The Retort

Yellowjackets Finish Home Stand Against Nanooks

February 19th, 2010 by MSUB Athletics For The Retort

Montana State Billings looked to rebound from a string of bad luck, which saw the Yellowjackets drop four consecutive contests to Great Northwest Athletic Foes. MSUB squared off against the last team it defeated in conference play, the Nanooks of Alaska Fairbanks, on February 6 at Alterowtiz Gymnasium.

The Yellowjackets (9-9, 2-5) entered their contest with Alaska Fairbanks on a four game skid. Great first half shooting was 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) entered their match-up coming off their 18th consecutive loss, having lost to in-state rival, Alaska Anchorage, 81-48 in the Patty Center. The Nanooks were led by Lakeshia Levi, averaging 15.7 points per game, including shooting 40.5 percent from the field, and was averaging 8.5 rebounds per contest. Ronisha Edwards was the only other player averaging double figures for UAF, scoring 10.8 per contest and 6.3 boards. Both were averaging over 14 points per conference contest as well. The Nanooks were shooting just 32.9 percent from the field and 25.7 beyond the arc.

MSUB led 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 had won six-straight against the Nanooks, including their last 11 in Billings. UAF’s last victory in Billings was February 25, 1992, 83-79.

Following the contest on February 6, the Yellowjackets returned to the road for a pair of GNAC contests at Western Oregon and at Saint Martin’s on February 11 and 13, respectively.

Theme Night

The game theme on February 5 was Dollar Night at Alterowitz Gymnasium. All admission was just one dollar. The game sponsor for the night was 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 on February 4. 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 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 has been quite indicitive of what the score will be at the end of game this season. MSUB was 8-1 in games when leading at halftime, they were just 1-8 when trailing going into the break.

70 Wins Games

The Yellowjackets were a combined 7-0 on the year when they score above 70 points during a game. MSUB was 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

MSUB has had one game decided by three points or less this season and just four games that have been decided by 4-10 points.