Yellowjackets Finish Home Stand Against Nanooks

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BILLINGS, Mont. - Montana State Billings looks to rebound from a string of bad luck, which has seen the Yellowjackets drop four consecutive contests to Great Northwest Athletic Foes. MSUB will square off against the last team it defeated in conference play, the Nanooks of Alaska Fairbanks, Saturday night at Alterowtiz Gymnasium, starting at 7 p.m. The game can be seen over the internet through the MSUB website as well as live stats. Ken Adelblue will have the call for all the action.

The Yellowjackets (9-9, 2-5) enter their contest with Alaska Fairbanks on  a four game skid. Great first half shooting has not corrolated into the same second half performance as the Yellowjackets have trailed by just a few at the half in most of the losses. Turnovers have also plagued the Jackets, turning the ball over a combined 82 times in the last four games. The Yellowjackets were ranked in the top-25 nationally at one point, for turnover margin and turnover/assist ratio. The last time out, the Yellowjackets were unable to find their rhythm, shooting 37.9 percent from the floor, while Central Washington shot an outstanding 49.2 percent. The Wildcats went on to win the game 83-64, and took their first win in Billings in program history. Kayla Ryan currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game to go along with 8.5 boards per contest. The junior is shooting 46.8 percent from the floor, including 50.0 percent from the deep and 87.1 percent from the charity stripe.

Alaska Fairbanks (1-18, 0-8) enters Saturday’s match-up coming off their 18th consecutive loss, losing to in-state rival, Alaska Anchorage, 81-48 in the Patty Center. The Nanooks are led by Lakeshia Levi, averaging 15.7 points per game, including shooting 40.5 percent from the field, and is averaging 8.5 rebounds per contest. Ronisha Edwards is the only other player averaging double figures for UAF, scoring 10.8 per contest and 6.3 boards. Both are averaging over 14 points per conference contest as well. The Nanooks are shooting just 32.9 percent from the field and 25.7 beyond the arc.

MSUB leads the overall series against UAF, 39-11. The Yellowjackets have dominated the Nanooks both on the road (19-6) and at home (19-3). Entering this match up, MSUB has won six-straight against the Nanooks, including their last 11 in Billings. UAF’s last victory in Billings was Feb. 25, 1992, 83-79.
Following Saturday’s contest, the Yellowjackets return to the road for a pair of GNAC contests at Western Oregon and at Saint Martin’s, Thursday, Feb. 11, and Saturday, Feb. 13, respectively.

Theme Night
Saturday night’s game theme is Dollar Night at Alterowitz Gymnasium. All admission is just one dollar. The game sponsor for the night is the Planet Beach. All theme nights can be viewed by clicking on the theme night tab located on the left hand side of the athletics webpage.

Academic All-District
Montana State Billings junior forward, Kayla Ryan, was named to the District 7 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team honors, the organization announced Thursday morning. Ryan joined Seattle Pacific’s, Daesha Henderson, as the only players in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to earn first team honors.

The Big Timber, MT native has a 3.93 GPA in education at Montana State Billings. On the court, Ryan leads the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game and 8.5 rebounds. She’s recorded 35 assists, 21 blocked shots and 17 steals on the year, while recording 27.9 minutes per game.

Halftime Lead
The score at halftime as been quite indicitive of what the score will be at the end of game this season. To date, MSUB is 8-1 in games when leading at halftime, they are just 1-8 when trailing going into the break.

70 Wins Games
The Yellowjackets are a combined 7-0 on the year when they score above 70 points during a game. MSUB is 6-0 when scoring 70+ points and 1-0 when scoring 80+. Games in which the Jackets score below 60 points, they’re 0-3.

Not Close Enough