on a 2-game win streak. The Nanooks snapped a 27-game losing skid to Seattle Pacific last Saturday at home with a 58-56 win over the Falcons. Alaska will face a much stronger test on Tuesday against Alaska Anchorage, but the Nanooks have a 7-3 record at home on the Alaska Airlines Court and with the exception of the Yellowjackets, have successfully defended their court against GNAC opponents this season.

Three of the Alaska starters had double-digit games against Seattle Pacific, and four finished with double-figures in the win against Saint Martin’s.

Junior Jordan Wilson is averaging 17.3 points per game for third-best in the conference and she is seventh in rebounds with 6.6 per game. Just below her, Kaillee Skjold is coming away with 6.5 rebounds per game. Skjold kicked in 32 points last week and 17 rebounds. She is shooting 42.1 percent from the field and is a solid 81.4 percent from the free-throw line. Wilson is shooting an even better 52.0 percent from the field and is just behind at the foul-line at 77.8 percent.

Jaylee Mays comes into the week fourth in the conference in steals with 2.3 per game and leads the team in assists with 2.5. She is in the top-10 in several conference categories, including third in 3-point baskets with 2.1 per contest.

Also contributing big games of late, Arinesha Smith (8.2 ppg) and Autumn Childers (4.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) have rounded out the offensive threats.

Alaska is shooting 39.1 percent from the field and averaging 69.9 points per game. The Nooks are second in the conference with 10.5 steals per game. That in turn gives Alaska the second-highest turnover margin in the GNAC at +2.60.

Thursday night’s game is Highland Elementary School Night where all students, staff, and their families will receive free admission with a Highland Elementary ID card.

Last Time Out: The Yellowjackets were ahead 14-5 after the first quarter when the Nanooks rallied in the middle two quarters to take the lead by six. MSUB regained the advantage in the fourth frame and strung together a 10-5 swing to keep Alaska at bay. Breen had a game-high 20 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Marissa Van Atta produced a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Series: (49-12, H 25-2) MSUB had won 16 straight games before Alaska won the conference game at Fairbanks last season. The Yellowjackets have not lost a home game against the Nanooks since an 83-79 decision in 1992.

Saturday, January 30 – University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves – 7:00 p.m.

2015-16 Record: 22-1, 9-1 GNAC Head Coach: Ryan McCarthy, 4th season Alaska Anchorage enters the week on a 10-game win streak, not dropping a contest this year since a 71-62 set-back at Western Washington on Dec. 5. The Seawolves were ranked No. 1 last week, but have dropped to No. 2 in the WBCA poll this week behind Lubbock Christian.

Alaska Anchorage leads the GNAC in most of the major statistical categories, including scoring (84.1 ppg), rebounding margin (+10.3), and steals (14.9 pg).

GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Megan Mullings leads the conference in field goal percentage at 61.8 percent and is fourth in scoring with 16.1 points per game.

Eleven of the 12 members of the roster are averaging over 10 minutes per game, and all but one has started a contest this year for the Seawolves as Alaska Anchorage has a deep and talented squad with multiple options.

Junior point guard Kiki Robertson is eighth in the nation in steals (54), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.97), and fifth in total assists (116).

Senior Jenna Buchanan is second in the nation in 3-point baskets made (71) and is 12th in 3-point field goal percentage (45.8). Teammate Jessica Madison is not far behind, averaging 2.0 3-point buckets per game on 34.6 percent shooting.

In UAA’s last game, junior Alysha Devine finished with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds. Senior transfer Keiahnaa Engel has been a boost to the team, the five-foot-seven guard is ninth in the conference in field goal percentage (48.2) and ninth in steals (19 pg).

Last Time Out: The Yellowjackets were within six halfway through the fourth quarter, when the Seawolves rallied for a 20-6 run to close out the game for a 20-point win.

The Series: (26-28, H 15-11) Alaska Anchorage holds a slight edge with two games in the overall series. The Yellowjackets lost games last season, but split the year before. At Alterowitz, MSUB does hold a 15-11 record.

UP NEXT: MSUB heads back out on the road next week for games against Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin’s. The following week the Yellowjackets return home to Alterowitz for Think Pink Night during the ROOT SPORTS Game of the Week on Thursday, Feb. 11 against Western Oregon, followed by Senior Night against Concordia (Ore.) on Saturday, Feb. 13.

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