BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team begins Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on the road this week with a record of 3-2, hoping to end a two-game losing skid after kicking the season off with three victories.
 
The Yellowjackets opened the curtains on their 2011-12 season with five home games in a row and are now preparing for their first road test of the year as they head to perennial league power and 2010-11 regular season champion Western Washington University on Thursday, Dec. 1 followed by a trip into Canada to take on Simon Fraser University on Saturday, Dec. 3.
 
It is the second year in a row that Kevin Woodin and company will tip off their GNAC slate on the road against the Vikings and the Clan, but in reverse order from last season. The Yellowjackets opened their 2010-11 GNAC schedule 1-1 with a 66-59 victory over SFU before dropping their next game to WWU 80-70.
 
Last week, the Yellowjackets dropped both of their games in the 2011 Yellowjacket Women's Basketball Classic Sponsored by Billings Hotel and Convention Center, falling 62-59 to Minot State on Friday and 78-71 to Minnesota State Moorhead Saturday afternoon.
 
MSUB will be looking to get back on track this week and the turnover battle could prove to be the difference maker as they face two teams losing that battle as the Vikings and Clan are currently tied for seventh in the league in turnover margin at -2.25. Three-time conference champion Western Washington has committed 85 turnovers in just four games this season, an average of 21.5 per game, while Simon Fraser has done slightly better through their four-game stretch with 75 overall, 18.75 per game.
 
Woodin's young team has been a disruptive force thus far this season, leading the conference with a +9.40 turnover margin, forcing their opposition to turn the ball over 106 times while committing just 59 turnovers themselves over five games.
 
Sophomore guard Bobbi Knudsen was named to the all-tournament team for MSUB's Thanksgiving classic after recording 33 total points, 10 rebounds and seven assists between the Yellowjacket's two outings. Knudsen is currently averaging a GNAC third-best 16.6 points per contest, shooting a team-best 40.8% (31-76) from the field.
 
Brooke Tolman is the other member of the MSUB squad averaging double-digits points, 11.2, through five games as she has a team-high 14 three-pointers.
 
Freshman Janiel Olson leads the team with 42 total rebounds, averaging a league sixth-best 8.4 per outing, while senior Kalli Stanhope is leading the squad from three-point range with a 42.3% (11-26) shooting performance.
 
Against Western Washington, the 'Jackets are 10-14 all-time including a 2-9 mark in Bellingham, Wash. and have dropped the last five meetings between the two programs. Last season, the two met three times, including a 76-49 win by the Vikings in the semifinal round of the 2011 GNAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
This season, the 3-1 Vikings have out-scored their opponents 319-259, leaving WWU second in the conference for scoring offense at 79.8 points per game over the first four games, and while underclassmen have led the way thus far for MSUB, experienced veterans are leading the Vikings' charge.
 
Junior Corinn Waltrip is averaging a team-best 12 points per contest, shooting 40% shooting from the field, and senior Kristin Schramm is currently averaging 11 points per game thanks to a 42.5% shooting performance.
 
Juniors Erika Ramstead and Britt Harris lead the team in rebounds and free throws respectively. Ramstead has been cleaning glass for WWU with 30 total rebounds, 21 coming off the defensive glass, while Harris has made the most trips to the charity stripe for the Vikings, going 14-15 from the stripe.
 
MSUB has never lost a hardwood battle to Simon Fraser, including sweeping the Clan last year in both meetings.
 
Junior Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe leads the 3-1 Clan as the only player to average double-digit points through four games with 15.3 points per contest. Through four games she has hit 55.3% (21-38) of her shots, a team-best, and leads the team from the free throw line as she has made 24 trips to the free throw line.
 
Erin Chambers is second on the team with 9.8 points per game and leads the Clan from three-point range with nine treys for a 34.6% shooting performance.
 
After the two-game road swing, the Yellowjackets will return home for a pair of home non-conference games against Black Hills State University and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday, Dec. 10.