2007-2008 Women's Basketball Weekly Release #5 (December 31)

This Week's Schedule

*Click HERE for live stats of the Alaska-Anchorage game
**Click HERE for live stats of the Alaska-Fairbanks game

Week in Review

The Lady Yellowjackets traveled to Rohnert Park, Calif., for the Hampton Inn & Suites Basketball Classic December 28 and 29.  The team fell in both games to perennial powerhouses Sonoma State University on Friday and against No. 12 ranked Chico State University on Saturday.

In Friday's 66-51 loss, the Seawolves opened with a 8-0 run before the Lady Jackets finally broke the ice at the three-minute mark on a pair of free throws by sophomore Dani Henderson (Reed Point).  At 12:39, Kayla McPherson (Glendive) drained a 3-pointer to pull with six, but the Seawolves answered back grinding away to hold a 36-20 advantage heading into the locker room.

Early in the second half it looked as though Sonoma State would run away with the ball game, but a determined Yellowjacket squad fought for every basket and possession.  Trailing by 24 points with 4:39 left to play, the Jackets’ Jen Smith (Belgrade) and Alira Carpenter (Lewistown) combined for seven points narrowing the Seawolves’ lead to 17. 

The Jackets put together a 9-0 run to close out the final five minutes of the game but were unable to overcome the large deficit, granting the Seawolves a victory on their home court.

Kayla Ryan (Big Timber) came off the Yellowjackets’ bench to lead MSUB scoring a career-high 16 points.  Ryan was 7-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-5 from the charity stripe.  Carpenter came alive in the second half scoring all 11 points in the final 20 minutes of play, while Henderson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

In Saturday's 73-59 loss against No. 12 ranked Chico State University Alira Carpenter (Lewistown) made history in becoming just one of 19 Lady Yellowjackets to eclipse 1,000 career-points.  Carpenter did this en route to scoring a game-high 23 points.

Although the Lady Jackets shot more proficiently than the Wildcats from both the field and the perimeter, the difference in the game came at the free throw line and under the basket.  Not only were the Jackets were out rebounded 44-25 by Chico State, the Wildcats also out shot the Jackets 18-9 at the charity stripe.

At the 11-minute mark of the first half a 3-pointer by the Wildcats’ Jade Smith-Williams broke open a double-digit lead.  It was immediately answered by the Jackets who went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by a jumper by Shantell Marquis (Cascade) with 7:39 to play.  The spark brought the Jackets within eight points of the Wildcats but ended up being as close as MSUB would get throughout the remainder of the ball game.

A defiant Yellowjacket team forced Wilcat fans to hold their breath with just 4:25 left to play in the contest as MSUB pulled within 10 on a made free throw basket by Marquis.  Straight shooting by Chico State down the alley to finish out the clock iced the win and avenged a loss to St. Cloud State on Friday night to open the tournament.

Yellowjacket Tidbits:
Following the tournament, Carpenter was named to the Hampton Inn & Suites Basketball Classic All-Tournament team.  Carpenter joined tournament MVP Danae Wellander of Sonoma State, Genny Anderson of Sonoma State, Kayla Rengel of St. Cloud State, Rachel Booth of St. Cloud State, and Audriana Spencer of Chico State in the honor....Carpenter was also named as an honorable mention in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for the week of Dec. 24-30...although the Jackets are ranked near the bottom in each team category in the GNAC, the team has shined at the free throw line ranking first in the conference with 73 percent...the team also ranks fourth in made 3-pointers per game averaging 6.33...individually Carpenter leads the conference standings in points per game (17.6), total 3-pointers (26), and 3-pointers per game (2.89)...Shantell Marquis ranks second in GNAC for steals per game with 2.9.

Looking Forward:
The Lady Yellowjackets are set to open their grueling conference season on the road this week against the Alaska schools.  Together the Seawolves and Nanooks are a combined 18-2 with Alaska-Anchorage coming off last season's trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament where they fell in the second round to UC-San Diego.  This marks the first season for the Lady Jackets in the GNAC and will also be the first trip to the state of Alaska for each of the players.

