PORTLAND, Ore. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team was picked to finish in second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference this season, following the release of the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll by the conference Friday.
 
"Our team and coaches are excited about this upcoming season," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We understand how hard it is to win in the GNAC, and we look forward to defending our regular season conference title from a year ago. We have a strong senior class who leads effectively on and off the court. Our team is very determined to have another great season, and we can't wait for it to begin."
 
Coming off a season in which the Yellowjackets finished 28-7 overall, went 16-2 in GNAC play on their way to claiming the conference's regular season title, and made a run to the Sweet 16 and West Regional Championship, expectations and opinions of MSUB remain high heading into the 2024-25 campaign. Five coaches voted for the Yellowjackets to finish first this upcoming season, giving MSUB the most first place votes in the conference. The Yellowjackets earned 90 total points, finishing just one point behind Western Washington for first place overall.
 
2024-25 GNAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank      Team (1st Place Votes)                  Points                          2023-24 Record      GNAC Record (Finish)
1             Western Washington (4)               91                                 24-7                                  14-4 (2nd)
2             Montana State Billings (5)            90                                 28-7                                   16-2 (1st)
3             Alaska Anchorage (1)                     79                                 19-9                                  13-5 (3rd)
4             Central Washington                        78                                 19-12                              10-8 (T4th)
5             Simon Fraser                                    59                                 17-14                              10-8 (T4th)
6             Northwest Nazarene                      47                                 9-15                                  7-11 (7th)
7             Saint Martin's                                   37                                 8-17                                  6-12 (8th)
8             Seattle Pacific                                  34                                 11-18                                8-10 (6th)
9             Alaska Fairbanks                              20                                 4-23                                3-15 (T9th)
10           Western Oregon                             15                                 10-13                              3-15 (T9th)
 
Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

The Yellowjackets are set to return seven of their players from last season's team, including a pair of returning All-GNAC Second Team selections. Defending GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Kortney Nelson is back following a season in which she averaged 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, along with 1.3 steals per contests, as is Dyauni Boyce, who averaged 14.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists last season. They are joined by fellow seniors Aspen Giese, a previous All-GNAC Honorable Mention pick who averaged 9.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, and Chloe Williams, who averaged 4.8 points per game while finishing second in both steals and blocks last season. Alongside their seniors is Kaitlin Grossman, who averaged 2.5 points and 2.2 rebounds across 30 games in 2023-24, and sophomores Layla Baumann and Avery Burkhart, who played in 21 and 16 games respectively while getting their first taste of action at the collegiate level.
 
The Yellowjackets are set to begin their preseason slate on Tuesday, October 22, against Montana Tech, before traveling to Choteau to face off against Montana State University-Northern on October 27. MSUB opens it's regular season as a part of the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead hosted at Alterowitz Gym, with games each day from November 1-3. A full look at the Yellowjacket's 2024-25 schedule can be found online here.