BILLINGS, Mont. – Although only eight games remain on the 2018-19 regular-season schedule for the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team, six of them are at home including a pair this weekend at Alterowitz Gym.
 
The Yellowjackets (9-9, 5-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) will look to build on their strong mark of 5-1 in home games this season, as they battle to claim a top-six spot in the conference standings and earn a berth into the GNAC Championships.
 
Entering the week, MSUB is tied with Concordia University for seventh place in the standings. The 'Jackets however are just one game behind sixth-place Western Washington University (11-9, 6-6) and Seattle Pacific University (7-12, 6-6), and only two games behind fourth-place Central Washington University (12-7, 7-5).
 
This week, the Yellowjackets entertain the University of Alaska (3-16, 0-13) on Thursday and conference co-leader No. 10 University of Alaska Anchorage (20-1, 12-1) on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 7 p.m., and live video with play-by-play commentary and live statistics will be available online through the MSUB Stretch Internet portal here.
 
MSUB will remain at home next week against No. 7 Northwest Nazarene University and Central Washington, and closes the regular season with home games against Western Washington (Feb. 28), and Simon Fraser University (March 2). Between those two series is the final road trip of the year, at Western Oregon University (Feb. 21), and Concordia University (Feb. 23).
 
"It is nice to be at home for the next two weeks," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "It is the first time all year we will be able to play home games back-to-back weeks, so hopefully we can get some momentum going. We almost won both games on the road last week. I liked the way we executed down the stretch against Saint Martin's last Saturday, and it was a much-needed victory for our team."
 
MSUB is coming off a split on the road last week, as it fell 79-74 at Seattle Pacific last Thursday before topping Saint Martin's University 76-69 last Saturday.
 
ELITE GUESTS SATURDAY: The 2018-19 campaign marks the 20th anniversary of MSUB's 1999 NCAA D2 Elite Eight women's basketball team, and members from the squad will be recognized during a ceremony at halftime of Saturday's game against UAA. The 1998-99 team, which featured current Yellowjacket athletic director Krista Montague, set a standard for excellence by going 25-6 and claiming the first NCAA D2 west region title in program history. MSUB went 12-2 in the PacWest Conference to claim the regular-season title, before knocking off Western Washington 70-48 and UC Davis 70-62 in the west regional in California.
 

Jersey	Name	Position	Class	Height	Hometown/Previous School
00	Amber Zylawy	F	Fr.	5-10	Superior, MT/Superior
11	Betsy Morrison	G	So.	5-6	Billings, MT/Skyview
14	Stacy Ferentchak	G	Fr.	5-11	Bellingham, WA/Mount Baker
20	Amy Winslow	G	Sr.	5-3	Troy, MT/Troy
21	Jennie Kendall	G	So.	5-6	Florence, MT/Florence Carlton
22	Trisha Sukut	G	Fr.	5-9	Colstrip, MT/Colstrip
25	Kami Malnaa	G	Fr.	5-10	Glasgow, MT/Glasgow
33	Deena Bartu	F	Jr.	5-9	Pocatello, ID/College of Southern Idaho
34	Krista Fjelstad	F	Sr.	6-0	Hysham, MT/Hysham
41	Becky Jacobs	F	Fr.	5-11	Shepherd, MT/Shepherd
44	Jenni Winter	F	Sr.	5-9	Billings, MT/Sheridan CC
50	Codi Schmitz	C	Jr.	6-1	Williston, ND/Williston
52	Alicia Cahill	C	Sr.	6-0	Lewiston, MT/Fergus

Head Coach – Frank McCarthy.
 
 
COLLINS GNAC LEADING SCORER: Sophomore point guard Hannah Collins kept the lead in the 2018-19 GNAC scoring title chase, as she racked up 43 points in MSUB's two games last week including a 25-point night against Seattle Pacific. That upped her season average to 16.1 points, which leads the GNAC, is tied for ninth in the NCAA D2 west region, and is in the top-100 in the NCAA.
 
Collins made 14 of 31 shots from the floor last week, while grabbing seven rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. She also hit 11 of 12 free throws, upping her season percentage to 87.1 which ranks fifth in the conference.
 
SHELLEY LOGS FIFTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Freshman Taryn Shelley picked up her fifth double-double of the year last Saturday, scoring 14 points and adding 10 rebounds in the win over Saint Martin's. She also had a pair of blocks in each game, upping her season average to 2.1 which ranks second in the GNAC. Shelley has had multiple blocks in 12 of her 16 games played, the second-most multi-block games in the league by any player. Shelley is also No. 3 in the conference in rebounding at 8.0 per game, and is shooting 48.2 percent from the field this season.
 
CUNNINGHAM'S COMPREHENSIVE CONTRIBUTIONS: Only four players in the GNAC have recorded at least one point, rebound, and assist in each game they have played this year, and MSUB junior forward Taylor Cunningham is one of them. Last week she had a dazzling performance against Seattle Pacific, with 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocked shots. She followed that with 10 points, four assists, and a pair of boards against Saint Martin's, and she is now second on the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game. The 3-pointer has continued to be one of Cunningham's key weapons, as her mark of 43.1 percent from the arc leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference overall.
 
STAVISH STAYS IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Senior Vanessa Stavish kept her scoring average in double figures, with a big 17-point effort in the win over Saint Martin's. A big key to her scoring in that game was accuracy at the foul line, where she knocked down a career-high eight shots without missing. She also turned in seven rebounds and had just one turnover in 19 solid minutes on the court. On the season Stavish is averaging 10.7 points and a career-high 5.5 rebounds.
 
