BILLINGS, Mont.  – After having only one game last week, this week the Yellowjackets are hosting two conference opponents in a doubleheader bill with the men's team.
 
Last week, the women's basketball team was handed a tough loss by the No. 12 Seattle Pacific Falcons at home. The Yellowjackets led for 33 minutes of the game before the Falcons came back, outscoring MSU Billings 20-3 in the last seven and a half minutes. The Yellowjackets were unable to hold onto their lead, shooting 1-7 from the field, and committing six turnovers in the final few minutes.
 
"Our team is looking forward to this weekend's home games," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said.
"The games this week are very important games for our team. We have had a good week of practice thus far, and I am excited to see if we can take what we learned at practice, and then apply it in our games." 
 
With the conference schedule drawing to the middle of the season, Montana State University Billings (9-6, 1-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) is facing two teams this week that have done some big things in the early going.
 
Central Washington University (8-6, 3-3 GNAC) is coming off a big 66-54 win against Simon Fraser and will look to use the momentum the team generated last week to make a run at the Yellowjackets. Off to a good start, CWU has already produced one more conference win than all of last season. The Wildcats are a refreshed team, and are using some stellar defense to pressure their opponents.
 
At first glance, Northwest Nazarene University (4-11, 2-5) do not have an intimidating record coming into Billings on Saturday, but one of the two conference wins for the Crusaders this season was against the previously undefeated No. 5 Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, 79-64, in Alaska. NNU has not been able to hold onto their level of play since; the team has dropped its last three GNAC contests losing in double-digits. The Crusaders are still dangerous though, and are ready this week to prove the team belongs in the top-tier of the conference standings.
 
"Both Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene have had impressive wins as of late," Coach Woodin said. "Central played very well last week, almost defeating WWU and then beating Simon Fraser. NNU played both of those teams tough and I am still impressed with their win at Anchorage from the week before."
 
Thursday, Jan 15, 5:15 p.m., Alterowitz Gymnasium
Game Sponsor: MSUB Housing/Residential Life
Live stats/video: msubsports.com
Central Washington University Wildcats
Head Coach: Jeff Harada (1st year)
2013-14 Record: 7-19, (2-16 GNAC)
 
Central Washington has already been to MSU Billings once this season. Although the Wildcats did not face the Yellowjackets when they were here, CWU did participate in the Yellowjacket Women's Basketball Classic Dec. 18 and 19. At the tournament, the Wildcats defeated Montana Tech, but had a tough game against School Dakota School of Mines falling 69-55, to end the tournament 1-1.
 
The GNAC team of the week early in December, the Wildcats have used some incredible defense to limit high-scoring teams and forcing turnovers, while committing the lowest number of personal fouls in the conference, 15.7 per game.
 
Central Washington had a solid win early in the season against Hawaii Pacific, and a one-point OT loss to Cal Baptist, but had a short slump starting with loss in Billings, dropping four straight. With the win against Simon Fraser, the Wildcats are even in the conference at 3-3.
 
Freshman guard Jasmin Edwards continues to make waves at her position. An all-tournament selection at the Yellowjacket Classic, Edwards is third in the GNAC in assist turnover ratio (1.49) and sixth in assists (4.1 per game). She is averaging 13.5 points on the floor and 1.79 steals.
 
Recently, center India Matheson has stepped-up for Central Washington. The junior has started the last two games and had a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds in the win over Simon Fraser. Courtney Johnson leads the team in points, averaging 14.9 per game, good enough to be ranked No. 7 in the GNAC. At 49.3 percent, Johnson is shooting almost 50.0 percent from the field and is second on the team in 3-point shots, averaging 1.2 per game.
 
Redshirt junior Hannah Shine is the GNAC leader in 3-point field goal percentage at 48.6. The 6'0" guard is tied with her teammate, Johnson, ranked No. 11 in 3-point baskets made with 1.2 per game.
 
Last season: MSUB won both contests last season against the Wildcats. On the road, MSUB won 72-44, and 60-39 at home.
 
All-time: MSU Billings is 18-8 against the Wildcats. The Yellowjackets are 9-2 at home, and have won the last five meetings between the two teams.
 
Saturday, Jan 17, 5:15 p.m., Alterowitz Gymnasium
Game Sponsor: BioLife Plasma Services
Live stats/video: msubsports.com
Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders
Head Coach: Ryan Bragdon (2nd year)
2013-14 Record: 15-11, (8-10 GNAC)
 
The Crusaders are coming into the week having dropped three games after the big upset at Anchorage, and will be looking for a rebound win to stop the slump.
 
