BILLINGS, Mont. – Facing its final two non-conference opponents of the 2021-22 season this weekend, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team heads to Las Vegas for the Holiday Hoops Classic.
 
The Yellowjackets (6-6) play West Texas A&M University on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Pacific/11 a.m. Mountain, before squaring off against University of Wisconsin Parkside on Saturday morning at the same time. Live video for the games will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.
 
MSUB is coming off a pair of losses last week, falling to NCAA DI Montana State University 82-81 in double overtime before a 73-65 loss to Rocky Mountain College at home. "We are excited to play these two Division II games in Vegas against quality opponents," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We have identified a couple of areas this week in practice and hope to improve our overall execution this week. The team is excited to play after a tough final exam week, and our goal is to get some momentum going into our Christmas break. I know our best basketball is ahead of us."
 
This week marks MSUB's final games before the holiday break, and the final non-conference matchups of the year. The Yellowjackets return to action on Dec. 30 in Fairbanks, Alaska, kicking off a stretch of 16 straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference games on the road to the 2022 GNAC Championships in March.
 
UNFAMILIAR OPPONENTS: The Holiday Hoops Classic will present MSUB with a pair of unfamiliar foes, as the Yellowjackets have played West Texas A&M just once and have never played UW Parkside in their 45-year history.
 
NELSON CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY: Second-year freshman Kortney Nelson put together the best statistical game of her career last Saturday, scoring a career-high 16 points and just missing her first-ever double-double with nine rebounds. Nelson added three assists, while shooting 6-for-11 in 33 productive minutes. Nelson is averaging 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds over her last three games, while shooting 47.3 percent (9-for-19) during that stretch.
 
ZAHN REACHES CAREER HIGH: Sophomore guard Danielle Zahn matched Nelson with 16 points in the loss to Rocky, as she made a career-high four 3-pointers to reach the highest scoring total of her Yellowjacket tenure. Zahn upped her 3-point shooting percentage to 37.8 on the season, which leads the team among players with at least two 3-point attempts per game.
 
RENY SHOWS UP FOR RIVALRY: Senior Shannon Reny played a big role in keeping MSUB in the Rocky game, scoring a career-high 12 points including a pair of 3-pointers. Reny made 5 of 12 shots overall in the game, while adding three rebounds in her 12 minutes on the floor.
 
SHELLEY APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS: Senior Taryn Shelley is honing in on the 1,000-career point milestone, entering the week with 992 points scored in her four seasons at MSUB. Shelley continues to lead the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game and rebounding at 6.8 boards per game, and is shooting 50.7 percent on the season. Shelley has also made 50.0 percent of her 3-pointers (10-for-20), and her 16 blocks are third-most in the GNAC.
 
KUNKEL CARRIES 'JACKETS AGAINST 'CATS: Putting together a stellar performance in last week's exhibition game against Montana State, Cariann Kunkel scored a game-high 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting in the narrow loss to the Bobcats. Kunkel added seven rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes on the floor. Kunkel leads the team this season with a field-goal percentage of 53.0, and is second in scoring at 11.5 points and rebounding at 5.1 boards.
 

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West Texas A&M University Buffs
Friday, December 17 – 10 AM (PST) – South Point Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
2021-22 Record: 6-6, 0-0 Lone Star Conference
Head Coach: Josh Prock, 1st season
2020-21 Record: 15-6, 13-5 LSC
 
West Texas A&M is off to a 6-6 start under first-year head coach Josh Prock, with three of those losses coming against nationally-ranked opponents. One of those defeats was a 60-49 loss against Lubbock Christian University, the lone common opponent between MSUB and WTAMU. The defeat against the Chaps was the Buffs' most recent counting game leading into this week's matchups, and they'll take on Southern Indiana on Saturday after Friday's tie against the 'Jackets.
 
Zamorye Roberts is the team's leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, but has been limited to single digits in each of the last two contests. Alivia Lewis is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game, while leading the team with 8.3 rebounds per game. In addition to Lewis, Jayla Burgess is the other WTAMU player to have started all 12 games this season and she is averaging 8.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
 
The Buffs shoot 37.4 percent overall, 24.6 percent from 3-point range, and 74.1 percent from the free-throw line. They are out-scoring the opposition 67.6-61.5, and they hold a 42.2-39.9 edge in rebounding.
 
The Series: This will be the second meeting between the teams and the first since the 2005-06 season. It was Woodin's second season as head coach at MSUB.
 
Last Time Out: WTAMU claimed an 87-52 blowout win over the Yellowjackets on Nov. 26, 2005, when the teams met for the first time in Canyon, Texas.
 

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University of Wisconsin Parkside Rangers
Saturday, December 18 – 10 AM (PST) – South Point Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
2021-22 Record: 5-5, 2-2 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Jen Conely, 4th season
2020-21 Record: 11-10, 9-9 GLIAC
 
Like WTAMU, UW Parkside's record sits at an even .500 with the team going 5-5 to start the season. The Rangers lost two games to ranked opponents – including a 71-57 setback to No. 19 Grand Valley State last week – after opening the season with a 78-66 win over No. 23 Truman State. UW Parkside will face another stern test against No. 13 Tampa on Friday, before facing the Yellowjackets on Saturday.
 
One of the biggest offensive threats in the nation, Alyssa Nelson leads the team and ranks 12th in NCAA Division II with 21.2 points per game. Nelson, who is shooting 52.9 percent overall and 42.9 percent from 3-point range, is coming off a season-high 32 points in her last game against Lindenwood. Hannah Plockelman leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, while ranking second on the squad with 14.7 points per game. She is shooting 47.8 percent overall and 55.6 percent from 3-point range.
 
Head coach Jen Conely has used a consistent lineup this year, with Courtney Schoenbeck, Maja Leidefors, and Alexis Vaughn joining Nelson and Plockelman in starting all 10 games thus far. UW Parkside is out-scoring the opposition 72.2-70.4, and is being out-rebounded 35.0-31.2. The Rangers shoot 44.9 percent overall, 35.1 percent from long range, and 77.9 percent from the free-throw line.
 
The Series: Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Yellowjackets and Rangers.