BILLINGS, Mont. – All focus for the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team lies on a pair of crucial Great Northwest Athletic Conference road contests this week to close out the 2021-22 regular season.
 
With all 10 GNAC schools advancing to next week's conference tournament, the Yellowjackets will play at Central Washington at 5:15 p.m. (PST) on Thursday and at Northwest Nazarene at 5:15 p.m. (MTN) on Saturday. Live coverage for both games will be available online here.
 
"Our team is excited about the next two weeks," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We know this is the time you want to peak and I believe our best basketball is still to come. We have been working on fundamentals and trying to improve our communication both on and off the floor. We have a close-knit group that is very unselfish and dedicated to a team first attitude. The games seem to get closer this time of year, so late game execution on both ends will be very important."
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE: Although MSUB enters the week tied for first place with Western Washington in the traditional GNAC standings (based on conference winning percentage), the 'Jackets are fourth in the GNAC Points Rating System standings which will determine this year's conference tournament seeding and regular-season champion. The points rating system awards points based on the winning percentage of opponents when the regular season concludes. A detailed explanation of the points rating system, including the most recent GNAC PRS standings, can be found online here.
 
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS: After being left off the initial NCAA D2 West Region rankings last week, the Yellowjacket women cracked into the poll that will ultimately determine this year's field of eight regional tournament teams. MSUB appeared at No. 9 in the latest poll, released on Wednesday. The winner of this year's GNAC Championships tournament will claim an automatic berth into the NCAA regional – otherwise teams will have to vie for an appearance in the top-eight to receive an at-large bid. The full NCAA D2 regional rankings can be found online here.
 
MSUB took care of business in its only game last week, topping Seattle Pacific 56-53 on the road for its fourth consecutive win. The Yellowjackets (16-9, 10-3 GNAC) are on their second four-game winning streak of the season, and overall have won 10 of their last 12 games dating back to Dec. 18. MSUB enters this week's trip with a record of 4-2 in road contests this season.
 
"Winning at SPU is very difficult to do," Woodin said. "We basically led the whole game and we talked about getting off to a better start and we did that in both halves. We couldn't get much separation from SPU as they kept fighting and coming back. I was proud of our players though for not giving up the lead and finding a way to win at the end. We got a couple of great stops in the final minute which was critical. Taryn (Shelley) and Dani (Zahn) led us throughout the game offensively, and scoring was hard to come by but we made enough shots to get the win."
 
POSTPONED GAMES ARE NOW CANCELED: Three games on MSUB's schedule that were postponed due to COVID-19 protocol have officially been canceled, with no time remaining in the regular season to make up the contests against Western Washington on Jan. 6 and Feb. 5, and against Simon Fraser on Feb. 3. The Yellowjackets will finish the regular season playing 27 of 30 scheduled games.
 
SHELLEY PIVOTAL IN ROAD WIN: Senior forward Taryn Shelley was pivotal in the Yellowjackets' road win last week, scoring 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting and narrowly missing her third straight double-double with nine rebounds. Shelley climbed to No. 2 in the GNAC in rebounding at 8.0 boards per game, and is No. 8 in scoring at 14.5 points per game with both figures leading the team.
 
Shelley, who has emerged into a GNAC Player of the Year candidate, climbed one spot on the MSUB all-time scoring list, moving to No. 17 in program history with 1,200 career points. Shelley remained at No. 9 in rebounding with 725, and is also third in blocks with 126, eighth in field-goal percentage at 49.4, and sixth in 3-point field-goal percentage at 36.4.
 
MSUB Women's Basketball Career Scoring Leaders (as of Feb. 23, 2022)

Rank	Player	Points	Career
1	Alisha Breen	2,001	2013-18
10	Shelley Altrogge	1,382	1990-91
11	Kelli Kenyon	1,362	1984-87
12	Amy Winslow	1,358	1996-99
13	Codi Schmitz	1,324	1997-00
14	Tanya Petersen	1,264	2003-06
15	Natalie Visger	1,219	2000-03
16	Rylee Kane	1,214	2014-18
17	Taryn Shelley	1,200	2018-22
18	Alicia Cahill	1,195	1996-99
19	Tami Fleek	1,147	1995-98
20	Lori Fries	1,139	1981-84

 
MSUB Women's Basketball Career Rebounding Leaders (as of Feb. 23, 2022)

Rank	Player	Rebounds	Career
1	Janiel Olson	1,001	2012-16
2	Robyn Milne	957	2002-05
3	Alisha Breen	878	2013-18
4	Alicia Cahill	814	1996-99
5	Natalie Visger	796	2000-03
6	Theresa O'Donnell	761	1982-84
7	Michelle Lieber	740	2005-07
8	Shelley Altrogge	734	1990-91
9	Taryn Shelley	725	2018-22
10	Lori Fries	684	1981-84

 
ZAHN DELIVERS ANOTHER CLUTCH EFFORT: Sophomore guard Danielle Zahn made 7 of 15 shots against the Falcons to complement Shelley with 15 points. Zahn also had three steals, while bumping her season scoring average up to 7.2 points per game to rank her third on the team.
 

