March 2005

Five Lady Bulldogs Earn All-American Honors
Wednesday, March 30 2005

Five UM-Western women's basketball players earned NAIA All-American honors. Katherine Sunwall, a 6-0, sophomore post player from Great Falls, added another honor to her impressive athletic resume. Sunwall earned third team NAIA All-American honors. Sunwall led the Lady Bulldogs in both scoring and rebounding with 15 points and ten rebounds per game. She won the conference field goal percentage title and is currently third in the nation. She finished second in the conference and fourth in the nation in blocked shots. Sunwall earned Frontier Conference All-Conference honors, was named the league's “Defensive Player of the Year” and was selected to the Kodak All-American team.

Lady Bulldogs named to the NAIA-Daktronics Academic All-American team were Jill Feller, a 6-3 senior post from Helena, Alyssa Matter, a 5-8 senior guard from Havre, Megan Schmitz , a 5-6 sophomore guard from Great Falls, Billi Suhr, a 5-8 sophomore guard from Harrison and Sunwall. Recipients must be a junior or above in academic standing and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

All members must have been nominated by the institution's head coach.

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Lady Bulldogs Lose at National Tourney
Friday, March 18 2005
The Lady Bulldogs' season came to a disappointing end Thursday night in Jackson, Tennessee at the NAIA National Tournament. Western fell 62-75 to Oklahoma Christian in the first round of the Division I National Tournament.

Neither team could stay in control in the first half. There were seven lead changes alone in the final four minutes of the first half. Oklahoma Christian scored a three-point field goal with 33 seconds left in the half that gave them a half-time lead of 33-31, and it was a lead they would never lose.

Oklahoma Christian opened the second half with a 13-2 run and maintained a double digit lead the rest of the game. Western trailed by as many as 17 in the second half.

Katherine Sunwall and Hillary Taylor each scored 18 to lead the Lady Bulldogs in scoring. Megan Schmitz added ten points. Western committed 11 of their 19 turnovers in the second half.

The Lady Bulldogs finished the 2004-05 season with a 25-8 record.
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Lady Bulldogs Play Oklahoma Christian in NAIA First Round
Tuesday, March 15 2005
The Lady Bulldogs play the Oklahoma Christian Eagles in the first round of the NAIA Women's Division I National Tournament, Thursday, March 17 in Jackson, Tennesseee. Tip-off is 8:45 p.m. MST time from the Oman Auditorium. The game will broadcast in Dillon on KDBM-AM, 1490 on the dial. For those out of the broadcast area, the game will be web cast from the NAIA Tournament site,
http://www.naia.org/basketball/wdi/championship/2005/bracket.html

The Lady Bulldogs are making their sixth straight trip to the national tournament. Western is 5-5 in national tournament appearances including a 68-60 win over Oklahoma Christian at the 2002 tournament.

The tournament is divided into four eight-team quadrants. Western is seeded 5th while Oklahoma Christian is seeded 4th in their quadrant.

Western finished the regular season with a 25-7 overall record and a second place finish in the Frontier Conference. Oklahoma Christian finished their regular season with a 25-8 record and a second place finish in the Sooner Conference.

“We are looking forward to competing in the National Tournament,” said Western coach Kevin Engellant. “Oklahoma Christian is a good basketball team. They have tremendous athletes and quickness at every position. Oklahoma Christian finished the regular season 2nd in the Sooner Conference, which is probably the toughest league in the NAIA. They are a good offensive team led by Lauren Decker, an extremely quick guard who is very good at creating her own shot. Besides Decker, their other four starters all average in double figures. We will need to play good solid defense for 40 minutes, control the boards and take care of the basketball.”

Decker leads the Eagles with 13.6 points per game followed by Tasha Turner with 13.1 ppg, Katie Fariss with 12 ppg, Rachel Martin with 11.6 ppg and Carlissa Plowden with 10.1 ppg. Farliss leads the team in rebounding with 4.91 rpg followed by Plowden with 4.73 rpg. Oklahoma Christian averages 76.2 points per game while giving up 63.2.

