BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings Women's Basketball team is set to host conference opponents Northwest Nazarene University and Central Washington University this week at home.
 
Thursday, Feb. 12, MSUB, in a game sponsored by the Montana Army National Guard, welcomes Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Northwest Nazarene to Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
The Crusaders are 12-9 overall and 5-8 in conference play.  NNU is riding a three game losing streak in conference play and last week lost to Western Washington 81-94 and Simon Fraser 57-75, both games at home.
 
NNU's Megan Hingston had her seventh double-double of the season in the game against WWU with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Hingston is sixth overall in the GNAC averaging 16.0 points per game and tied for fourth in rebounding with 7.9 per game. 
 
"Both NNU and CWU are very talented and I am expecting tough GNAC contests," Head Coach Kevin Woodin said.  "NNU has tremendous guard play and Hingston is one of the top players in our league.  They are extremely hard to defend." 
 
Also for the Crusaders, Chelsie Luke is averaging 14.9 points and is ranked second in the GNAC in free-throw percentage at 89 percent.  Taylor Simmons is averaging 3.4 assists and ranks fourth in the nation in steals per game at 3.57.
 
Against other GNAC teams, Northwest Nazarene is third in the conference in scoring offense with 72.9 points per game, and first in free-throw percentage with 78.9 percent. 
 
Last time the two teams met MSUB won their game on the road 66-61.  MSU Billings led for most the game, but the Crusaders mounted a come-back and MSUB had to hold off a late rally to get the win.  Overall, the Yellowjackets are 12-8 against NNU, 7-1 at home.
 
On Saturday, Feb. 15, MSU Billings is set to host Central Washington University.  Saturday is "Pink Zone" night at Alterowitz, and is sponsored by the EVA project at St. Vincent Healthcare. 
 
Central Washington is sitting at 6-15 overall and 1-12 in conference play.  Last week the Wildcats lost to Simon Fraser 61-75 and Western Washington 61-82. 
 
"Central presents a lot of matchup challenges for us," Coach Woodin stated.  "We will need to be focused on defense and offensively we will need to have great spacing and make the proper reads."
 
CWU's Jessica VanDyke is leading the team with 14.8 points per game.  Courtney Johnson is averaging 12.2 points.  Jasmine Parker has 7.8 rebounds per contest.  Ally Schmitt is first on the team and third overall in the GNAC averaging 5.1 assists per game.
 
"I know our team is looking forward to playing this week," Coach Woodin said.  "It's great to be home for a second week in a row as that rarely happens."
 
Central Washington is averaging 68 points and 41 rebounds per game.  MSUB is 17-8 overall and 8-2 at home against the Wildcats. 
 
Montana State University Billings is 18-5 and 10-2 GNAC with a one-game lead over conference opponents Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University both sitting at 9-4.  MSU Billings is on a seven-game conference win streak going into this week of play.
 
Last week MSUB defeated non-conference opponent South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 78-39 and then in a conference rematch took on Seattle Pacific University at home.  The Yellowjackets got the upper-hand in the two team's second game of the year, defeating the Falcons 74-59.
 
Bobbi Knudsen had 35 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for the two games.  Chelsea Banis finished with 16 points and Janiel Olson had 12 rebounds in the game against SPU. 
 
Against GNAC opponents MSUB continues to lead the conference as a scoring defense with 61 points per game and has the top defensive field goal-percentage at 37 percent. 
 
Also against other GNAC teams, MSU Billings is ranked No. 1 in offensive and defensive rebounding averaging 42.8 and 31.5 respectively. 
 
The Yellowjackets lead the GNAC in three-point field goals made per game with 7.2.
 
Knudsen is leading the team with 17.4 points per game and in the GNAC is ranked No. 2 with 21.3 points per game.  She is also averaging 5.7 assists which is No. 1 in the GNAC and No. 8 in the nation.  Knudsen is also leading the GNAC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.0.
 
Janiel Olson continues to lead the GNAC in rebounds with 10.4 per game which is No. 1 in the GNAC and 19^th in the nation.
 
Chelsea Banis is averaging 10.2 points and is second in the GNAC in field-goal percentage at 55 percent. 
 
Kayleen Goggins is averaging 10.6 points per game for the Yellowjackets.
 
Both games this week for Montana State University Billings will be part of a double-header schedule.  On Thursday, Feb. 13 the Women's game against Northwest Nazarene University will begin at 5:15 PM followed by the Men's team taking on #24 Western Washington University at 7:30 PM. 
 
On Saturday, Feb. 15 the women's game will begin at 5:15 PM followed by the Men's game against Simon Fraser University scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM.  The Men's game is Senior Night where MSUB will be honoring the three seniors on this year's Men's team: Kalob Hatcher, Jonathan Mesghna and Devon Wallace.  
 
Saturday's MSUB Women's basketball game is Pink Zone Night. All MSU Billings Women's basketball players will be wearing pink uniforms and pink socks in honor of breast cancer survivors.  In order to raise funds for the Eva Project (breast cancer awareness fund) at St. Vincent Healthcare, the basketball team will be selling t-shirts for $20 each and 100% of the profits will go directly to the Eva Project.  Available sizes are Youth Large and Adult Small – XXL available. 
 
Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of Pink Zone Night.
 
Also in honor of the event, all women will receive free admission to the Women's game versus Central Washington free of charge.
 
Live video and live stats for all four home basketball games this week will be available at MSUBSports.com.