PORTLAND, Ore. – After a historical run in which it secured the 2026 GNAC Championship, the second in program history, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team was selected as one of the winners of the Athletic Solutions GNAC Team of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
 
The award was the second time this season MSUB earned the honor, with the 'Jackets claiming the honor previously on December 22 of 2025. MSUB would share the honor with Saint Martin's men's basketball, the GNAC Champions on the men's side of the conference tournament.
 
MSUB would pull off a run never seen before in the history of women's basketball in the GNAC, becoming the first No. 6 seed in the history of the conference to win a GNAC Title since the first conference tournament in 2011. The team would face the top three seeds in the tournament along the way, emerging victorious each time as they upset No. 3 Saint Martin's 69-61 on Thursday in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Central Washington 79-74 in the semifinals on Friday, and then capped it off in the championship game with a 66-61 win over No. 1 seed Western Washington, doing so on the Viking's home court.
 
Cassie Chesnut would be named the MVP of the tournament, becoming the first freshman in conference history to receive the honor. Chesnut would score 20+ points in each of the 'Jackets games at the tourney, averaging 21.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks across the three games. She would be joined on the GNAC Championships All-Tournament Team by Kaitlin Grossman, who averaged 17.3 points, 8.0 rebounds. 5.0 assists, and 1.7 steals in the tournament, and Rae Smart, who averaged 12.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.0 block.
 
The entire team stepped up to contribute for the Yellowjackets, who became just the third team in GNAC history to win multiple women's basketball conference tournaments. The win helped MSUB punch it's ticket to the West Regional Tournament, the Yellowjacket's 18^th regional tournament in program history and fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Yellowjackets come into the regional set to compete as the No. 8 seed, with the team rematching once more against Central Washington University in the opening round of action, looking to pull off another upset. MSUB's opening round game with the No. 1 seed Wildcats is scheduled for Friday, March 13 in Ellensburg, WA at Nicholson Pavilion, with tipoff set for 6 PM MT (5 PM PT). Schedule information and links to follow the 'Jackets can be found online on the MSUB women's basketball schedule page, and the West Regional Tournament Central.