Four Lady Bulldogs average in double figures led by Katherine Sunwall with 15.24 points per game, Jill Feller with 14.4 ppg, Hillary Taylor with 12.1 ppg and Megan Schmitz with 10.47 ppg. Sunwall leads the team in rebounds with 9.96 rpg followed by Jill Feller with 8.29 rpg. Sunwall won the Frontier Conference field goal percentage title and is third in the nation with an average of 62.9%. Western is averaging 72.9 points per game while giving up a conference best 59.8 ppg.

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Lady Bulldogs Face Oklahoma Christian in NAIA National Tournament
Wednesday, March 9 2005
The Lady Bulldogs will face Oklahoma Christian in the first round of the 25th Annual NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship at Jackson, Tennessee, Thursday, March 17. Tipoff is 8:45 p.m. MST.

The 32 team tournament is divided into four quarters. Western, 25-8 on the season is the #5 seed in their quarter. Oklahoma Christian, 25-7 on the season, is the #4 seed.

The complete tournament bracket is available at:
http://www.naia.org/basketball/wdi/championship/2005/bracket.html

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Four Lady Bulldogs Earn All-Conference Honors
Tuesday, March 8 2005

Four Lady Bulldogs were named to the 2004-05 Frontier Conference All-Conference team. Jill Feller, a 6-4 senior from Helena and Katherine Sunwall, a 6-0 sophomore from Great Falls earned 1st team honors. Sunwall was also named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Hillary Taylor, a 5-11 senior from Great Falls and Megan Schmitz, a 5-8 sophomore from Great Falls earned Honorable Mention honors. Sunwall led the team in scoring with 15 points a game and second in rebounding with 10 rebounds a game. Feller led the team in rebounding with 10.9 rebounds per game, and was second on the team in scoring with 14 points a game. Both players were ranked in the Frontier Conference top-ten in scoring. Sunwall led the league in field goal percentage and was second in blocks. Taylor was third on the team in scoring and Schmitz was fourth. Schmitz was seventh in the league in 3-pt field goal percentage and third in 3-point field goals made. Taylor placed in the conference top-ten in free throw percentage, rebounds and assists.
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Lady Bulldogs Drop Heartbreaker in Frontier Championship Game
Sunday, March 6 2005

Their streak of four straight Frontier Conference Tournament championships is over as the Lady Bulldogs lost to Carroll College 73-72 in Butte. The Lady Bulldogs were ice cold from the start and quickly fell behind 10-0 to Carroll. Billi Billi Suhr

Suhr scored Western's first points of the evening when she hit two free throws at the 14:38 mark. Western then went on an 11-2 run and led 13-12 at the ten minute mark. Carroll went on a huge 23-0 run and led 35-13 at the five minute mark. The Lady Bulldogs broke their scoring drought with two Hillary Taylor free throws. Western slowly inched their way back into the game to cut the lead to 12 at the halftime break. Carroll stayed in control in the opening minutes of the second half. At the 11 minute mark, Carroll led 53-43 when the Lady Bulldogs made their first big run outscoring Carroll 13-3 to pull within two, 58-56. At the 4:27 mark, a Megan Schmitz jumper tied the game at 64. Two free throws by Alyssa Matter gave Western their first lead of the game 66-64 with three minutes remaining. Western led by three with 1:29 left, but Carroll tied the game on a three point field goal. The Saints took the lead on a free throw. Katherine Sunwall forced a steal but ran out of time before she could convert. Western, now 25-7 on the season, awaits an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournement. The announcement comes on Wednesday.
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Lady Bulldogs down Lewis-Clark State in Frontier Conference Semi-Finals
Saturday, March 5 2005

The Lady Bulldogs are in the Frontier Conference championship game for the fifth year in a row after downing Lewis-Clark State 72-58 in the semi-finals. Western, the tourney's #2 seed will face #1 seed Carroll College in the championship game Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. in the Maroon Activity Center in Butte.

