Women’s Basketball Preview: New Faces, Same Goals for Lady Jackets
New Coach, Players Strive for Return to NCAA Tournament

BILLINGS, MT – A new era of women’s basketball begins Wednesday at MSU Billings, but the goal is still the same: reaching the NCAA Tournament.  Melissa Slone will hold her first official practice as the Lady Yellowjackets’ head coach Wednesday afternoon with the objective of guiding MSU Billings to its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth since 1994.

Slone won’t be starting completely from scratch, but it will be close.  The Yellowjackets graduated five seniors in 2003, including three of the top 25 scorers in the program’s history.  Gone are Natalie Visger (11^th all-time scorer), Jessica Bachmann (23^rd all-time scorer) and Joan Langford (25^th all-time scorer).  Also graduated are longtime starting point guard Amy Bantz and the school’s greatest shot blocker, Jessie Henigman, who finished her career 16^th in NCAA II history for career blocks.

The Yellowjackets will return four players from last season’s team, including two who were integral parts in the team’s NCAA Tournament run.  Robyn Milne (6-3 Jr., Richey, MT) is the top returning player and team leader.  She missed seven games in the middle of last season with a broken hand, but returned to the lineup to average 8.7 points and 8.4 rebounds.  She ranked 26^th in the nation with just over two blocked shots per game and is second on the school’s career list with 100 blocks through her first two seasons.

“Obviously Robyn has to get the ball for us to be successful,” said Slone.  “She has unlimited potential, and she’ll be a huge factor for us.  We’ll run a lot of motion offense to try to get her touches, but we’ll also have to shoot well from the perimeter to do that.  I think we have some good shooters and perimeter shooting will be one of our strengths.  We’ve shot well all fall during individual drills.  We’ll see how well we can transfer that to game speed.”

Teaming with Milne in the post will be Tanya Peterson (6-0 So., Billings, MT), a Billings West graduate.  Peterson saw action in all 27 games as a true freshman last season, averaging 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.  Her two biggest games of the season came against two of the toughest teams in the region.  She had a season-high 12 points and eight rebounds in an overtime win against Western Washington early in the season, and scored 10 points against Seattle Pacific in the regional semifinal game.

The Yellowjacket guards will be led by Kayla Frize (5-6 Jr., Miles City, MT).  Frize averaged seven points and made 15 three-pointers in 15 games last season before tearing her ACL.  She underwent surgery to repair the knee and has been rehabbing since last spring.  Frize will be joined by Jenny Langford (5-6 So., Reedpoint, MT) and Lisa Jellum (5-7 So., Gillette, WY).  Langford played in all 28 games as a redshirt freshman last year, starting 23.  She made 39 threes, averaged 4.6 points and was third on the team with 2.4 assists per game.  Jellum played in just nine games before tearing her ACL, but is healthy and has become stronger in preparation for her sophomore campaign.

There’s no question, however, that newcomers will play a vital role in the Yellowjackets’ success.  Four of the new faces are transferring to MSU Billings from either a junior college or another four year school, while two are true freshmen.  The freshmen are both Billings products.  Shannon Harvey (5-8 Fr., Billings, MT) is a Billings Senior grad and played for former Yellowjacket Amy Winslow.  Sophia Forney (6-1 Fr., Livingston, MT) played three years at Billings Skyview before moving to Livingston and playing her senior season at Park County High School.

Bringing experience to the program will be transfers Jennifer Skrifvars (5-9 Fr., Brea, CA) who redshirted at Cal State-San Bernardino last season; Jenny Auer (5-7 Jr., Billings, MT) who ran track at MSU-Bozeman the last two seasons; Alisa Lordemann (Jr., Glendive, MT) who spent two years at Miles CC; and Jamie Barker (Jr., Templeton, CA) who transfers from Portland CC.

“We really need Tanya Peterson to step up in the post,” said Slone.  “One of our concerns is our depth in the post, but Tanya has worked her way into better shape this fall and we expect her to play well.  I think Sophia will surprise some people as a freshman, and Alisa may turn into one of our most versatile perimeter players.”

The Yellowjackets will be tested right out of the gate when they host Sonoma State for two straight games starting with the season opener on November 17.  The Jackets and Seawolves have developed a small rivalry over the past few years.  Two years ago, sixth-seeded Sonoma upset third-seeded MSUB in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.  Last season the Seawolves embarrassed the Yellowjackets with a 63-44 win in Rohnert Park.

The games against Sonoma State will be important for two reasons.  They will likely be worth critical regional power points later in the season for the winner, and they account for two of the three home games for MSUB between mid-November and mid-January.  The Yellowjackets will host Rocky Mountain on December 1 and not return to Alterowitz again until January 16 when they host Green Mountain on back to back nights.

“The road schedule is a concern and a challenge,” said Slone.  “Playing Montana, Wyoming and Seattle Pacific on the road within a span of a couple weeks is tough.  But it sets us up well for the tournament.  The strength of schedule is definitely a challenge, but it prepares us for the tournament.  It puts us in a good spot if we win the key games.”

The Yellowjackets will meet both of their 2003 tournament opponents on the road in November, facing Central Washington in Seattle followed by a match-up with Seattle Pacific the next night.  Following the Rocky game on December 1, they will then have ten straight road games starting with Montana on December 4 and Wyoming on December 13 in Casper.  That ten-game road stretch may also make or break the Yellowjackets’ tournament hopes.  From December 15 to January 10 they will face six West Region opponents, with games against Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Central Washington for a second time, and Humboldt State and Western New Mexico twice apiece.    

If the travel to face regional competition isn’t a big enough challenge, the Lady Jackets will make a short two-game swing to southern Florida to face Nova Southeastern and Florida Southern.  The bright spot in the schedule will be the six home games in February to end the regular season.  They will host Converse College twice, Western New Mexico three times and MSU-Northern once in what they hope is a tune up for the tournament.

“We’re placing different expectations on the girls than they’ve experienced over the past couple years,” said Slone of the fall workouts.  “They’re excited for the challenge and they’ve been very positive.  They’ve responded well to high expectations placed on them and they’re ready for the season to get started.”