BILLINGS, Mont. – Bringing its shortened 2020-21 season to an end this weekend, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team has two more games on the calendar with a road trip to Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Northwest Nazarene University.
 
After splitting a pair of games at Alterowitz Gym last weekend, the teams will reconvene at Johnson Sports Center to close out the season. Tipoff on Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m., before the season finale on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here. Per GNAC mandate, no fans are allowed at the games. "They were great games, and we played a pretty complete game on Friday," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin commented on the first meeting with the Nighthawks. "It is really beneficial to play really good teams, and it is a really good way to end our season. You know they will exploit things if you don't play well, and they are so active on defense."
 
"In this weird COVID year it has been hard to explain to our new players what the GNAC is like," junior forward Shannon Reny said. "Going into next year and having everyone back, these games will help us a lot to stride into conference play."

In their most comprehensive performance of the season, the Yellowjackets cruised to a 79-62 victory over the Nighthawks in the first meeting between the teams last Friday. NNU turned around and evened the series the following afternoon, with a 78-74 triumph to split the two games in Billings. The Yellowjackets enter this weekend's games with a record of 4-2 while Northwest Nazarene is 6-6 on the season. "I'd like to see us play a little more consistent throughout the whole game and the whole weekend," Woodin said. "We have played really well for stretches of games, but then sometimes we let the other team do the same thing to us. We really talk about trying to win each quarter. I am looking forward to these games and I think we are going to play well."
 
"Our chemistry and the connection we have on this team is so fun," said Reny. "We have so much potential, and we are so excited. They are like 10 of my best friends on the court, and that is just so fun to be playing every day with your best friends."
 
MONTAGUE MAKES MOST OF RETURN: Competing for the first time this season, Shayla Montague was a major contributor with 30 total points in the two games last week. The sophomore scored a career-high 20 while making four 3-pointers in MSUB's victory, while also grabbing a dozen rebounds and adding six assists and three blocks in the two games last week. "On Friday we had Shayla back and things kind of felt normal, and we played really well," Reny said. "Saturday we knew they were going to come out and get hot, and we just battled. Those close games are going to fire us up and keep us going to the end. We are going to learn a lot from them."
 
SHELLY SNAPS SCORING SLUMP: After being limited to single digits in scoring in MSUB's two previous games, junior forward Taryn Shelley had a breakout performance with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting in the second game against NNU. It was Shelley's second 20-point performance of the season, and she also had five rebounds and three blocked shots in the game.
 
KUNKEL NOTCHES FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Cariann Kunkel completed her first double-double in a Yellowjacket uniform and the 14th of her collegiate career in MSUB's victory last week, scoring 16 points and adding 11 rebounds. Kunkel made 11 of 22 shots overall on the week for 32 total points, and came up just shy of a second double-double as she finished with nine boards in the second game against the Nighthawks. Kunkel leads the team in rebounds with 8.2 per game and assists with 4.3 per game, while ranking third in scoring at 14.2 points per game.
 
DOUBLE FIGURES FOR DYAUNI: Freshman Dyauni Boyce scored a season-high 11 points in the victory over NNU, marking the second time this spring she has reached double digits in a game. Boyce also hauled in six rebounds, while shooting a near-perfect 5-for-6 from the floor in 27 minutes.
 
GARDNER'S EFFICIENT SHOOTING: Junior Addison Gardner contributed with 19 total points last week, making 6 of 10 total shots including 4 of 6 threes. Gardner also matched her career high in both games with four assists, and grabbed six rebounds total on the weekend.
 
PATTON POURS IN 15: Junior guard Skylar Patton reached her highest point total of the year in the win over NNU, making 5 of 11 shots and all four of her free throws en route to 15 points. She followed that with a season-high seven assists, and finished the weekend with 22 points, 11 assists, and five steals.
 
RENY LEADS ACADEMIC PERFORMERS: Reny was among three Yellowjackets selected to the academic all-GNAC team announced earlier this week, and was one of just two players in the conference to hold a perfect 4.00 grade point average. Reny and Shelley each earned the honor for the second time in their careers, while sophomore Kali Gulick was a first-time academic selection.
 
"Shannon's commitment is second-to-none," Woodin said. "She puts in the time on and off the court, and she's everything you'd want to represent your school as a student-athlete. I am really impressed with the improvements Shannon has made on the court, and just from last year to this year she is playing with a lot more poise. She is doing a good job for us on the boards and defensively, and she is a great leader."
 
"This offseason I just really worked on my confidence," said Reny. "I have been working on my mental game and having the confidence to step on the court. Having my teammates around me just push me and build that confidence has helped a lot too."
 
Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks
Friday, March 5 – 7 PM
Saturday, March 6 – 2 PM
 
NNU enters the weekend having won three of its last four games with the lone exception being the loss to the Yellowjackets last week. The Nighthawks have played against three GNAC opponents this spring, splitting all three series thus far as they went 1-1 against both Saint Martin's University and Seattle Pacific University. This weekend's games will be the last two of the year for NNU.