BILLINGS, Mont. – Returning to Alterowitz Gym this weekend, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team looks to keep its early season momentum rolling with two more home contests.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-1) bring a three-game winning streak into this weekend's games and have only been defeated this year by No. 1 Lubbock Christian University.
 
MSUB hosts South Dakota School of Mines on Saturday at 2 p.m., before welcoming No. 6 Carroll College on Sunday at 2 p.m. Live video for this weekend's games will be available online here, with live statistics available online here. "It should be two great games, and we will definitely be challenged," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. "We played them both a couple of years ago, and they were both really close games."
 
MSUB is coming off a pair of victories last week in Oakland, Calif., defeating Holy Names University 88-58 last Friday and San Francisco State University 64-51 last Saturday. "It was a good trip, and we didn't know much about either of the teams we were playing," said senior guard Addison Gardner. "We focused on ourselves, executed, and played very well."
 
"It was nice to come out with two wins, and that is hard to do down there," Woodin commented on his team's performance on the road last week. "What I really liked is that we won with two different styles of play. It's nice to have enough depth and talent to win in different ways."
 
The 'Jackets are on the road again next week, with the Dacotah Bank Classic in Aberdeen, S.D., featuring matchups against Northern State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead. "Our team unity is really special right now," Woodin said. "This team works hard on and off the court to build relationships and trust, and that is one of the foundations of our program. We really want to be there for one another, and that communication is vital on the court."
 
BREEN TO HAVE JERSEY HONORED SATURDAY: Associate head coach and former first-team All-American Alisha Breen will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, and will become the sixth basketball player in school history to have her jersey commemorated in the Corridor of Champions in the lobby outside Alterowitz Gym. Breen's No. 20 will hang alongside women's Hall of Famers Bobbi Knudsen, Amy (Winslow) Pfeifle, and Tera (Silvius) Morton, and men's Hall of Famers Roy McPipe and Jim Soft.
 
"Alisha is a very special person to me," Woodin said on his program's all-time scoring leader with 2,001 career points. "She really gave all the blood, sweat, and tears as a player, and her name is all over the record books. The five players to have had their jerseys honored are very special in the history of our basketball program. Alisha has blossomed into quite the coach, and she definitely deserves this honor."
 
BACK-TO-BACK, AGAIN: For the third straight weekend, MSUB will have games on back-to-back nights – and it won't be the last time this winter the team plays on consecutive days. The 'Jackets played on three consecutive days to open the season at the D2CCA Tip Off Classic at the Trailhead, before last week's road games on consecutive days. The Dacotah Bank Classic will feature another set of back-to-back contests, as will the Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 17-18 in Las Vegas. "We have adapted really well to the back-to-back nights," Gardner said. "We have seen on the second day we have actually been playing better, and I think there are a lot of benefits to it."
 
GARDNER HEATS UP: Gardner had her two most productive games of the season last week, scoring 14 points in the win over Holy Names before chipping in 11 more in the victory over SF State. Gardner made 9 of 19 shots (47.4 percent) while adding three rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and just one turnover in her 49 minutes on the floor in California. "Addison has really improved her game," said Woodin. "She worked hard in the offseason, and offensively I am very impressed with the different ways she can score. Defensively she is one of our team leaders out there, and she is always in the right position. She is just a really good teammate, and what I really love about her is her demeanor."
 
"I think we can adapt to any style of play," Gardner said. "We have so much skill, and every game someone else goes off. Everyone has the potential to score 10-plus points in a game, and that makes us really powerful and hard to stop."
 
KUNKEL PERFECT AGAINST HAWKS: Junior Cariann Kunkel went a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor for 14 points in the win over Holy Names, before grabbing a season-high 11 rebounds in the win over SF State last week. Kunkel has been on fire with her accuracy to start the season, with her field-goal percentage of 62.9 leading the team through the first five games.
 
SHELLEY SETS THE TONE ON THE BOARDS: Senior forward Taryn Shelley paced MSUB with 15 rebounds in the two games last week, and is fourth in the GNAC with an average of 8.4 boards per game thus far. Shelley has been a big part of MSUB's dominance on the glass, as the 'Jackets have out-rebounded all five of their opponents and own a plus-14 rebounding margin on the season (39.6-25.6).
 
