March 2007
Six Lady Bulldogs Earn All-American Honors
Thursday, March 22 2007
Six University of Montana Western women’s basketball players earned NAIA All-American honors.
Named to the NAIA All-American team were senior post Katherine Sunwall of Great Falls, Mont. and senior post Becky O’Neil of Kalispell, Mont. Sunwall earned first team honors and O’Neil received honorable mention honors.
For the season, Sunwall averaged 17.4 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. She led the nation in blocked shots with 3.4 blocks. Despite a torn ACL, O’Neil ended the year averaging 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Named to the Daktronics/NAIA Academic All-American Scholar team were Sunwall along with senior guard Colette Behrent of Columbus, Mont., junior forward Jill Dana of Forsyth, Mont., senior guard Crystal Kain of Charlo, Mont. and senior guard Megan Schmitz of Great Falls, Mont. Recipients must be a junior or above in academic standing and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
Montana Western finished the 2006-07 season with an overall record of 26-6. They qualified for the NAIA National Tournament for the eighth straight season. The Lady Bulldogs lost to Houston Baptist 63-64 in the first round.
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Lady Bulldogs Drop Heartbreaker at NAIA National Tournament
Wednesday, March 14 2007
JACKSON, Tenn. - Sixth-seeded Houston Baptist University (Texas) posted a 64-63 upset over third-seeded Montana-Western in the first round of the 27th Annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Oman Arena.
Dominique Thomas made the game-winner with 20 seconds to play, and Montana-Western's three-point attempt in the closing seconds fell short to give Houston Baptist its seventh consecutive NAIA Tournament first-round victory. After taking a 35-32 halftime lead, Houston Baptist led throughout the second half until Montana-Western took a one-point lead at 61-60 on a Megan Schmitz three-pointer with 45 seconds remaining in the game.
The lead changed hands twice more before the game-winner, as Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws for Houston Baptist with 36 seconds left before Montana-Western answered with two Crystal Kain free throws with 29 seconds to play to give the Bulldogs the 63-62 lead.
Thomas finished the game with six points, and Houston Baptist was led by Jasmine Irving's 17 points. Velencia Kuykendall added 12 points, while Kathy Hill contributed 10 points off the bench, including a pair of three-pointers.
Katherine Sunwall scored a game-high 22 points for Montana-Western, and she also collected a game-high 15 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. Becky O'Neil also posted a double-double, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Kain added 15 points for the Bulldogs.
With the win, Houston Baptist improves to 26-6 on the season and advances to the second round, where they will face the winner of tonight's Lubbock Christian/McKendree matchup on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Montana-Western drops to 26-6 to wrap up the season.
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Sunwall Earns WBCA/Kodak All-American Honors
Wednesday, March 14 2007
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Eastman Kodak Company announced the 2007 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Kodak/WBCA All-America Basketball Team.
University of Montana Western’s Katherine Sunwall, a 6’1” senior from Great Falls, Mont., received first team honors.
This year’s team marks the 25th year of the NAIA Kodak/WBCA All-America Basketball Team, which began in 1983. Selection committees in each of the six WBCA geographical regions select 10 of the top women’s basketball players in the nation to be honored.
“This year’s Kodak/WBCA All-America Team for NAIA truly stands above the rest in women’s basketball,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. “We congratulate these student-athletes for their dedication and perseverance in taking women’s basketball to another level.”
"For the past 32 years, Kodak has partnered with the WBCA to celebrate the best in women's college basketball. Kodak is in the business of helping people capture and share memories. It is gratifying for us to help honor these student-athletes whose highlights have thrilled us for so many years," said Carl Gustin, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President at Kodak. “We are proud to recognize the accomplishments of these young women and the positive recognition they bring to their schools, their communities and the game."
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Lady Bulldogs Open National Tournament Against Houston Baptist
Tuesday, March 13 2007
The University of Montana Western Lady Bulldog basketball team opens the NAIA National Tournament against the Houston Baptist University Huskies on Wednesday, March 13, 2007. Tip-off is 4 p.m. CDT time, 3 p.m. MDT.
The game will broadcast in southwest Montana on KDBM Radio, 1490 on the AM dial.
Montana Western is 25-6 on the season and ranked 8th in the final regular season NAIA rankings. They finished the regular season with a 26-4 overall record and 11-3 in the Frontier Conference. The Lady Bulldogs lost in the first round of the conference tournament 58-61 to Rocky Mountain College. Montana Western is making their eighth straight trip to the national tournament.
Houston Baptist is 25-6 overall and ranked 22 in the NAIA Top-25. The Huskies finished second in the Red River Athletic Conference with a 15-3 league record but received a bid to the national tourney by winning their conference tournament. Houston Baptist is also making their eighth straight trip to the national tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs are seeded third in their bracket while Houston Baptist is seeded sixth. This the second time in four years the two teams have met in the first round. In 2004 the Huskies beat Montana Western 89-79.
“Houston Baptist is a very athletic team,” said Montana Coach Kevin Engellant. “They can score in a hurry. We need to really control the tempo of the game and rebounding will be a key. We need to play good defense and give them only one shot. On offense, we need to play smart and not turn the ball over.”
