Women’s Basketball Set to Host Chadron State for West Region Tilt

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Women’s Basketball Set to Host Chadron State for West Region Tilt
The Montana State Billings women’s basketball team will host the Chadron State Eagles in a 2 p.m. tip-off at Alterowitz Gymnasium Saturday afternoon as part of a double-header with the men’s team.
The Yellowjackets (2-0) are coming off a 70-53 triumph over the University of Mary Wednesday night. The victory gave MSUB its second on the young season, but more importantly, it was the second west region victory on the year.
Callie Kautzmann led the way for the ‘Jackets, scoring 26 points in the contest along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. MSUB had two other players in double figures, Sarah McNamee scored 13 and Kalli Stanhope, coming off 28 from the previous game, scored 10.
Against the Marauders, the Yellowjackets were 25-of-63 (39.9%) from the field, including 8-for-20 from deep and 12-for16 from the charity stripe. MSUB was outrebounded by the Marauders 43-41, but scored 23 points off of 25 turnovers from Mary. The ‘Jackets scored 32 points in the paint and were able to get 15 points off of the offensive glass. After two early ties in the game, the Yellowjackets strung together a 29-9 run to open up a 20 point lead toward the end of the half, but Mary closed the gap, trailing by 13 going into the break, 36-23. The Yellowjackets built up a 22 point lead midway through the second half and did just enough to keep the Marauders from fully getting back into the game down the stretch, coasting to the 17 point victory.
Throughout the series, MSUB has found plenty of success against the Eagles, going 5-1 dating back to their first meeting on Jan. 7, 1978 in Laramie, WY, a 58-56 loss for the ‘Jakcets, their lone loss in the series. Since then, MSUB has won the last five in a row and have outscored the Eagles, 351-259. The two school last met on Jan. 15, 2002 in Chadron, NE, a 61-45 win for MSUB. At home, the Yellowjackets are 4-0 against the Eagles and have not hosted Chadron since the 2000 season, a 90-60 victory.
This game serves as the season opener for the Eagles (0-0). In two exhibition losses (Utah 81-40, BYU 107-55) Kaitlin Petri and Rachael Smidt have led Chadron in scoring. Petri had 25 points and 14 boards combined, while Smidt collected 21 points and six boards.
This is the first of two meetings between the Yellowjackets and Eagles this season. The two opponents will again see each other on Sunday, Jan. 3, in Chadron.
Today’s game wraps-up the first homestand for the Yellowjackets this season. Next, the Yellowjakets travel south to Colorado Springs for the UCCS Tournament where they take on UCCS and Adams State.

Tonight’s Theme
Today’s game theme is BILLINGS BEEZ Day, sponsored by the Faculty/Staff Apreciation. Any child attending today’s game is admitted FREE along with one adult, but a child wearing his/hers BEEZ camp T-shirt from this year is admitted FREE along with two parents.

Is it Callie or Kalli?
Already this season, sophomores Callie Kautzmann and Kalli Stanhope have picked up the scoring void left by last season’s senior class. Through two games, the tandem has scored 88 of the team’s 161 points with 22 rebounds eight assists and eight steals. Kautzmann is leading the team with 25.0 points per game while Stanhope is averaging 19.0 a game.

Milestone Watch
With Wednesday victory, MSUB head coach, Kevin Woodin, recorded his 90th career victory. With 10 more wins, coach Woodin will become the third coach in MSUB women’s basketball history to record 100 wins at the school. With 12 more victories, Woodin would tie Ted Anderson (1982-87) for second on the school’s all-time wins list with 102.

Out of the Blocks
With a win against Chadron State, the Yellowjackets would be 3-0 to start a season for the first time since the 2004-2005 season. That season the Yellowjackets started 3-0 with victories over Western Washington and two wins against Ohio Valley College (now University).

Basketball Battles Breast Cancer
The women’s basketball team is doing its part in the fight against breast cancer. During the first six home games this season, MSUB is taking donations for every three-pointer that is made by the team or just general donations.
75 percent of the proceeds go to a local Billings family that has amassed the expensive medical bills that go into fighting the disease. The other 25 percent goes toward the women’s basketball program.
All anyone has to do is pick up a flyer at any home game or go onto the MSUB website and print off the flyer, then fill out the information and return to the athletics department.

Women Ink Montana Products
Coach Kevin Woodin announced the signings of Bobbi Knudsen and Corie Smith to play for the Yellowjackets starting in 2010-2011.
Knudsen, a 5-8 guard from Malta High School, is a three year letterwinner in basketball and has also earned letters for cross country and track. For her career, Knudsen has averaged 11.0 points per game with 5.5 rebounds, and has shot 59 percent from the floor.
Last season, Knudsen was named to the all-conference and all-state teams in helping Malta to district and divisional championships, leading to a runner-up finish at the state tournament. In all, she has helped MHS to three consecutive district and divisional titles with one state championship in 2007.
Smith, a 5-11 forward, has had a successful basketball and track career at Belgrade High School in Belgrade, MT. Last season, Smith led the Central ‘A’ Conference in 12 rebounds per game and was top-ten in field goal percentage (45.6 percent), steals (35) and scoring (9.89 ppg).
In 2007-08, Smith was named honorable mention all-conference and then last season, earned second team all-conference while being named to the first team Central ‘A’ all-divisional tournament team. Smith also helped lead BHS to a divisional championship in 2009.