Western jumped out to a quick lead in the first half and led by as many as six several times. Turnovers plagued the Lady Bulldogs in the final ten minutes of the half as Lewis-Clark overcame Western's lead to take a 35-34 lead at halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half on fire as they out scored Lewis Clark 16-2 in the first nine minutes. Lewis-Clark made a run of their own as the cut the lead to five with seven minutes remain. That was a close as Lewis-Clark could get. In the game's final three minutes, Western outscored Lewis-Clark 11-6.

Katherine Sunwall led the Lady Bulldogs with 25 points and ten rebounds. Hillary Taylor and Megan Schmitz added 15 points apiece. Western is now 25-6 on the season.
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Lady Bulldogs Advance to Frontier Conference Tournament Semi-Finals
Wednesday, March 2 2005

Behind the 26 points and 16 rebounds of Katherine Sunwall, the Lady Bulldogs advanced to the semi-final round of the Frontier Conference tournament with a 71-59 victory over Montana Tech.

The first half opened with neither team able to gain complete control. The two teams traded baskets and leads in the first few minutes. At the 14 minute mark, Western took the lead on a Katherine Sunwall basket and never trailed again. Western went on a run and led 41-23 at the break.

In the opening minutes of the second half, it looked like the Lady Bulldogs would win in a rout as they scored at ease. But Montana Tech mounted their own comeback and cut Western's 22 point lead to 13 as they took advantage of cold shooting spell by the Lady Bulldogs combined with a hot streak of their own. The closest the Lady Orediggers got, was 9. Western took control down the stretch and sealed the win.

Also scoring in double figures for Western was Hillary Taylor with 18.

Western will play the winner of tomorrow's game between Lewis-Clark and the University of Great Falls.
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Lady Bulldogs Open Defense of Their Frontier Conference Tournament Title
Tuesday, March 1 2005
The Lady Bulldog basketball team opens defense of their Frontier Conference Tournament Title against Montana Tech, Wednesday, March 3. Tipoff is 12:00 Noon from the brand new Maroon Events Center in Butte.

Western, the #2 seed, finished the regular season with an overall record of 23-6 and a conference mark of 11-3.

Tech enters the tournament as the #7 seed. The Lady Orediggers finished the regular season with an overall record of 6-23 and a league record of 2-12.

Western and Tech played three times during the regular season. In a non-conference game in December, the Lady Bulldogs routed Montana Tech 81-52. In the two conference games, Western won by a combined total of five points. In Butte, the Lady Bulldogs won 75-73 and in Dillon, Western won 70-67.

“We are looking forward to the Frontier Conference Tournament in Butte,”said Lady Bulldog coach Kevin Engellant. We've won eight games in a row and we feel like we are playing well heading into the tournament. Our two conference games against Montana Tech were close games, so we know it will take a good effort to beat them again. Tech is very good defensively so we will need to take care of the ball and execute on offense.”

Kaila Fowler leads Tech in scoring with 11.7 points a game followed by Marcie Alzeheimer with 11.28 points per game. Alzeheimer leads the Lady Orediggers in rebounds with 7.83 rebounds per game. Tech averages 59.7 points a game while giving up 75.

Western is led in scoring by Jill Feller with 15 points a game followed by Katherine Sunwall with 14 ppg, Hillary Taylor with 11.8 and Megan Schmitz with 10.4. Sunwall leads the league and is fourth in the nation in field goal percentage with a 60.8%. Western averages 73 points a game while giving up 59.8 points a game.

Other first round matchups pair #1 Carroll against #8 Westminster Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. On Thursday, #3 Lewis-Clark vs #6 University of Great Falls and #4 MSU-Northern vs #5 Rocky Mountain.

The semi-final match-ups will pair the winner of the Western-Montana Tech game against the winner of the Lewis-Clark-Great Falls game. In the other bracket, the winner of the Carroll-Westminster game would play the winner of the MSU-Northern-Rocky game.

The game will be web cast from the following link:

http://dakfiles.daktronics.com/downloads/DakStats/Webcast/2005FrontierWBBTourney.htm

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