Lady Jackets Draw No. 4 Seed, Central Washington at NCAA Tournament (March 9, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State University-Billings women’s basketball team received a berth to the NCAA II West Region Tournament for the second straight year Sunday, earning the No. 4 seed as announced by the NCAA Championship Selection Committee.  The Yellowjackets (20-6) will face No. 5 Central Washington (17-8) in the first round of the tournament on Friday, March 14.  The Yellowjackets and Wildcats will play the third game of the opening round, tipping off at 5:30 p.m. PST.

As expected, unbeaten and top-ranked Seattle Pacific (27-0) earned the No. 1 seed and the right to host the tournament.  Rounding out the eight-team field are No. 2 Cal State-Bakersfield (26-1), No. 3 Western Washington (22-5), No. 6 Northwest Nazarene (19-8), No. 7 Cal State-Stanislaus (18-9), and No. 8 Chico State (17-9).  The Yellowjackets have faced Western Washington, Northwest Nazarene and Cal State-Stanislaus this season, winning all three games.

West Regional tickets will go on sale beginning Monday at 9 a.m. at the SPU Athletics Office (206/281-2085) in the pavilion. Prices are $10 for reserved seating and $7 for general admission ($5 for students and youth). Ticket office hours are 9-4:30 through Thursday, 9-11 a.m. Friday and 9-4:30 Mar. 17. Box office ticket windows will open at 11:30 a.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Mar. 17.

The Yellowjackets and Wildcats have played nine times in their history, with MSU Billings winning eight of those meetings.  The last time MSU Billings and Central Washington faced each other was at last season’s UC-San Diego Christmas Tournament.  The Yellowjackets prevailed 65-59 and went on to gain the No. 3 seed in the regional tournament in Pomona, California.  MSUB was upset by No. 6 Sonoma State in the first round and Pomona went on to win the National Title.

MSU Billings will take a senior-laden team to the tournament, led by all-region candidate Natalie Visger.  Visger, a senior forward from Gillette, Wyo., is averaging a team-high 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and also leads the team with 75 assists.  She has tallied 11 double-doubles this year and has scored in double figures 24 times.  Visger is No. 11 on the Yellowjacket career scoring list with 1190 points and No. 3 on the career rebounding list with 779 rebounds.

The five Yellowjacket seniors combine for 46.6 of the team’s 66.6 points per game.  Senior guard Jessica Bachmann (Gillette, Wyo.) joins Visger as one of the Jackets’ top scoring threats, scoring 10.7 points per game.  Joan Langford, a senior from Reedpoint, Mont., adds 9.1 points per game and has made 55 three-pointers in 25 games this season.  Langford’s 142 career three-pointers place her third in the Yellowjacket career record book.

Despite the career records of some of the seniors, the Yellowjackets’s trademark is their defense.  They are ranked 11^th in the nation for field goal percentage defense and feature one of the best shot blockers in NCAA II history.  Senior center Jessie Henigman (Bridger, Mont.) has swatted 91 blocks this season to move up to No. 16 in NCAA II history for blocked shots in a career.  She is also ranked 3^rd in the nation for blocked shots per game this season with 3.5 bpg.  That inside presence has helped the Yellowjackets hold opponents to a 34.8 field goal percentage and 59.8 points per game.

Central Washington clinched its playoff berth with an overtime win over Western Oregon at home Saturday night.  The Yellowjackets swept two games at Western Oregon earlier in the season en route to a 13-3 regional record.  The Wildcats are led by a trio of double-figure scorers.  Lindsay Weiss (5’9” junior forward), Meggen Kautzky (5’7” senior guard) and Alayna Vincent (6’1” sophomore center) each average about 12 points per game. 

Weiss and Kautzky have combined for 93 three-pointers this season while Vincent is averaging a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game.  Weiss missed Saturday’s game against Western Oregon with an injury, breaking her streak of 21 consecutive starts.  She and senior Careo Wells, who also missed Saturday’s game because of injury, are both expected to play this week. 

Yellowjacket fans who cannot make the trip to Seattle for the tournament can listen to the action live on News Radio 970 AM KBUL and on the internet at www.msubillings.edu/athletics.  The voice of the Yellowjackets, Pat Boland, will be calling the play-by-play.  Links to tournament brackets and game stories will also be available on the Yellowjacket website.

West Regional Schedule
Friday, March 14
12:30 p.m. - #3 Western Washington vs. #6 Northwest Nazarene
2:30 p.m. - #2 Cal State-Bakersfield vs. #7 Cal State-Stanislaus
5:30 p.m. - #4 Montana State-Billings vs. #5 Central Washington
7:30 p.m. - #1 Seattle Pacific vs. #8 Chico State

Saturday, March 15
5:00 p.m. - Semifinal
7:00 p.m. - Semifinal

Monday, March 17
7:00 p.m. - West Regional Championship Game

Yellowjacket NCAA Tournament Quick Facts:

NCAA Appearances: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002

NCAA Record: 5-8 (1998-99 West Region Champions)

Most Recent NCAA Appearance: 2002, lost in first round to Sonoma State, 67-55, in Pomona, CA

2003 Top Players: Natalie Visger (15.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.9 apg, 42.7 FG%, 83.2 FT%, over 1100 career points); Jessica Bachmann (10.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 36.5 FG%, 73.6 FT%, 30 3Pt field goals); Joan Langford (9.1 ppg, 1.7 apg, 55 3Pt field goals); Jessie Henigman (7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, third in the nation at 3.5 bpg, #16 in NCAA II history for career blocks with 262); Robyn Milne (8.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.2 bpg)