From the GNAC:
Division II Games: Seattle Pacific 8-0,  Central Washington 7-0, Seattle 6-0, Alaska Fairbanks 7-1, Alaska Anchorage 7-1, Saint Martin’s 4-2, Northwest Nazarene 4-2, Western Oregon 2-4, MSU Billings 2-6, Western Washington 3-9. 

West Region Games: Seattle 6-0, Seattle Pacific 6-0, Central Washington 5-0, Alaska Anchorage 4-0, Saint Martin’s 4-1, Alaska Fairbanks 4-1, Northwest Nazarene 4-2, *MSU Billings 2-4, Western Oregon 2-4, Western Washington 2-7.   (*MSUB region record includes games against schools in states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Western New Mexico and Colorado).

LAST WEEK: Friday   – Sonoma State Invitational (Sonoma State 66, MSU Billings 51); UCSD GNAC/CCAA Challenge (Cal Poly Pomona 68, Western Washington 62; Seattle Pacific 75, UC San Diego 65).  Saturday    – Sonoma State Invitational (Chico State 73, MSU Billings 59); UCSD GNAC/CCAA Challenge (Seattle Pacific 77, Cal Poly Pomona 58; UC San Diego 79, Western Washington 76, 2 ot).

THIS WEEK: Monday   – Albertson at Northwest Nazarene. Thursday – MSU Billings at Alaska Anchorage; Seattle at Alaska Fairbanks; Northwest Nazarene at Western Oregon, 5:30 p.m.; Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 5:30 p.m.  Saturday – Seattle at Alaska Anchorage; MSU Billings at Alaska Fairbanks; Central Washington at Western Washington; Northwest Nazarene at Saint Martin's, 5 p.m.; Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 5 p.m.

POLLS: WBCA (Dec. 18) - 4. Alaska Anchorage; 15. Seattle Pacific. NCAA West Region – The first NCAA West Region weekly poll will be released Wednesday, Jan. 30.  GNAC Coaches Pre-Season: 1. Seattle Pacific (5) 99; 2. Alaska Anchorage  (4) 95; 3. Western Washington (1) 80; 4. Seattle 71; 5. 57; 6. Montana State Billings 56; 7. Central Washington 43; 8. Saint Martin's 24; 9. Western Oregon and Alaska Fairbanks 19. (Note: First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.).

ALL-TOURNAMENT:  Notre Dame (Nov. 16-17) – Shayla Corder, WOU. UAA Great Alaska Shootout (Nov. 20-21) – Rebecca Kielpinski, UAA (MVP); Maria Nilsson, UAA; Kalhie Quinones, UAA.  Western Washington  (Nov. 23-24) – India Soo, WWU; Tara Holgate, WWU; Jamey Gelhar, SMU.  Northwest Nazarene (Nov. 23-24) – Jennifer Williams, NNU; Kristin Hein, NNU; Leada Berkey, WOU. UAA Glacier Classic (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) – Maria Nilsson, UAA (MVP); Dasha Basova, UAA; Rebecca Kielpinski, UAA; Cristina Bruketta, UAF; Sarah Herrin, UAA.  Seattle Pacific (Dec. 7-8) – Beth Christensen, SPU (MVP); Libby Magnuson, SPU; Kelsey Hill, SPU; Amanda Dunbar, WWU.   Western Oregon (Dec. 21-22) -  Kassie Ludeman, SMU (MVP); Amber Harmon, SMU; Leada Berkey, WOU; Katie Torland, WOU.  UC San Diego (Dec. 28-29) – Jackie Hollands, SPU (MVP); Kelsey Hill, SPU; Beth Christensen, SPU; India Soo, WWU.  Sonoma State (Dec. 28-29) – Alira Carpenter, MSUB.

