(RMC Athletics release)
BILLINGS – The Rocky Mountain College women’s basketball team gets back to play early this week as they head to Helena, Montana for a Tuesday game at No. 24 Carroll College. The Battlin’ Bears will then return to the Fortin Education Center on Saturday to host Montana Tech. Both games this week will tipoff at 5:30 p.m.
Rocky will start the week at 13-1 overall and riding a seven-game winning streak. They are tied atop the Frontier Conference standings with a 3-1 mark in conference play. The Battlin’ Bears are 7-1 on the road this season and 5-0 at home. They are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll to sit among the other teams receiving votes at tied for 30th.
The Battlin’ Bears are coming off a home weekend that saw them claim a pair of wins over opponents ranked in the top 10. They snapped an 11-game losing streak against Lewis-Clark State with a 62-54 win over the No. 7 Warriors last Thursday. Rocky then came back to upset No. 10 Montana Western, 54-47, on Saturday.
The current seven-game winning streak is the longest such streak in the 15 season of available records. The previous best was a six-game stretch on two separate occasions, including earlier this season. Rocky teams had won five straight games just three times before this season.
Rocky starts the week averaging 73.5 points per game and shooting 44.5 percent from the field – 14th in the NAIA. They rank 12th in the nation by averaging 16.86 assists per game while their 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio is third in the NAIA. The team is ninth nationally by making 8.36 threes per game while ranking 13th at 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Defense is where the Battlin’ Bears are leaving their mark this season. Rocky leads the NAIA is holding opponents to 45.57 points per game and 31.1 percent shooting. They have only allowed 60-plus points in a game two times while holding seven opponents under 50 points. The opposition shoots 22.4 percent from three – placing Rocky fourth in the NAIA – and the Battlin’ Bears grab 44.0 rebounds per game.
Rocky is second in the NAIA with a 27.93 scoring margin and 13.0 rebounding margin. They also rank 15th in turnover margin (4.57), 22nd in blocks per game (3.29) and 27th in steal per game (10.71).
Brooke Jones leads the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game and she has scored in double figures a team-high 11 times. She is sixth in the NAIA by shooting 59.8 percent from the field while leading Rocky with 95 rebounds. Jones has two 20-point scoring nights and two double-doubles this season.
Mikayla Jones is second in the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and she has scored in double figures 10 times. She has three games with at least 20 points and leads the team with 29 made 3-pointers. M. Jones is 46th in the NAIA with 30 steals and is 47th nationally by shooting 38.2 percent from deep.
Hailee Farstveet is ninth in the NAIA with 68 total assists and ranks 10th at 4.86 assists per game. She also sits 14th in the country with her 2.43 assist-to-turnover ratio. Kiana Corpus is third in the NAIA with a 3.27 A/TO ratio and Justyn Juhl is 47th in the country with 13 blocked shots.