In the team's last loss to Simon Fraser, Lexi Tubbs had a team-high 21 points, and in the loss to Western Washington Ellie Logan came in with a team-high 16 points. NNU is shooting 41.8 percent overall and 31.5 percent from the 3-point arc.
 
Northwest Nazarene's Taylor Simmons (14.2), CoCo Gall (12.8), and Kate Cryderman (10.4) are all leading the Crusaders in double-figures offensively. Simmons is tied for No. 1 in the league in steals with UAA's Kiki Robertson averaging 3.3 per game. The 5'8" guard is shooting 46.5 percent from the field, averaging 4.9 assists per game, which is No. 4 in the league.
 
Gall is the team's top rebounder pulling in 6.7 board per contest. As a team, the Crusaders are on the bottom of the conference list in rebounding margin. Against its opponents, NNU is being outrebounded by almost two per game.
 
Last season: Montana State University Billings won both contests last season. The first on the road was a close 66-61 decision, before MSUB won a more decisive victory at home 90-72 later on.
 
All-time: MSUB is 13-8 against the Crusaders. The Yellowjackets are 8-1 on their home court, not dropping a contest in Alterowitz since the 2010 season.
 
This week, having lost their last three straight, the Yellowjackets are fighting their own slump. In their last game, where MSUB led for 33 minutes of the time, the Yellowjackets shut-down the No. 12 Seattle Pacific Falcons and will look for some strong statements on defense, plus a good offensive spread to guide the team to victory this week.
 
"We need to continue to improve defensively," Coach Woodin said on the Yellowjackets' goals. "If we do that, I think we have a chance to be pretty good. Offensively, we are protecting the ball better, but I think we can improve on our shot selection plus we need to be better at the foul line too."
 
Against Seattle Pacific, the team struggled from its' usual good performance at the free-throw line, and were outrebounded by the Falcons by one. In the loss, just five Yellowjackets scored points in the game. Kayleen Goggins poured in a game-high 24 points with eight rebounds. Rylee Kane set a new career-high with 13 points, adding in five rebounds and two assists.
 
Goggins remains at No. 2 in the conference, averaging 19.6 points per game. Alisha Breen is No. 6 with 16.1 points. Third on the team, Quinn Peoples is averaging 11.6, and a team-leading 2.1 3-point baskets per game. The team of Goggins and Breen are pulling in a combined 14.5 rebounds per game, as Breen is No. 4 in the GNAC averaging 7.4, and Goggins No. 5 averaging 7.1.
 
Moving into the top-20 in the GNAC, senior Annie DePuydt is now averaging 4.9 rebounds per game, tied with Peoples for third on the team.
 
The team is shooting 40.4 percent from the field. The Yellowjackets remain at No. 2 in the GNAC in rebounding margin, averaging 34.9 per game, 5.5 more than their opponents.
 
COMING UP: Next week the Yellowjackets have two GNAC games on the road. First, MSUB is in Lacey, Wash., for the team's first look at Saint Martin's on Thursday, Jan. 22. On Saturday, Jan. 24, MSU Billings is at Western Oregon for the ROOT Sports game of the week. ROOT Sports will be broadcasting the game live, and fans will have an opportunity to follow the action on the ROOT Sports network channel. In Billings, the MSUB Alumni Association will be hosting a watch party at Hooligans downtown. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. Pizza will be provided. To RSVP for the watch party please contact the MSU Billings Alumni Association by either calling 406-247-5780 or emailing sbrockel@msubillings.edu.
 
 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL	CONF	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
Alaska Anchorage	5-1	.833	15-1	.938	11-1	4-0	---	W3
Seattle Pacific	4-1	.800	12-1	.923	5-1	3-0	4-0	W6
Alaska	4-2	.667	12-4	.750	5-2	3-2	4-0	W6
Simon Fraser	3-2	.600	7-6	.538	3-4	3-2	1-0	L1
Western Washington	3-2	.600	9-5	.643	5-2	2-1	2-2	W3
Central Washington	3-3	.500	8-6	.571	6-1	0-3	2-2	W1
Northwest Nazarene	2-4	.333	4-11	.267	2-5	2-4	0-2	L3
Montana State Billings	1-4	.200	9-6	.600	5-2	2-4	2-0	L3
Saint Martin's	1-4	.200	4-9	.308	1-2	1-5	2-2	L2
Western Oregon	1-4	.200	4-9	.308	0-6	2-3	2-0	L3