ZAHN APPROACHES CAREER HIGHS: Sophomore point guard Danielle Zahn has returned strongly from last spring's season-ending injury, and approached her career highs in both scoring and assists last week. Zahn started with 13 points to miss her career high by one, and finished the weekend with six assists to miss that personal best by one. Zahn also had nine rebounds and just one turnover in the two games, while making 9 of 14 shots from the floor (.643).
 
GIESE HAS FIRST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: True freshman Aspen Giese had the best performance of her young career last Friday, scoring eight points on 4-for-9 shooting while adding four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 14 productive minutes off the bench. Giese has seen action in 4 of 5 games to start her debut collegiate season, and has made 5 of 11 shots to start the year.
 
PATTON HITS DOUBLE FIGURES FOR FIRST TIME: Junior point guard Skylar Patton reached double figures in scoring for the first time this season, pouring in 11 points in 13 minutes thanks to a 7-for-9 line from the free-throw line against SF State. Patton also had five assists in the two games last week.
 

---

South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers
Saturday, November 20, 2021 – 2 PM – Alterowitz Gym – Billings, Montana
2021-22 Record: 0-3
Head Coach: Jeri Jacobson, 3rd season
2020-21 Record: 11-9, 11-7 RMAC
 
The Hardrockers opened their 2021-22 season at the Conference Challenge Tournament last week in Canyon, Texas, falling 70-53 to West Texas A&M University and 63-36 against University of Texas Permian Basin. The Hardrockers lost 76-67 on Thursday evening against Northern State University at home. After Saturday's game against MSUB, the Hardrockers have two games next week at Wayne State College on Nov. 24 and home against University of Sioux Falls on Nov. 27.
 
Ryan Weiss, the team's leading scorer from 2020-21 at 17.2 points per game, is back on the roster but did not play in the Hardrockers' first two games of the year before making her debut Thursday evening. Anna Combalia is the team's other experienced returner, after starting all 19 games last spring and averaging 6.3 points with a team-high 81 assists.
 
SD Mines out-scored its opposition 65.6-62.9 and out-rebounded its opposition 35.6-32.2 during its 19-game schedule last year.
 
The Series: MSUB is 6-2 all-time against South Dakota Mines and holds a perfect 6-0 record in games played at Alterowitz Gym. The teams have split the last four meetings 2-2.
 
Last Time Out: MSUB claimed a 58-57 victory, in a game that featured zero points scored over the final 2:03 minutes of action on Nov. 16, 2019 at Alterowitz Gym.
 

---

No. 6 Carroll College Saints
Sunday, November 21, 2021 – 2 PM – Alterowitz Gym – Billings, Montana
2021-22 Record: 5-1
Head Coach: Rachelle Sayers, 12th season
2020-21 Record: 21-3, 13-1 Frontier Conference (1st place, NAIA Championships first round)
 
The Saints have climbed to No. 6 in the latest NAIA national rankings, shaking off a season-opening loss to Southeastern University and rattling off five straight wins heading into Friday night's 7 p.m. tipoff against NCAA D3 opponent Whitworth University. After Sunday's tangle against the Yellowjackets, Carroll will prep for three games next week at the Julie Costello Memorial Classic Nov. 24-27 in Crestview Hills, Kent.
 
Five Saints have started all six games this season, three of whom are scoring in double figures. Danielle Wagner leads the team with 15.5 points per game, while Jamie Pickens is scoring 14.5 points and notching a team-best 6.2 rebounds. Christine Denny is also in double figures with 12.5 points per game, and point guard Kamden Hilborn is averaging 5.0 assists per game.
 
Carroll is blasting away the competition with a scoring margin of plus-29.9 (82.2-52.3), and holds a dominant rebounding margin of plus-9.7 (34.5-25.2).
 
The Series: MSUB holds a 38-7 all-time record against Carroll and is 23-4 in home games against the Saints. The 'Jackets enter Sunday's game having won 15 straight between the teams dating back to the 1988-89 season. Carroll has not won a regular-season game in Alterowitz Gym since Dec. 14, 1984.
 
Last Time Out: The last counting contest between the team was Dec. 13, 2013, when the 'Jackets claimed a solid 62-47 triumph at home.