Career Resume
Scored 1,324 career points
Averaged 13.2 points per game
Made 528 career field goals
Scored the fourth most points in a single season at the time with 568 in 1999-00
Named Daktronics first team all-West Region
Part of two conference championship teams and four NCAA Tournament appearances including the Elite Eight in 1999
Feature Story: MSUB Squad to Celebrate 10-Year Mark with Induction (By: Joe Kusek/Billings Gazette, 2/17/2009) - Original Publication
They were competitors first. It's what brought them to the campus of Montana State Billings.
They became friends along the way.
And during the journey, a special group of basketball players became the best women's basketball team in Yellowjacket history.
The 1998-99 MSUB women's basketball team will be inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame this weekend. The honor comes an exact decade after the Yellowjackets advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Tournament.
Fittingly, the honor comes the same way they played the game on the court: together.
"We wanted to win some games, that was it," said Amy Pfiefle, the team's point guard. "We weren't about personal accolades."
Win MSUB did.
The Yellowjackets finished 25-6 that season. The team lost twice in November - one to University of Montana - and would lose just once a month the rest of the season.
The team was the perfect blend of talents.
It had an inside presence with Alicia Cahill, Codi Schmitz and Krista Montague (formerly Fjelstad) while Jenni Winter, Pfiefle (then Winslow) and Deena Bartu were equally as strong on the perimeter. Schmitz did not start a game but led the team in scoring and rebounding to earn all-conference and All-America honors. Others like Betsy Morrison, Kami Malnaa, Jennie Kendall and Becky Jacobs added important depth.
The addition of Bartu, who transferred in from junior college, was a crucial addition. It allowed Pfiefle to play point guard, while Bartu was a lock-down defender.
"We just jelled perfectly that season," Montague said. "We all got along so well. We were all friends."
Winter, the only married player on the roster, would some times take a nap in a teammate's dorm room after practice.
Six different players led the team in scoring for the 31 games.
"We had good balance, which made us really tough. Anyone of us could step up," Pfeiffle added. "We were so unselfish."
The team had more than just talent. It had players willing to do their jobs and seniors with lengthy post-season experience. Three of the seniors - Montague, Pfiefle and Cahill - played in the NCAA Tournament all four years at MSUB.
"We were not satisfied in just making the tournament," recalled Montague of her senior season. "We set our goals high.
"You have to give credit to players before us. Players like Megan Dickerson, Tami Fleek, Brandy Hamblin … they instilled that focus, that work ethic in us."
That work ethic was evident the summer of 1998. To achieve those goals, most of the players stayed in Billings the previous summer. Some took waitressing jobs, while Montague worked at Peter Yegen Golf Course. Pfiefle worked for the City Rec department.
"Up at 5 a.m. to set sprinklers," she said with soft chuckle. "Being in town, it was just something we knew we needed to do."
When practice began in mid-October, the players were ready.
"We knew we had a good team. We were really focused," Montague said.
And friendship sometimes took a backseat when practice began.
"One time in practice, I set a back screen on Krista and she got mad," remembered Pfiefle. "So we go down to the other end of the court and she comes, right for me. We laugh about it now. Once practice was over, it was over. We had our fun."
"Practices were so hard," Montague added. "It seemed like everybody was always playing for their job. We practiced like we played."
While the team had all kinds of big wins, it's the losses they remember. MSUB was rolling along, riding a long homecourt win streak when Lewis-Clark stunned them 56-55 at Alterowitz Gymnasium in early February.
"At the time, it was devastating," said Montague. "But looking back, it was probably good for us. It gave us new focus."
The team would not lose again until the first round of the Elite Eight.
"A lot of the credit has to go to coach (Frank) McCarthy," Montague continued. "He was good at making everybody - from the stars to the players on the end of the bench - feel like they were an important part of the team. We were always well prepared for games."
MSUB put together its most impressive wins on back-to-back weekends.
The Yellowjackets defeated Western Washington, in Bellingham, Wash., 63-59 to win the Pacific West Conference title. At the time, the Vikings had won more than 90 percent of their home games.
"The Western Washington game, I remember winning there and thinking, 'It doesn't get any better than this,' " Montague said.
A week later, MSUB rolled WWU again, 70-48, in the semifinals of the Far West Region. Just 24 hours later, the Yellowjackets stunned California-Davis 70-62 on the Aggies home court. Schmitz scored 18 points ,while Winter hit a handful of timely 3-pointers late in the game.
The previous year, UC-Davis and its famed half-court trap defense, defeated MSUB at the NCAA tournament.
"We played them the year before and they tore us apart," Montague said. "This time, we were all more prepared."
The team savored its Elite Eight berth for more than a week before heading off to Pine Bluff, Ark.
"I remember practicing and coach McCarthy kept telling us, 'You're one of eight teams still practicing, you should all be so proud,' " said Montague. "It was kind of neat. Here we were, these players from Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington against some of the best teams in the country."
The season ended with a 68-56 loss to Arkansas Tech.
Eight players from that team are expected to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Most are married and have children. Montague is an administrator for the MSUB athletic department, while Pfiefle is a math teacher and head girls basketball coach at Billings Senior.
More than a few stories will be shared.
"It will be fun to see everybody," Pfiefle said. "It was such a special season.
"It's just the people you play with that makes the experience great. The relationships you build are the best."
