BILLINGS, Mont. – After opening the season with a strong, three-game winning streak, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team has faltered a bit lately, dropping their last four games, including a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchups on the road against strong opponents.
 
The Yellowjackets head into this week's pair of non-conference games with a 3-4 record, and despite the early season mark, the young 'Jackets are playing strong for a group made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores.
 
Last week, MSUB dropped their conference opener to perennial powerhouse Western Washington 80-72 on the road after making a late-game rally that fell just short. A couple days later, the Yellowjackets traveled to British Columbia where they dropped their second league match of the season 62-52 to the Clan of Simon Fraser.
 
MSUB will now take a six-game hiatus from league action, including two home games this week before head coach Kevin Woodin and company jet-set out to the islands of Hawaii for a quartet of games just before the holiday break.
 
The Yellow Jackets of Black Hills State will visit Alterowitz Gymnasium on Friday evening for a 7 p.m. tangle on the hardwood before the Hardrockers of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology roll into town for a 5:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Dec. 10.
 
Friday night's game will serve as “Toys for Tots Night” where any patron that brings a toy to the game will be allowed admission for just $2. All toys will be donated to Toys for Tots.
 
As a team, MSUB leads the GNAC with 12.6 steals per game (88 total steals) and despite having struggled a bit with turnover issues the last couple of games, the Yellowjackets still lead the league with a +7.29 turnover ratio. The Yellowjackets have turned the ball over 92 times but have swarmed all over their opposition, forcing opponents to turn the ball over 143 times, and this weekend should be no different as both teams MSUB will face are averaging over 19 turnovers per game.
 
Leading MSUB's scoring drives this season has been sophomore point guard Bobbi Knudsen with 112 total points, an average of 16 points per game. She leads the team with a 40% shooting percentage (44-110) and her 16 points per contest has her currently fourth in the conference in scoring average.
 
Two other Yellowjackets are averaging double-digit points as junior Brooke Tolman is averaging 10.6 points per contest; freshman outside shooter Quinn Peoples has come on strong over the past few games to average 10.1 points per game. Both are prolific three-point shooters as Tolman leads the team with 17 total treys this season. Peoples had a season-high 21 points against Western Washington in a game that saw her hit five shots from beyond the arc.
 
Under the basket, a pair of freshmen forwards is doing well at controlling the paint and cleaning glass, battling hard for rebounds and second-chance looks. Janiel Olson currently leads the team with 56 total boards for an average of eight per game, but Kayleen Goggins opened the league slate with two strong performances as she corralled in seven rebounds in both contests.
 
Black Hills State's Yellow Jackets enter Friday's contest with a record of 3-4, winning their most recent contest 72-56 over Dickinson State. Ironically, all three teams this weekend are currently 3-4 for the season.
 
Montana State Billings and Black Hills State have tangled on the hardwood four times, with MSUB never losing a contest and outscoring BHS 352-213. The two last played during the 1998-99 season with MSUB winning 83-62 at home.
 
The Yellow Jackets have five players that have recorded three or more blocks this season. The BHS players are then out-rebounding their opposition 252-202.
 
BHS has two players averaging double-digit points per game with Kristi Ryan leading the way with 13.1, a total of 92 points this season. Ryan leads the team from beyond the three-point arc as she has hit 15 treys this season and also leads the team off the glass with 5.9 boards per game (41 total rebounds).
 
The second Yellow Jacket to average double-digit points for BHS is Jordan Kent with 10.9 per game. Kent is shooting a blistering 62.8% (27-43) from the field, making the most of every chance she is given on open looks.
 
South Dakota School of Mines' most recent win also came over Dickinson State, an 83-66 victory that has the Hardrockers (3-4) riding a two-game winning streak. Saturday's game will be the inaugural meeting between MSUB and SDSM&T as the Yellowjackets and Hardrockers have never met in women's basketball.
 
The Hardrockers are led in scoring by guard Hillary Hawkins who has 109 points this season, an average of 15.6 per game. Hawkins also leads the team with 34 shots made this season, hitting 45.3% of her shots including a team-high 21 treys.
 
Fellow guard Katie Strandholm is second on the team with 11.9 points per game, but is leading the team off the backboard with 42 total rebounds. She also leads SDSM&T from the charity stripe as she has hit 25 of 28 free throws this season.