Friday, January 23, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – The third of five GNAC women’s basketball games shown on ROOT SPORTS will air Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. Pacific when Western Oregon hosts Montana State Billings.

These two schools will be making their 2015 debut on the network.

Montana State Billings (10-8, 2-6 GNAC) just halted a four-game slide against the top teams in the GNAC with a convincing 22-point win over Northwest Nazarene last Saturday. The Yellowjackets did fall to Saint Martin’s 63-54 on Thursday however.

The 2013-14 regular season conference champions are one of six teams to have double-figure wins this season.

The Yellowjackets Kayleen Goggins is second in the GNAC, and 27th nationally, in scoring at 19.4 points per game while sophomore Alisha Breen ranks in the top five in the conference in scoring and rebounding. Senior Quinn Peoples is also only 11 points away from becoming the second Yellowjacket this season to reach 1,000-points, joining Goggins.

WOU (5-11, 2-6 GNAC) has struggled to put the ball in the hoop this season, averaging 61.2 points per game. The Wolves boast a strong defense allowing just 67.6 points a contest.

The Wolves have been without one of their top players, and the GNAC’s, the past two weeks in Dana Goularte, due to injury. Goularte, the fifth leading scorer in the conference, returned in Thursday’s 67-62 win over SPU, recording 10 points and six assists on a perfect 4-4 shooting night in 20 minutes.

Underclassmen Jordan Mottershaw and Sami Osborne were picking up the slack after the Goularte injury, combining for nearly half of the Wolves points and a third of their assists the previous four games. The two added 22 points and five rebounds in the win.

The last time these two teams met in Monmouth was Feb. 20 of last year when the Yellowjackets held the No. 25 ranking in the country. MSUB won the game 77-67.

Montana State Billings holds the GNAC series record winning 11 of 14 games played. The Wolves last win against MSUB at home was in the 2012-13 season

Notes:

• Simon Fraser head coach Bruce Langford became the Clan’s all-time wins leader after their 76-56 home win over Saint Martin’s Saturday. With 366 victories counting Thursday’s win over Alaska,, Langford surpasses his predecessor, Allison McNeill, who raked-up 364 victories in her tenure. Langford, who is in his 14th year coaching the Clan, has seven 30+ winning seasons and five CIS championships. 
   
• Three GNAC players are at the door of joining the 1,000 -point club. MSUB’s Quinn Peoples is only 11 points away while Central Washington’s Courtney Johnson and Seattle Pacific’s Aubree Callen are within 63 points of the feat.
   
• Alaska Anchorage beat Alaska 87-62 last Saturday. The Seawolves 33-point halftime lead tied for the largest margin at a break in Sewolves conference history. The Nanooks outscored the Seawolves 44-36 in the second half, however, breaking a 12-game streak of UAA outscoring UAF in any half.
   
• Western Washington’s Sydney Donaldson was selected as the GNAC Player of the Week after her 41 point, 17 rebound performances in wins against WOU and Saint Martin’s last week.