BILLINGS, Mont. – The 15th-ranked Rocky Mountain College women's basketball team returns to the Fortin Education Center this week to host a pair of Frontier Conference games. The Battlin' Bears play Montana State – Northern on Thursday before No. 19 Providence comes to town on Saturday. Both games will tip at 5:30 p.m.

Rocky will enter the final month of the regular season at 17-3 overall and having won four of the last five games they have played. The Battlin' Bears are 7-3 in Frontier play to sit in a three-way tie with Carroll and Providence for the top position. Rocky is 6-0 at home this season.

The team's No 15 ranking is the highest ranking in school history. They moved up three spots in the poll that was released on Tuesday to set the new mark. Rocky earned 120 points in the poll. They have now been ranked in three consecutive polls for the first time in school history.

Rocky's 17 wins ranks as the second-most in a season during the 15 seasons of available records and the Battlin' Bears are guaranteed of their first winning season since the 2011-12 campaign. That season, Rocky went 18-12 to record the most wins in a season during the time of available records.

Rocky enters the week scoring 69.7 points per game and shooting 43.5 percent from the field. They lead the Frontier by making 7.30 threes per game and rank second by shooting 34.0 percent from deep. The team averages 15.10 assists per game and they have a 1.15 assist-to-turnover ratio to lead the conference.

The Battlin' Bears are second in the NAIA in scoring defense (48.55) and field goal defense (.324). They also rank third in the country by holding opponents to 23.3 percent from beyond the arc. Rocky has held its last five opponents below 30 percent from three and a team has shot above 20 percent from deep just three times this season.

Brooke Jones leads the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game and she shoots 54.0 percent from the field. She has scored in double figures 14 times and led the team in scoring 10 times. She is 41st in the NAIA by grabbing 5.30 defensive rebounds per game.

Mikayla Jones is scoring 10.7 points per game with 30 makes from three. She hits 87.1 percent from the foul line and has totaled 38 assists and 42 steals. She ranks 43rd in the NAIA by getting 2.10 steals per game.

Hailee Farstveet has scored in double figures in four straight games and raised her season average to 8.4 points per game. She leads the team with 80 assists – 26th in the NAIA – and her 4.00 assists per game is 27th nationally. Farstveet also sits 43rd in the nation with her 1.78 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Kiana Corpus ranks second in the NAIA with her 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio.  Alexi Smith is 14th in the NAIA by shooting 45.2 percent from deep and she is 41st with a 1.80 A/TO ratio.