DOUBLE DOUBLES: 4 – Kristin Hein, NNU.  3 – Claire Pallansch, WWU. 2 – Seven with.  1 – Nine with.

GNAC PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK: Jackie Hollands, Seattle Pacific (G, 5-9, Sr., Oregon City, OR) earned Most Valuable Player honors in leading the Falcons to wins over UC San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona in the CCAA/GNAC Crossover Classic at San Diego.  Hollands led SPU in scoring with 31 points, steals with five and blocks with three.  She also had three assists and six rebounds.

HONORABLE MENTION:  Alira Carpenter, Montana State Billings (G, 5-8, Jr., Lewistown, MT – Fergus County) scored 34 points and also had eight rebounds to earn all-tournament honors in the Sonoma State Classic.  Carpenter increased her career total to 1,012, becoming the 19th player in MSUB school history to score 1,000 or more points.

AROUND THE GNAC: SPU’s Kelsey Hill and  Beth Christensen and Western Washington’s India Soo also earned all-tournament honors at San Diego.  Hill had 22 points and 16 rebounds, while Christensen finished the tournament with 19 points and 14 assists.  Soo led the Vikings with 31 points, though she also was charged with 15 turnovers.  WWU freshman Marelle Moehrle scored 23 points on eight of 14 shooting (5 of 10 from the three-point line) and also had nine rebounds.  Moehrle had 19 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s double-overtime loss to UC San Diego.  Claire Pallansch and Gabby Wade each had 21 rebounds in the tournament.

WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Only three prior teams in GNAC history – Seattle Pacific in 2002-03 and 2003-04 and Alaska Anchorage in 2006-07 – had previously completed the non-conference regular-season portion of their schedule unbeaten.  SPU, Seattle and Central Washington all accomplished that feat this season  as GNAC teams combined for a 67-26 record (.720). . . .GNAC teams finished the pre-conference season with a 50-25 record in Division II games and 37-17 in West Region games. All of its advantage in the Region came against the PacWest (21-0).  GNAC teams finished a game below .500 (16-17) against the CCAA. . .Alaska Anchorage has won a school-record 25 straight home games, including a school-record tying 21 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex and four at Sullivan Arena. In his two years at UAA, coach Tim Moser is 24-0 in Anchorage.

Upcoming Opponents

(webpage) - The Seawolves are expected to defend their home court against the Yellowjackets.  After all, the team is riding a 25-game home court winning streak.  Currently 11-1 overall and ranked No. 4 in the NABC, the Seawolves' lone loss this season was against Nebraska-Kearney.  The Wolves fell 72-63 back on December 19.

The Wolves have three players averaging double figures for scoring and are led by Ruby Williams.  Williams is netting 12.4 points per game and is shooting a very efficient 60 percent from the floor.  Proving her talent in a short amount of time, Williams is seeing just 20.2 minutes of court time each game.  Teammate Maria Nilsson is UAA's 3-point shooter.  Nilsson has knocked down 29 threes for 40 percent and is adding 10.5 points per game.  At 6-foot-2 Rebecca Kielpinski leads the team pulling down 7.2 boards and 1.33 blocks per game.  Kielpinski is tallying 10.5 points per game for the Wolves.

With UAA's conference schedule also set to begin this weekend, the Seawolves have dominated their non-conference opponents in every statistical category.  Shooting 379-of-846 for 45 percent from the field, UAA has netted more than double the amount of buckets than that of their opponents at 182.  The team is 96-of-292 for 33 percent from behind the arc and is 66 percent from the free throw line.  UAA has out rebounded their opponents 48-29 and have made an impressive 14.2 steals per game.  Through 12 games the Seawolves hold a 35-point margin of victory over their opponents.