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Central Washington University Wildcats
Thursday, February 24 – 5:15 PM (PST) – Nicholson Pavilion – Ellensburg, Washington
2021-22 Record: 18-7, 11-5 GNAC
Head Coach: Randi Richardson-Thornley, 5th season
2020-21 Record: 0-2, 0-0 GNAC
First Meeting: CWU 79, MSUB 68 (Dec. 4, 2021 at Billings, MT)
 
The Wildcats endured an 89-81 loss to Alaska Anchorage on Monday evening, after beating both Western Oregon and Saint Martin's on the road last week. After Thursday's game against the Yellowjackets, the Wildcats will host Seattle Pacific University on Saturday to close the regular season.
 
CWU's GNAC Player of the Year candidate, Kassidy Malcolm, leads the conference in scoring at 18.8 points per game in a virtual tie with teammate Kizzah Maltezo. Perhaps the top two-way player in the league, Samantha Bowman is fifth in scoring at 16.5 points and is on pace to shatter the GNAC single-season rebounding record with a mark of 15.6 boards which leads all of Division II basketball.
 
Tori Maeda has been the top point guard for CWU, leading the team with 89 assists. Valerie Huerta has earned 17 starts and has played in all 25 games, while ranking fourth on the team with 7.4 points and third with 69 assists.
 
The Wildcats rank second in the GNAC in 3-point field-goal percentage at 34.1, helping them pace the league with an average of 73.8 points per game. The Wildcats shoot 43.8 percent overall and 74.9 percent from the free-throw line, and rank third in the league with a rebounding margin of plus-3.3 (38.5-35.2).
 
"Central Washington is very talented," Woodin said. "They have three of the best players in the conference in Malcolm, Bowman, and Maltezo. I can't ever remember three people basically all scoring 16-19 points per game on one team in the GNAC. It will be impossible to stop all of them but we hope to make them work hard for their scores and not allow easy second-chance points. CWU is so good on the offensive glass and that is an area we must limit in order to win. It is always hard to gauge how you will do when you haven't seen an opponent for three months. I am sure both teams have gotten a lot better – I know we have. It will be important for us to get offensive balance and we need to take care of the basketball better than we did last week."
 
The Series: MSUB is 26-15 all-time against CWU and holds a 10-8 record in games played in Ellensburg. The Wildcats have won two in-a-row at home and four of the last five meetings overall between the teams dating back to the 2017-18 season.
 
Last Time Out: Even without Bowman, the Wildcats out-paced the Yellowjackets 79-68 at Alterowitz Gym to kick off the conference season. Shelley had 21 points to lead the 'Jackets, but Maltezo scored 22 and Malcolm chipped in 19 to pace the 'Cats to a road win.
 

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Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks
Saturday, February 26 – 5:15 PM (MTN) – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, Idaho
2021-22 Record: 16-8, 10-6 GNAC
Head Coach: Steve Steele, 6th season
2020-21 Record: 7-7, 0-0 GNAC
First Meeting: MSUB 71, NNU 67 (Dec. 2, 2021 at Billings, MT)
 
The Nighthawks enter the week with the momentum of three straight victories, including a monumental 87-76 overtime triumph over No. 6 Western Washington University on Monday night. NNU will host Seattle Pacific on Thursday evening, before welcoming the Yellowjackets in the regular-season finale on Saturday.
 
The well-balanced Nighthawks have six players averaging at least 7.9 points per game, with Teagan Thurman leading the way at 12.2 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. Nyalam Thabach is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, at 11.8 points and 6.7 boards. Veteran Erin Jenkins has started a team-high 20 games, and is third on the squad at 11.5 points while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor.
 
Jordan Pinson is NNU's primary point guard with a team-best 79 assists, while ranking fourth on the squad with 8.6 points per game.
 
The Nighthawks are not a major threat from the arc, ranking sixth in the league at 28.9 percent from 3-point range and heaving up the third-fewest attempts on the season at 408 (17.0 threes per game). NNU shoots a league-third best 41.2 percent overall from the field, and is fifth in the conference in free-throw shooting at 70.6 percent. The Nighthawks are out-scoring their opposition 73.1-68.1, and they hold a rebounding advantage of 39.9-38.0.
 
"NNU is playing as well as anyone in the conference right now and is coming off three straight close road victories," said Woodin. "They played clutch in those close games and represent a tremendous challenge for our team. They will pressure you all over the court so poise and spacing will be key for us on offense. Like us, they have balanced scoring so you can't key on any particular player. We will need to play good team defense and it is important we shoot free throws well this week. They regularly play a big role in close games."
 
The Series: MSUB is 21-19 all-time against NNU and is 7-12 in games played in Nampa. MSUB is 1-5 across the last six road games in the series.
 
Last Time Out: Shelley scored 22 points and the Yellowjackets shot 47.4 percent from the arc (9-for-19), to overcome a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double by Thabach and claim the win nearly three months ago.