GNAC WEEKLY RELEASE
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings Women's Basketball team is on their way to the South Point Holiday Hoops Contest in Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 19 and 20.
Last week MSU Billings (7-1, 1-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) faced in-state non-conference competition Carroll College on Friday and an Alumni team on Saturday.
Against Carroll, the Yellowjackets won the contest 62-47.
Annie DePuydt finished as the high scorer in the game, going 5-9 for 12 points. The Yellowjackets also had a very balanced night in scoring. Six players finished between seven and nine points in the game.
On the season,
Bobbi Knudsen is leading the Yellowjackets with 14 points, 1.9 steals, and 5.5 assists per game.
Kayleen Goggins has 11.7 points.
Chelsea Banis has 10.2 points.
Janiel Olson is leading the team in rebounds with 8.7 per game.
In Las Vegas, MSU Billings will face two teams they have not played before.
On Thursday, Dec. 19, MSUB will face Texas Woman's University.
Texas Woman's University is located in Denton, Tex., just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Pioneers are 4-3 overall, and 0-0 in the Lone Star Conference. All four of TWU's wins have been at home. Their most recent win was on Monday, Dec. 16 where they rallied from four points down at half-time 25-29, to get the win over Southeastern Oklahoma, 62-56.
The Pioneers are being led by Rebekah Cluley, who is averaging 12.9 points per game, five rebounds, and 3.3 assists. Freshman Kenesha Saygo is second, averaging 9.5 points per game. Overall TWU is shooting 38 percent from the floor. They are averaging 43 rebounds a game, with 12.6 assists, and 19 turnovers.
Texas's Woman's University is first in the LSC in three-point shooting percentage at 34 percent.
"Our games in Las Vegas this week represent a great challenge for us," Head Coach
Kevin Woodin said. "TWU has been playing better as of late. Both of the teams we are facing really like to play fast and it will be critical for us to have excellent transition defense."
On Friday, Dec. 20, the Yellowjackets will play Drury University. Drury is located in Springfield, Mo. The Panthers are 7-0 on the season, 1-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. This week, Dec. 17, Drury was ranked No. 6 in the nation in the WBCA/USA TODAY poll. Drury has been steadily rising in the polls; four weeks ago they started out ranked No. 16, three weeks ago No. 9, and for the last weeks have sat at the No. 6 spot in the nation.
Kylie Williamson is leading the Panthers with 14 points per game. Bethanie Funderburk is averaging 12.1 points. The Panthers also have a 6'7" Div. I transfer student-athlete from Minnesota in Amber Dvorak. In DU's last game, against Missouri S & T, Dvorak came off the bench making 9 of her 11 shots and going 2-2 in free-throws. She finished with a team-high 20 points and two blocked shots in just 12 minutes of play.
Overall Drury is shooting 40 percent from the field, including 35 percent from the three-point arc. DU is grapping an average of 42 rebounds a game, with 15 assists, and almost five blocks. The Panthers are also averaging 74 points per game with a 9.6 average scoring margin.
"Drury is a great team as they are undefeated and ranked in the top 10 nationally," Coach Woodin said. "We will need to play extremely well this week in order to come out on top. I am hoping we can continue to achieve offensive balance like we have been doing recently. Defensively we will need to play solid team defense and limit second-shot opportunities."
This is the 5th year of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic. There are 14 teams this year – 4 Division II women's teams (Western Washington University, Montana State University Billings, Drury and Texas Woman's University); 6 Division II men's teams (Western Washington University, Central Washington University, Cal State University-San Bernardino, West Florida, Midwestern State and Tarleton State) and 4 Division I Men's teams (Pacific, Portland, Bradley and Princeton). There are 14 games over 4 days with the first games on Thursday, December 19 and last on Sunday afternoon, December 22. All the games are played at the South Point Arena which is part of the South Point Hotel and Casino property.
All the games will take place in the South Point Event and Equestrian Center. For tickets to the event please visit:
http://www.southpointarena.com/events.php . Tickets are $15.00 a day.
Live stats will not be available for either game, but live, free-of-charge streaming on the internet will be available. Fans interested in watching the Montana State University Billings two games can log onto:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/holiday-hoops-classic-2013. A radio broadcast will also be available for the Drury game courtesy of DU – that link is RADIO: HTTP://WWW.JOCK987.COM.
MSU Billings will face Texas Woman's University on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 12 PM Pacific Time. They will then take on Drury University Friday, Dec. 20 also at 12 PM Pacific Time.
South Point Holiday Hoops Classic
Thursday, December 19
12:00PM • Montana St. Billings vs Texas Women's Univ. (DII-W)
2:00PM • Western Washington Univ. vs Drury Univ. (DII-W)
Friday, December 20
12:00PM • Drury Univ. vs Montana St. Billings (DII-W)
2:00PM • Texas Women's Univ. vs Western Washington Univ. (DII-W)
5:00PM • Bradley Univ. vs Univ. of Portland (DI-M)
7:30PM • Princeton Univ. vs Univ. of the Pacific(DI-M)
Saturday, December 21
11:00AM • Tarleton St. Univ. vs Central Washington Univ. (DII-M)
1:00PM • Univ. of West Florida vs Midwest St. Univ. (DII-M)
3:00PM • CSU San Bernardino vs Western Washington Univ. (DII-M)
5:30PM • Univ. of the Pacific vs Bradley Univ. (DI-M)
8:00PM • Univ. of Portland vs Princeton Univ. (DI-M)
Sunday, December 22
11:00AM • Central Washington Univ. vs Univ. of West Florida (DII-M)
1:00PM • Midwest St. Univ. vs CSU San Bernardino (DII-M)
3:00PM • Western Washington Univ. vs Tarleton St. Univ. (DII-M)
- The first team listed is the home team and will wear the white or home uniforms.
- All times are local Pacific Standard Time (PST)
- (W) = women's games