All-time Series:  UAA leads the series 24-13.
Last Meeting: MSUB def. UAA 62-54 on Dec. 19, 2003 in Anchorage
Note: The Lady Jackets have won the last three meetings against the Seawolves

Alaska-Fairbanks (webpage) - The Nanooks are posting a non-conference 7-1 record with their GNAC season set to open this weekend against the Lady Jackets.  UAF's only loss so far this season came at the hand of No. 12 ranked Chico State who also recently defeated MSUB at the Hampton Inn & Suites Classic in California.  The Nooks fell 74-65 against Chico back on Nov. 24 in Fairbanks.

The Nanooks' Sheena Brown leads all scorers averaging 17.5 points per game, second in the conference only to the Jackets' Alira Carpenter.  Brown is grabbing 4.8 rebounds per game and leads UAF with 3.2 steals per game.  Kari Reabold is pulling down a team-leading 7.9 rebounds per game and is netting 12.4 points per game off 33-of-73 shooting from the floor for 45 percent.  Drilling 17 three-pointers, Christina Bruketta leads the Nanooks from the perimeter.  Bruketta is averaging 12 points per game while Sarah Herrin rounds out the players in double figures averaging 10.3 points per game.

Alaska-Fairbanks is 216-of-492 from the floor for 44 percent.  The team has been out shot from long range by their opponents going 33-of-99 for 33 percent.  Ranking second in the conference, right behind their Anchorage counterparts, the Nanooks are averaging 14.1 steals per game.  The team holds a 44-35 rebound advantage over their opponents and has outscored their competition 78-62.

All-time Series:  UAF leads the series 34-11
Last Meeting: MSUB def. UAF 69-58 on Dec. 10, 2003.

The Standings

2007 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Standings
(Through games of Dec. 30, 2007)

The Polls

NCAA West Region (first poll released in February)

The GNAC Leaders

Click HERE for 2007 GNAC stats leaders.

The Players

The Last Time in Yellowjacket Volleyball

A player scored at least 30 points — Feb. 24, 2007 (Michelle Lieber, 32 vs. St. Edward's)

A player made at least 15 field goals — Feb. 19, 2000 (Codi Schmitz vs. SEattle)

A player made seven 3-pointers — Dec. 30, 2006 (Alira Carpenter vs. Oklahoma Panhandle)

A player made six 3-pointers— Dec. 5, 2007 (Alira Carpenter vs. Great Falls)

A player made five 3-pointers — Feb. 17, 2007 (Alira Carpenter vs. Texas - Permian Basin)

A player made at least 15 free throws — Nov. 30, 2002 (Natalie Visger vs. St. Martin's)

A player made at least 10 free throws— Feb. 24, 2007 (Michelle Lieber, 12/15 vs. St. Edward's)

A player had at least 20 rebounds — Dec. 20, 2003 (Robyn Milne, 22 vs. Alaska-Fairbanks)

A player had at least 15 rebounds— SNov. 17, 2006 (Michelle Lieber, 16 vs. Western Oregon)

A player had at least 10 assists— Feb. 19, 2000 (Deena Bartu, 13 vs. Seattle)

A player had at least 5 assists — Nov. 24, 2007 (Shantell Marquis, 5 vs. Regis University)

A player had a least 5 blocked shots - Feb. 18, 2006 (Tanya Petersen, 6 vs. St. Mary's)

A player had at least 5 steals— Dec. 1, 2007 (Shantell Marquis, 5 vs. Colorado School of Mines)

A player had a double-double — Dec. 1, 2007 (Shantell Marquis, 10pts/10reb vs. Colorado School of Mines)

The team scored at least 100 points — Jan. 18, 2005 (100 vs. Western new Mexico)

The team scored at least 90 points— Dec. 5, 2007 (92 vs. Great Falls)

The team allowed at least 100 points — Jan. 22, 1998 (102 by Seattle Pacific)

The team made at least 40 field goals — Feb. 19, 2000 (44 vs. Seattle)

The team shot over 60% from the field— Dec. 2, 2005 (62.1% vs. Metro State)

The team shot over 50% from the field — Jan. 27, 2007 (57.8% vs. Incarnate Word)

