BILLINGS, Mont. – Returning to the court for its final two home games of the 2021-22 season, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team is set to host a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents this week at Alterowitz Gym.
 
The Yellowjackets (13-9, 7-3 GNAC) welcome Saint Martin's University (10-9, 2-8) to Alterowitz Gym on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The annual Pink Night game will be sponsored by the St. Vincent Healthcare Eva Project, with the proceeds from the gate being donated towards the fight against breast cancer.
 
Saturday will mark the final home game in the careers of Yellowjacket seniors Taryn Shelley, Addison Gardner, and Shannon Reny. Tipoff against Western Oregon University (8-10, 4-7) is set for 7 p.m., with a Senior Night ceremony to follow upon the completion of the game. Live coverage for both games this weekend can be found online here.
 
"It is nice to return to action on our home court," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "Both Saint Martin's and Western Oregon are solid opponents, and we split on our road trip in January at their places. They have talented players and we regularly have close, hard-fought games with both of them and I expect tough games again. Thursday will be our annual PINK game to promote breast cancer awareness and Saturday is senior night for Addison, Shannon, and Taryn. Our PINK game is always one we look forward to. We aren't able to do as many pre-game activities as in past years due to COVID but we appreciate our partnership with St. Vincent Healthcare. Addison, Shannon, and Taryn are amazing student-athletes and represent our university and women's basketball program so well. All three of them will graduate this May and have provided excellent leadership on and off the court. I thank them for their dedication and commitment to our program over the years."
 
With just five regular-season games left on the schedule, the Yellowjackets will finish their slate of games on the road the next two weeks. After the GNAC announced that all 10 basketball teams will participate in this year's GNAC Championships, which run March 2-5 in Washington, the league released that a point rating system will be used to determine the final conference standings and the seeding for this year's tournament field. The complete PRS standings, including the ranking scale and current standings, can be found online here. Entering this week, MSUB sits in fourth place in the most recent PRS standings.
 
"We are excited and are looking forward to the remainder of the season," Woodin said. "With at least five regular season games left, it's the time of year you need to be playing your best basketball. We hope to be 100 percent healthy for the GNAC tourney. I am pleased how our younger players have developed and I think our depth continues to be a strength of our team. Execution on both ends and late game situations become more important and we need to continue to improve. Our consistency has improved over the past three weeks and I am excited to see how we play these final three weeks of the regular season. It was a great decision by the GNAC to allow everyone into the tourney this year. The tourney will be very exciting, our goal is to peak in March, and I think we can definitely still accomplish our goal."
 
MSUB had both games last week postponed due to COVID-19 protocol, as its scheduled contests at Simon Fraser University and at No. 9 Western Washington University were called off. No makeup date has been announced for either postponed game. The Yellowjackets have had five games this season postponed, and thus far have made up two of those as they enter this week with three games yet to be made up. "Our team is very excited to return to action this week," said Woodin. "We are getting healthier every day and by the end of this week, we hope to be at full capacity. We haven't had enough players to do much beyond 3-on-3 so we are looking forward to more people at practices. Addison Gardner should return from her injury this week and it will be great to have her back on the court. My staff and players have done a tremendous job over the past 10 days of getting back to fundamentals and finding ways to get better despite our limited numbers."
 
MSUB CLIMBS REGIONAL RANKINGS DESPITE NULL WEEK: The Yellowjackets nudged up one spot in the latest D2SIDA West Region Rankings, appearing at No. 8 in the poll released Monday. The official NCAA regional rankings, which will be used to determine this year's field for the NCAA D2 West Region Championships, are expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks. The final NCAA rankings, set for release on March 6, will reveal the eight-team regional playoff field with the winner of the GNAC Championships earning an automatic berth into the event.
 
D2SIDA Women's Basketball West Region Rankings (2-8-2022)

Rank	Team	Record	Conference	Prev. Rank
1	Western Washington (4)	14-1, 6-1 GNAC	Great Northwest Athletic Conference	1
2	Azusa Pacific (2)	18-1, 14-0 PWC	PacWest Conference	2
3	Cal State San Marcos	15-2, 13-1 CCAA	California Collegiate Athletic Association	4
4	Cal State East Bay	16-2, 11-1 CCAA	California Collegiate Athletic Association	3
5	Alaska Anchorage	14-4, 7-3 GNAC	Great Northwest Athletic Conference	T6
6	Central Washington	15-5, 8-3 GNAC	Great Northwest Athletic Conference	5
7	Northwest Nazarene	12-6, 6-4 GNAC	Great Northwest Athletic Conference	T6
8	MSU Billings	13-9, 7-3 GNAC	Great Northwest Athletic Conference	T9
9	Biola	14-7, 9-4 PWC	PacWest Conference	RV
10	Stanislaus State	11-3, 6-2 CCAA	California Collegiate Athletic Association	8

 *First-place votes in parenthesis | Prev. Rank was last week's ranking | The NCAA D2 West Region is comprised of the GNAC, PacWest, and CCAA
 
SHELLEY CLIMBS SCORING CHART WITH BIG WEEK: Senior forward Taryn Shelley continued to climb MSUB's all-time scoring chart, leading the Yellowjackets with 62 points in the team's three games two weeks ago. Shelley capped the week off with 28 points in the team's 77-71 win over Alaska on Jan. 30, as she finished the game one point off her career scoring high. Her week also included a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double against the Nanooks, marking her fifth double-double of the year and the 23rd of her career.

