BILLINGS, Mont. – March Madness starts a day early this year. Not a problem for the Montana State Billings women's basketball team as it begins its quest for its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and 11th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Jackets host Saint Martin's University in the first round of the 2010-2011 GNAC Tournament Monday evening at 7 p.m. in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
The Yellowjackets enter the first GNAC Tournament in conference history with a 15-11 record overall and finished the conference season with an 11-7 mark which was good for fourth in the league standings. Saint Martin's also finished the regular season with a 15-11 record and was 10-8 in league play which was good for a fifth place finish. The winner advances to the semifinal round at a site to be determined and the championship game is set for Mar. 5 with the winner receiving an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Reserved tickets for Monday's game are on sale for $12 in the Athletic Department in the P.E. Building, while general admission tickets are $10. MSUB students with a valid school ID, high school students and children under 12 will be admitted for $3. The general admission tickets and student tickets will go on sale Monday at 6 p.m. one hour prior to tip along with remaining reserved tickets.
Fans not able to attend the game can watch live on the internet at www.msubsports.com with play-by-play from Ken Adelblue. In addition, live stats of the game will be provided by logging on to www.msubsports.com.
This is the first home conference playoff game for the Yellowjackets since 2006 when MSUB was in the Heartland Conference. Oklahoma Panhandle State upset the top-seeded Yellowjackets 80-71, Mar. 1, 2006.
MSUB enters winners of five of seven and eight of its last 11. The Jackets are led in scoring by honorable mention all-conference selection, senior Beata Bak, who averages 13.6 points per game. Bak transferred this season to MSUB from Montana State. She leads the team with 132 made field goals, 74 made free throws, 32 blocks and is second in rebounding at a 5.5 average.
Bak finished the regular season ranked sixth in scoring in the league and sixth in blocks at a 1.2 per game average.
Senior forward and second team all-conference selection, Kayla Ryan, has had a very impressive four year career for the Yellowjackets. She became the 19th player in school history earlier this year to eclipse the 1,000 career point total. She is 18th in scoring at MSUB with 1,119 points. Ryan leads the team in rebounding at a 7.5 average. She also leads the team in field goal percentage at an even .500 clip with 105 made field goals. She is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game.
Ryan has a team-high five double-doubles on the year. She has seven double-digit rebounding performances, including a career-high 19 rebounds in a triple-overtime thriller versus Northwest Nazarene (Feb. 12), and has 13 double-figure scoring performances which is second on the team to Bak who as 21.
The Big Timber, Mont., native, is a three-time Academic All-GNAC selection. Ryan finished the regular season ranked second in the conference in rebounding, fourth in field goal percentage and seventh in blocks at a 1.1 average per game.
Senior Jenny Heringer has had an impressive 18 games as a Yellowjacket. She is second on the team in scoring at 11.7 points. Heringer transferred to MSUB this season from Montana State. She was granted one semester of eligibility by the NCAA, but had to sit out the first semester this season.
Heringer ranks first on the team in free throw percentage at a .826 clip, which also is good for second in the league. She has 73 made field goals, which is good for third on the team. Heringer is second on the team in made three-pointers with 27 and leads the team with a .386 average from beyond the arc. Freshman Bobbi Knudsen leads the team with 30 triples.
Senior Shantell Marquis leads the team with 84 assists and 70 steals on the year. She is averaging 5.1 points per game. Marquis ranks sixth in assists and first in steals in the conference. She ranks second in school history in assists with 464 and second in steals with 329. Marquis is just 14 steals short of tying the school career record with Amy Winslow (1995-1999) with 343.
Senior Mandy Jacobs also earned honorable mention all-conference honors this season. Jacobs leads the team in minutes played at 28.8 and is averaging 5.5 points per game. She is shooting .800 from the lien on 28 of 35.
As a team, the Jackets are shooting .391 from the field, .294 from beyond the arc and .705 from the line. MSUB is averaging 37.5 rebounds per game and scoring 65.1 points per contest.
Conversely, the Jackets are holding opponents to .372 percent. They also are holding opponents to .305 shooting from beyond the arc and .707 from the line. The opposition is averaging 38.7 rebounds per game and scoring 61 points per game.
In the league, the Jackets rank in the top five in a number of areas. They are fifth in scoring offense (65.1), scoring defense (61.0) and scoring margin (+4.1). They are fourth in field goal percentage defense holding teams to .372 from the field and fifth in 3-point field goal defense (.305).
MSUB is third in the league in assists per game (15.3) and fourth in steals (9.9).
Saint Martin's is led this season by first team all-conference selection Dara Zack. She leads the team averaging 15.3 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game. She is shooting an impressive .438 from the field with 138 made field goals. Zack is third on the team in made 3-pointers with 27 and leads the team with 94 made free throws. She has a team-high 51 assists and is second in steals with 37.
She ranks second in the conference in scoring, sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (.370), second in offensive rebounds (3.0) and third in minutes played (32.8).
Marelle Moehrle is second in scoring at 8.6 points per game. She leads the team with 46 made triples (6th in the league) for a .346 average from beyond the arc (10th in the league). She has 68 made field goals on the year and is shooting .356 from the field. Moehrle leads the team in steals with 38. She also is an impressive 41 of 45 from the line for a .911 average.
Teammate Roni Jo Mielke is third in scoring averaging 7.8 points per game. She is second in assist with 48 and third in steals with 32. Mielke is shooting .415 from the field with 68 made field goals. She is 30 of 72 from beyond the arc for a .417 average ranking her third in the league.
As a team, the Saints are deadly from downtown ranking second in the league at a .340 average. They have 155 made 3-pointers on the year, also good for second in the league. SMU is shooting .376 from the field for the season and .731 from the line (second in the league). They are averaging 37.7 rebounds per game and scoring 61.5 points per contest.
Defensively, teams are shooting .396 against the Saints, but just .286 from deep (third in the league) and .681 from the line. They allow just 58.7 points per game which is fourth-best in the league.
The Jackets and the Saints split two meetings this season. The teams played probably one of the more thrilling games of the season in Billings as MSUB came away with a 62-61 win as Jacobs hit an off-balance 3-pointer from the corner lifting the Jackets to the win. It was only her second made field goal of the game, but the most important.
Ryan was the lone Yellowjacket in double figures with 19 points on 8 of 10 from the field. Moehrle was 7 10 from the field for the Saints and 6 of 8 from beyond the arc for game-high 20 points, while Zack was 6 of 9 from the field for 16 points.
In a very even game, the score was tied nine times and there were 13 lead changes.
SMU won the second game in Lacey, Wash., Feb. 17, 63-55 to earn the split. Despite shooting better and rebounding better, 23 turnovers proved to be too much for the Jackets. MSUB had three players in double figures led by 16 points from Ryan and a double-double off the bench from Bak with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Heringer also had 14 points.
Zack again came up big as she was the lone SMU player in double figures with a game-high 25 points on 8 of 19 from the field. She also was 7 of 10 from the line. The Saints were 8 of 18 from beyond the arc, while the Jackets were 5 of 14.
MSUB leads the all-time series 15-8, including 7-2 in Billings. Since the Jackets joined the GNAC in 2007-2008, SMU leads the series 5-3. MSUB is 3-1 against SMU at home during that span.
