BILLINGS — Less than 24 hours after capping a magical run to the conference tournament championship, the Montana State Billings basketball women returned home eager to learn their first-round opponent at this week's NCAA Division II West Regional.
It turns out Central Washington will host as the West's No. 1 seed, drawing No. 8 MSU Billings on Friday. As of publishing, the time had yet to be announced. The Jackets beat CWU 79-74 in last Friday's semifinal. This will mark the fourth time this season they've played.
Landing Sunday afternoon at Billings Logan International Airport, Yellowjacket players recalled to MTN Sports celebrations following Saturday night's upset of top-seeded Western Washington in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title game.
WATCH the Yellowjackets' locker room celebration and hear player reaction:
"Yeah, it was pretty sick. I did get soaked ... it did happen," forward Avery Burkhart happily admitted.
"That was fun. I was scared someone was going to slip ... it was nice and wet," guard Layla Baumann said of the locker room chaos. "But, it was awesome ... water everywhere singing 'We Are the Champions."
No sixth-seeded team had ever won the GNAC tournament championship. Previously, the lowest-ranked seed to win it was slotted No. 4, which also happened to be the Yellowjacket women.
"It was the best feeling, just rushing the court. Everyone's jumping, screaming," said guard Brooklynn Brennan. "(Coach) Kevin (Woodin) was flexing, it was awesome."
"I was on the bench and I stood up and grabbed the hand of the person next to me. I don't even know who it was," recalled forward Alli Ligocki.
MSUB (20-14) eliminated the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds — in that order on consecutive days — to pull off the league's most historic women's tourney run. Players admit the court-side party was a blast, but the locker room celebration was unforgettable.
"We just immediately put music on and we were just dancing, and everyone was jumping around." said guard Tailey Harris. "And then when Kevin came in, we started spraying water all over."
"(Burkhart) turned on that speaker and we were just singing every celebration song," Brennan added with a laugh.
Players were questioning whether the scenario had actually happened: an extremely young squad with seven freshman and only one senior, having lost 14 regular-season games, peaking at the perfect time to clinch a regional tournament ticket.
"We went into the locker room and all the girls were like, 'is this even real? What's happening,'" Burkhart recalled. "Kevin actually texted us this morning and was like, 'Hey, it wasn't a dream.' And we were like, 'That's crazy.'"
That's March Madness.