Shelley moved into the top-20 in MSUB history in scoring, upping her career total to 1,143 points to rank her 19th. Shelley is also approaching 700 career rebounds, with her total of 692 entering this week ranking her ninth in school history.
 
MSUB Women's Basketball Career Scoring Leaders (as of Feb. 9, 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	Alicia Cahill	1,195	1996-99
18	Tami Fleek	1,147	1995-98
19	Taryn Shelley	1,143	2018-22
20	Lori Fries	1,139	1981-84

 
MSUB Women's Basketball Career Rebounding Leaders (as of Feb. 9, 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	692	2018-22
10	Lori Fries	684	1981-84

 
PATTON REACHES SEASON HIGH: Junior point guard Skylar Patton reached her highest scoring total of the season in the Yellowjackets' last set of games, scoring 16 points in the opening game against Alaska. Three of Patton's four double-figure scoring performances have come in her last eight appearances.
 
GIESE'S NUMBERS STEADILY RISING: True freshman guard Aspen Giese has continued to increase her output as her debut collegiate season has progressed. Over her last four games Giese is averaging 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in a well-balanced contribution. Giese is shooting 45.0 percent (9-for-20) during that span as she has made the most of increased minutes.
 
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE BY WILLIAMS: True freshman Chloe Williams also took advantage of increased playing time in MSUB's last series, and broke out with a 10-point, eight-rebound performance in the win over Alaska. It was Williams' first time reaching double figures in scoring, and her rebounding total as well as four steals were both season highs.
 

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Saint Martin's University Saints
Thursday, February 10, 2022 – 7 PM – Alterowitz Gym – Billings, Montana
2021-22 Record: 10-9, 2-8 GNAC
Head Coach: Christy Martin, 5th season
First Meeting: MSUB 55, SMU 31 (Jan. 15 at Lacey, WA)
 
The Saints fell to Seattle Pacific 63-43 on Tuesday night, extending their current losing skid to three games. SMU will play at Seattle Pacific on Saturday after Thursday's game against the Yellowjackets.
 
Claire Dingus is SMU's top player, averaging 17.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game to lead the team in both categories. Rian Clear averages 13.2 points per game, and Tierney DeDonatis is averaging 10.8 points per game while pacing the squad with 89 assists. Emily Nelson joins Dingus and DeDonatis as the third SMU player to have started all 19 games this season.
 
SMU shoots 40.1 percent overall, 26.6 percent from 3-point range, and 71.1 percent from the free-throw line. The Saints are narrowly out-scoring their opponents 63.0-62.4, and out-rebounding the opposition 36.5-31.8.
 
The Series: MSUB is 31-12 all-time against SMU and is 17-2 in games played at Alterowitz Gym.
 
Last Time Out: The Yellowjackets held the Saints to the lowest point total by an opponent in the Coach Woodin era, and cruised to a 24-point victory in Washington a month ago.
 

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Western Oregon University Wolves
Saturday, February 12, 2022 – 7 PM – Alterowitz Gym – Billings, Montana
2021-22 Record: 8-9, 4-6 GNAC
Head Coach: Holli Howard-Carpenter, 9th season
First Meeting: WOU 66, MSUB 57 (Jan. 14 at Monmouth, OR)
 
The Wolves emerged triumphant in their lone game last week, topping Saint Martin's 49-47 to snap a four-game losing skid. WOU started this week with a 73-65 loss to Alaska Anchorage on Tuesday, and will play at Seattle Pacific on Thursday night before taking on the Yellowjackets.
 
Meadow Aragon is WOU's leading scorer at 11.9 points per game and is the team's top rebounder at 7.4 boards per game. Tresai McCarver is another Wolf to watch, entering Thursday averaging 10.7 points and leading the team with 72 assists. McCarver is the lone WOU player to have started all 18 games this season.
 
WOU is being out-scored 65.4-64.7, but holds a narrow 38.8-36.3 edge in rebounding. The Wolves shoot 39.9 percent overall, 28.1 percent from 3-point range, and 69.3 percent from the foul line.
 
The Series: The Yellowjackets are 28-9 all-time against WOU and are 14-3 in home games.
 
Last Time Out: Western Oregon got the best of the 'Jackets on their home floor, holding MSUB to a field-goal percentage of 30.5 and relying on 21 points from McCarver.