LEMELIN REACHES CAREER HIGH: Junior guard Jeanann Lemelin scored a career-high 12 points against the Saints last week, marking her third double-figure scoring performance of the season. The Billings native hit 5 of 10 shots from the floor, while grabbing three rebounds, three steals, and a blocked shot as well. She followed that up with five points, four boards, and a season-high four steals against the Falcons. Lemelin leads the Yellowjackets with 29 steals this season, and ranks No. 11 in the conference with 1.6 swipes per game.
 
University of Alaska Nanooks
Thursday, February 7 – 7 PM – Alterowitz Gym
2018-19 Record: 3-16, 0-13 GNAC
Head Coach: Kerri Nakamoto, 1st season
2017-18 GNAC Finish: 4-22, 0-20 GNAC (11th place)
First Meeting: MSUB 80, UAF 72 (Jan. 12, 2019 at Fairbanks, AK)
 
The GNAC losing streak for Alaska has reached 35 games, as the Nanooks haven't won a conference game since the 2016-17 campaign. After starting the 2018-19 season 3-0, the Nanooks have lost 16 in-a-row and are 0-13 in league play after Tuesday's 88-43 loss to Alaska Anchorage.
 
Marian Wamsley is the top scoring threat for Alaska, with 12.5 points per game and a team-best 6.0 rebounds. The strong post player will look to get the ball under the basket, where she is shooting 50.8 percent on the year to rank No. 9 in the conference.
 
Kylie Wallace is the Nanooks' other double-figure scorer, with 10.9 points per game. Wallace is shooting 42.1 percent from the field, and is third on the team with 5.2 rebounds per game. Emily Evans is Alaska's top shooter from the perimeter, where she is hitting at a clip of 37.4 percent which leads to 9.1 points per game. Sabrina Ungaro joins Wamsley and Wallace as the other player to have started all 19 games this season, and runs the point for the team with 68 assists on the year.
 
The Nanooks shoot 37.6 percent overall, 27.5 percent from 3-point territory, and 67.1 percent from the free-throw line. Alaska is being out-scored 73.1-57.8 and out-rebounded 39.9-33.1 this season.
 
"Fairbanks was able to get the ball inside on us too easily last game," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We shot it well from the 3-point line so we were able to come out on top, but every game is different. We need to play better post defense and I would like us to execute better with our transition offense. Wamsley and Wallace are solid post players, and their team played very scrappy against us last time."
 
The Series: MSUB is 54-14 all-time against Alaska and is 27-3 in home games against the Nanooks. MSUB has won three in-a-row, and has lost to Alaska at home just one time since 1992 with a 71-53 setback on December 29, 2016.
 
Last Time Out: Collins matched her career high with 29 points and Stavish logged a double-double to help the 'Jackets claim the road victory in Fairbanks a month ago.
 
No. 10 University of Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, February 9 – 7 PM – Alterowitz Gym
2018-19 Record: 20-1, 12-1 GNAC
Head Coach: Ryan McCarthy, 6th season
2017-18 GNAC Finish: 27-5, 18-2 GNAC (T1st Place, NCAA D2 West Region Runner-Up)
First Meeting: #14 UAA 87, MSUB 42 (Jan. 10, 2019 at Anchorage, AK)
 
The Seawolves dispatched the Nanooks comfortably on Tuesday night, keeping pace with Northwest Nazarene in the No. 1 spot in the conference standings. UAA is two wins away from clinching a spot in the conference tournament, and has ascended into the top-10 in the country by virtue of a 13-game winning streak.
 
Preseason GNAC Player of the Year Hannah Wandersee leads her team and ranks fifth in the conference with 14.9 points per game, while shooting 48.7 percent from the field. Wandersee also leads her team with 5.4 rebounds and 22 total blocked shots, while starting all 21 games for the Seawolves. Yazmeen Goo, and honorable mention all-league guard a season ago, has been limited to just 11 games but is second on the team with 9.5 points scored. Tara Thompson is one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference at 39.0 percent, and is chipping in 8.8 points while joining Wandersee as the only other player to have started every game of the season.
 
Safiyyah Yasin has been one of the Seawolves' key bench players, as she ranks third on the team with a scoring average of 9.2 points per game. Sala Langi joins MSUB's Cunningham as another of the four players in the conference to have at least one point, rebound, and assist in every game she has played this year, and she has started 20 of 21 games while averaging 7.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and has 59 assists.
 
UAA's scoring margin of plus-19.3 is second best in the conference, as the Seawolves average 75.4 points per game while giving up a GNAC-low 56.1. The Seawolves also hold the upper hand in rebounding at 35.3-31.9. As a team they shoot 44.3 percent overall, 34.2 percent from the arc, and 71.0 percent from the foul line.
 
"We didn't shoot well in Anchorage, and will need to handle their pressure much better than last time we played them," said Woodin. "It is important to protect the ball on offense, and we will need to have offensive balance against them both in types of shots and types of scores. Wandersee is again one of the premier players in the league and they have so many weapons on the perimeter. We must identify where Thompson is as well, as she is lethal from the 3-point line."
 
The Series: MSUB is 27-36 all-time against UAA and clings to a 15-14 advantage in home games. The Seawolves have won 10 of the last 11 games in the series, and have been ranked in the top-20 in the country in each of those meetings. MSUB's last home win against UAA was on March 1, 2014, with a 75-72 triumph.
 
Last Time Out: UAA blasted the 'Jackets in Anchorage, leading 43-18 by halftime in a one-sided game. MSUB was held to a season-low 42 points in the defeat, while shooting just 23.9 percent from the field (11-for-46).