The team made at least 15 3-pointers - Feb. 17, 2007 (15 vs. Texas Permian Basin)

The team made at least 10 3-pointers— Feb. 8, 2007 (10 vs. St. Mary's)

The team made 30 free throws — Jan. 7, 2007 (31 vs. St. Edward's)

The team made 25 free throws — Jan. 27, 2007 (26 vs. Incarnate Word)

The team had at least 60 rebounds— Nov. 17, 2006 (64 vs. Western Oregon)

The team had at least 30 assists — Dec. 16, 2005 (30 vs. St. Martin's)

The team had at least 25 assists - Feb. 17, 2007 (28 vs. Texas Permian Basin)

The team had at least 20 assists— Jan. 4, 2007 (21 vs. Texas A&M-International)

The team had at least 10 blocked shots — Jan. 3, 2005 (10 vs. Northwest Nazarene)

The team had at least 5 blocked shots — Feb. 2, 2007 (5 vs. Lincoln)

The team had at least 20 steals— Feb. 14, 1998 (20 vs. Montana Tech)

The team had at least 15 steals— Jan. 4, 2007 (17 vs. Texas A&M-International)

The School Records (records that include 2007-2008 in bold)

Points
Game - 1. Shelley Altrogge (43)
Season – 1. Shelley Altrogge (691); 5. Alira Carpenter (542)
Career – 1. Tera Silivius (1,630); 19. Alira Carpenter (1,012)

Field Goals
Game - 1. Evonne Goroski (16/26)
Season – 1. Shelley Altrogge (282); 10. Alira Carpenter (196)
Career – 1. Evonne Goroski (680)

Field Goal Percentage
Game - 1. Alicia Cahill, 100% (10/10)
Season – 1. Michelle Lieber (68.1)
Career – 1. Michelle Lieber (66.45)

3-Pointers
Game - 1. Alira Capenter, 7/11
Season – 1. Alira Carpenter (88); 4. Kayla McPherson (64)
Career – 1. Amy Winslow (194); 4. Alira Carpenter (159); T11th. Kayla McPherson (95)

3-Point Percentage
Game - 1. Alira Carpenter, 100% (5/5)
Season – 1. Becky Jacobs (50.00); 9. Alira Carpenter (42.51)
Career – 1. Amy Winslow (43.30); 2. Alira Carpenter (40.30); 5. Kayla McPherson (39.81); 10. Jetton Meadors (36.27)

Free Throws
Game - 1. Shelley Altrogge (16/21)
Season – 1. Sherry McQuinn (184)
Career – 1. Sherry McQuinn (392)

Free Throw Percentage
Game - 1. Sherry McQuinn, 100% (13/13)
Season – 1. Alira Carpenter (88.57)
Career – 1. Lisa Jellum (84.50)

Rebounds
Game - 1. Grace Grabofsky (26)
Season – 1. Shelley Altrogge (376)
Career – 1. Robyn Milne (957)

Assists
Game - 1. Deena Bartu (13)
Season – 1. Amy Winslow (183)
Career – 1. Amy Winslow (585)

Blocked Shots
Game - 1. Jessie Henigman (9); 36. Shantell Marquis (4)
Season – 1. Robyn Milne (104); 20. Shantell Marquis (20)
Career – 1. Robyn Milne (278) No. 13 in NCAA DII History

Steals
Game - 1. Colleen Day Wiechman (9); 2. Shantell Marquis (8)
Season – 1. Amy Winslow (112); 4. Shantell Marquis (73)
Career – 1. Amy Winslow (343)

Schedule & Results

The Coaches

Kevin Woodin, Head Coach
Kevin Woodin enters his fourth season as the head women's basketball coach at MSU Billings in 2007-2008.  He has posted a 61-26 overall record in his first three seasons, capturing two Heartland Conference regular season titles and once conference tournament championship.  Two of Woodin's three teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament.  His first win of the 2007-2008 season will move him to No. 3 in school history for career wins.