Let the Record Show
Sophomore guard Kalli Stanhope ignited a Yellowjackets victory in the season opener (Nov. 15), scoring a career-high 28 points which included a school record eight three-pointers, in defeating UC-Colorado Springs, 91-57.
She broke the previous record of seven which was held by four other Yellowjackets, including the school’s all-time leading scorer, Alira Carpenter.
Stanhope’s eight trey’s were part of 16 drained by the team, just one shy of the school record, 17.

Refuse to Lose... Home Openers
The Nov. 6 home opener win was not only the second consecutive season opener victory, it was the 17th season in which the Yellowjackets have won their home opener.
To find the last time MSUB dropped a home opener, you have to travel back to the 1991-92 season when the Yellowjackets fell to Eastern New Mexico, 72-70, on Nov. 22.

Ninety? No Problem
Scoring 90 points happens more often than you think for Yellowjacket teams. Last season it happened four times and it’s been 16 years since the last time MSUB failed to score 90 points in a game during a season, the 1992-1993 season.

Yellowjackets Predicted Seventh
Montana State Billings women’s basketball was picked to finish seventh in this year’s GNAC standings according to the preseason coaches poll. The ‘Jackets were selected in front of Central Washington and Alaska Fairbanks. Last season, MSUB finished 8-8 in the conference and looks to build on that record with the outside shooting. Ahead of the Yellowjackets, Alaska Anchorage was the preseason favorite, followed by Seattle Pacific, Northwest Nazarene, Western Washington, Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon.

2009-2010 Season Preview
The Montana State Billings women’s basketball team is looking forward to the 2009-2010 season. The Yellowjackets return two starters and seven letter winners from a team that placed fifth in the always competitive Great Northwest Athletic Conference a year ago. The ‘Jackets face a very challenging schedule this season, but one that should prepare them for competition in one of the premier conferences in the country.
One of the toughest tasks this season will be replacing last years’ senior class, especially Alira Carpenter. Carpenter concluded her illustrious career at MSUB, scoring 2,000 career points to become the first player in school history, male or female, to complete the feat. Also gone are Jen Smith and Jetton Meadors who combined to score over 16 points per game last season.
All seven returners are expected to make an impact on this year’s squad, especially the two seniors, Shantell Marquis and Rachel Hansen. Both will team with Kayla Ryan and Mandy Jacobs as team captains this season. Marquis, one of two starters from last year, averaged 7.6 points in 30.7 minutes per game. She also led the team in blocked shots (29), assists (106) and rebounds per game (5.6). MSUB looks forward to the return of Hansen as she missed most of last season with an injury.
The other five returners expected to contribute this season are Ryan, Jacobs, Callie Kautzmann, Kalli Stanhope and Melissa Porter. Ryan, a junior, is the second starter returning this season. She averaged 11.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds and shot 69 percent from the charity stripe in 638 minutes of work. Jacobs, also a junior, contributed 4.1 points per game and shot 50 percent from the line last season. Kautzmann, Stanhope and Porter, all sophomores, now look to step into more key roles as second year players. All three saw extensive playing time for head coach Kevin Woodin last season, and he expects them all to make an impact right away. “Each of the returners has worked very hard to improve their game this off season and I’m excited to see the progress play out on the court,” Woodin said.
The program will see plenty of fresh faces this season as coach Woodin welcomes junior transfer Sarah McNamee and four other freshmen to the team. McNamee, a 5-9 guard, joins the Yellowjackets from Carroll College where she averaged 3.4 points per game and shot 30 percent from the field. Joining McNamee are Kylee Denham, a 5-8 guard, Ashley Reed, a 6-0 forward, Kelcy Lott, a 5-6 guard and Monica Hollowell, a 5-6 guard. “This group of newcomers is very athletic and versatile,” Woodin said. “They possess the talent to allow us to play the tempo we would like and are able to play multiple positions which will help us greatly.”
Coach Woodin believes that this year’s strengths are going to be overall team speed, player versatility and depth from the bench. “I believe we have excellent team speed and we hope to devise a system where that can be used to its advantage,” said Woodin. “We also possess several players who can play more than one position. This will help us tremendously, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Depth is strength that I hope our team will have. With five new players, the jury is still out on how they will impact our team, but I have a good feeling about this group.”

Women’s Basketball History
Women’s basketball has traditionally been the most successful program at Montana State Billings. The Yellowjackets have qualified for the NCAA tournament 11 times since 1987 and 10 times since 1994. The program debuted in 1973 under the direction of head coach Nancy Monger. Since that time, nine of the eleven coaches have compiled overall winning records at MSUB.
Hall of Fame coach Frank McCarthy has won the most games with 191 wins against 91 defeats. During his ten seasons, McCarthy guided MSUB to five NCAA tournament appearances. His 1998-1999 team enjoyed MSUB’s finest season by winning a school record 25 games and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Current coach Kevin Woodin has posted 88 wins in his first five seasons to rank third in school history, behind McCarthy (191) and Ted Anderson (102). The Yellowjackets have captured two regular season championships, one conference title and two NCAA tournament berths under Woodin’s direction.
Last season, Alira Carpenter became the first player, male or female, in MSUB history to record 2,000 career points, and just the fourth collegiate player in the state of Montana to reach the milestone. She was awarded the Little Sullivan Award, just the third MSUB athlete to win the award and the second female basketball player (Robyn Milne, 2001).