Velencia Kuykendall leads Houston Baptist in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and 8.7 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Huskies are Jasmine Irving with 14.1 points per game and Dominique Thomas with ten points per game. Kuykendall is the only Huskie player to have played in the 2004 game against Montana Western. Houston Baptist averages 78.8 ppg while giving up 62.9.
Katherine Sunwall leads the Lady Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding with 17.3 ppg and 10.5 rebounds. She leads the nation in blocked shots with 3.5 per game. Also scoring in double figures is Becky O’Neil with 13 ppg and Megan Schmitz with 11.3 ppg. Sunwall, O’Neil and Schmitz were all first team All-Conference selections. Sunwall was named the league’s Player of the Year and for the third straight year, she was selected the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Montana Western averages 68.9 points per game while giving up 56.
Sunwall and Schmitz played in the 2004 tournament game against Houston Baptist. Schmitz hit five three-point fields as she scored a game-high 26 points. The Lady Bulldogs set a national tournament single game record as they hit fourteen three-point field goals. Sunwall had 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in the game.
The winner moves to the second round on Friday against the winner of the McKendree College-Lubbock Christian game.
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Engellant Receives WBCA Award
Tuesday, March 13 2007
Kevin Engellant, University of Montana Western women’s basketball coach, was named by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) as a 2007 Russell Athletic/WBCA Regional Coach of the Year winner.
Winners are chosen from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Engellant is the NAIA Region I winner.
The winners are selected through a two-level process. The first level is by region, in which coaches from each WBCA geographical region vote for their respective top coach. If a coach has been selected as Regional Coach of the Year, they advance as a finalist to the national level of the selection process along with the other Regional Coaches of the Year in their respective division. The number of coaches varies depending on affiliation.
The winners of the WBCA National Coach of the Year for each division will be honored on Monday, April 2, 2007, at 12:00 p.m. (ET) during the Russell Athletic/WBCA Coach of the Year Luncheon presented by AstraZeneca in the Crowne Plaza’s Grand Ballroom. The luncheon is part of the 2007 WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women’s Final Four®.
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Sunwall Named Player of the Year
Tuesday, March 13 2007
Three University of Montana Western women's basketball players were named to the Frontier Conference All-Conference team.
Seniors Becky O'Neil, Megan Schmitz and Katherine Sunwall were all named to the first team. Sunwall was selected the league's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
Sunwall has the distinction of being Player of the Year in two different sports. She was the league's volleyball Player of the Year after the 2006 season. Sunwall has won the league's Defensive Player of the Year three straight years.
Going into the national tournament, Sunwall averaged 17.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. She became the school's all-time rebound leader with 1083 and is fourth in scoring with 1583 points.
Schmitz averaged 11.3 points per game for the season. She is the school's all-time leader in 3-point field goals made with 290 and assists with 533 and the third all-time leading scorer with 1602 points.
O'Neil was named first team All-Conference for the second straight season. She averaged 13.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. O'Neil hit 59 percent of her field goals. O’Neil tore her ACL on February 8, but only missed one game and was playing with a brace a week later.
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Lady Bulldogs Face Houston Baptist in First Round of NAIA Tourney
Wednesday, March 7 2007
The Montana Western Lady Bulldogs will face the Houston Baptist University Huskies of Houston, Texas in the first round of the NAIA, Women’s Division I National Basketball Tournament from Jackson, Tennessee.
Tip-off is Wednesday, March 14 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time, 3:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.
The Lady Bulldogs are the third seeded team in their bracket and Houston Baptist is seeded sixth.
Montana Western finished the regular season and the Frontier Conference Tournament with a 26-5 record.
Houston Baptist finished the year at 25-6 and won the Red River Athletic Conference tournament.
-WESTERN-
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Lady Bulldogs Stumble In First Round of Conference Tournament
Sunday, March 4 2007
The Lady Bulldogs were bounced out of the Frontier Conference tournament with a 58-61 loss to Rocky Mountain in the first round. It was the Lady Bulldogs earliest exit from the conference tournament in seven seasons. Despite the loss, the Lady Bulldogs are assured an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs led 8-3 early in the game, but went ice-cold from the field and Rocky came back to tie the game at eight with 14:41 left and took a 10-8 lead two possessions later. Rocky maintained their lead until the 7:41 mark of the first half when two Katherine Sunwall free throws gave the lead back to Montana Western.
Rocky took the lead back on their next possession and extended it to five, 17-22 with four minutes left in the half. Western then outscored the Bears 7-0 to take a 24-22 lead with a minute remaining in the half. Rocky scored with 18 seconds left to take a 25-24 half time lead.
In the second half, the two teams traded baskets over the first few minutes. A Megan Schmitz 3-point field goal started a 16-9 Lady Bulldog run that opened up a 49-41 lead. Rocky answered with an 11-2 run and led 53-50 with 4:30 remaining.
The Lady Bulldogs took their final lead of the game on a Katherine Sunwall field goal with a 1:52 remaing. Western led 58-57.
The Lady Bulldogs had their chances in the games final two minutes but couldn't connect.
Katherine Sunwall led the Lady Bulldogs with 24 points and nine rebounds followed by Megan Schmitz with 13 points.
Montana Western ends the regular season with a 25-6 record.
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