Woodin became the Lady Yellowjackets' eleventh head women's basketball coach when he took over on July 23, 2004.  He had been the head girl’s basketball coach at Billings West High School for the past ten seasons.  In that time, he led the Lady Bears to a 138-81 record (.630), including back-to-back Class AA state titles in 2003 and 2004.  Woodin’s Bears were a perfect 23-0 in 2004's title run and won the final 36 games Woodin coached at the school.  He earned Montana AA Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and 2004, and was a finalist for the award in 1999 and 2002.

A native of Libby, Mont., Woodin graduated with a degree in mathematics from Carroll College in 1987.  While teaching and coaching at O’Dea High School in Seattle, he earned his masters degree in Athletic Administration from Seattle Pacific University in 1992.  Woodin taught mathematics at O’Dea High School from 1987 to 1994 while also coaching boy’s basketball, golf and tennis.  He was named O’Dea’s Outstanding Teacher of the year in 1990-1991 and the Metro League Golf Coach of the Year three times.

Woodin moved to Billings in 1994 to take over the girl’s program at West High School where he has also taught mathematics.   Along with leading the Lady Bears to State AA tournament hardware in four of his last six seasons, Woodin was also an assistant coach on the Montana All-Star Team and an Executive Committee member and coach for the Treasure State Classic.  At West High, Woodin coached 19 players who went on to play collegiate basketball.

Before the Montana High School Association moved the girl’s basketball season to the winter, Woodin was a part time assistant coach at MSU Billings from 2000-2003.  Responsible for practice and game planning, recruiting, scouting, individual skill development, travel and coordinating the Billings Bees camps, Woodin helped the Lady Yellowjackets to two NCAA Tournament appearances in three seasons.

Woodin has been married to his wife Paula for 20 years, and they have three children (Kayleen, 14; Toria, 11; Garrett, 9).  His parents, Pete and Loretta Erickson, formerly of Roundup, Montana, reside in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Natalie Visger, Assistant Coach
The 2007-2008 season will be Visger's second as a full-time assistant for the Lady Jacket basketball team.  She is a 2003 graduate of Montana State University-Billings.  She earned a bachelor of science degree in biology with a minor in chemistry, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a 3.91 GPA.  As a senior in 2003 Visger was named the Outstanding Biology Senior.

“I am very excited to have Natalie join our staff at MSUB,” said Woodin.  “She brings a tremendous amount of experience to the program, both as a player and as a coach.  We are very fortunate to have her, and I am confident she will have a positive impact upon our program.  Natalie’s duties will include directing and assisting with the pre- and postseason weight training and conditioning program, game and practice preparation, recruiting, film exchange, scouting, academic monitoring, travel arrangements, basketball camps and tournaments, and individual skill development.”

Visger was a four-year standout on the basketball court for the Lady Yellowjackets.  As a two-time team captain she helped the Yellowjackets reach three NCAA Tournaments in four years.  As a freshman and sophomore Visger was an All-Pacific West Conference selection.  As a senior she was named the Montana State University-Billings Outstanding Female Student-Athlete.

Known as a tenacious competitor, Visger made several impressions in the Yellowjacket record books.  She still ranks twelfth in school history for scoring with 1,219 career points.  She is also in the career top 10 for free throws made, free throw percentage, rebounds, and rebounding average.

After graduating in 2003, Visger played professionally in Europe for three seasons.  In 2003-2004 she played for TV-Langen in Langen, Germany.  She finished the season ranked second in the league for scoring average at 20.7 ppg. 

In 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 Visger played for ASG Theresianum Mainz in Mainz, Germany.  In the ‘04-‘05 season she was again second in the league for scoring at 18.5 ppg and led her team to a second place finish in the league.  Last year along with playing for the Women's first team, which again finished second in the league, she was the head coach for the Women's third team.  In addition to playing professional basketball, Visger, who speaks fluent German, worked as a document translator for STI Security Training International GmbH in Wiesbaden, Germany.

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