Men's Basketball 1/11/2023 2:17:00 PM Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

Rocky Basketball Takes on Montana Western and Providence on the Road

BILLINGS, Mont. - Rocky Men's and Women's Basketball will hit the road this weekend, making stops in Dillon to take on Montana Western on Thursday, then finishing up in Great Falls as they take on University of Providence on Saturday.

Battlin' Bears Recap: Rocky women's basketball (12-3, 4-0 conf.) grabbed their biggest victory of the season so far on Saturday after defeating No. 11 Carroll College to move to 4-0 in Frontier Conference play. The Battlin' Bears have won 10 of their last 11 games, with their only loss being an overtime defeat to Rust College in the Cactus Classic. After beginning the season ranked No. 25, the Battlin' Bears have worked their way back into the Top-25 after being ranked at No. 20 in today's coaches poll (Full release HERE). The Rocky women will look to grab another impactful victory Thursday as they take on No. 12 ranked Montana Western.

The Rocky men finished their weekend 1-1, with a victory over MSU-Northern in overtime, followed by a 78-52 defeat to No. 24 Carroll College. Even after a crushing home defeat against Carroll, the Battlin' Bears still sit tied for second place in the Frontier Conference standings at 2-2, along with Carroll, Providence, and Montana Western, who are all 2-2 so far in Conference play.

Frontier Conference/Team Stat Leaders: As Frontier Conference action gets into full swing, take a look at the Frontier Conference stat leaders, along with where the Battlin' Bears team leaders stack up with the rest of the conference.

WBB

Points per game:
1st. Brynley Fitzgerald- 16.9 ppg (Montana Western)
9th. Kloie Thatcher- 11.4 ppg (Rocky Mountain College)
10th. Morgan Baird- 11.3 ppg (Rocky Mountain College)

Rebounds per game:
1st. Tavia Rooney- 8.2 rpg (Montana Tech)
6th. Dominique Stephens (Rocky Mountain College)
7th. Mackenzie Dethman (Rocky Mountain College)

Assists per game:
1st. Kamden Hilborn- 6.2 apg (Carroll College)
3rd. Kloie Thatcher- 3.3 apg (Rocky Mountain College)
8th. Gracee Lekvold- 2.4 apg (Rocky Mountain College)
10th. Iliana Moran- 2.2 apg (Rocky Mountain College)

Field Goal Percentage:
1st. Mesa King- 66.7% (Montana Western)
2nd. Morgan Baird- 59.2% (Rocky Mountain College)
5th. Dominique Stephens- 48.9% (Rocky Mountain College)
9th. Mackenzie Dethman- 45.8% (Rocky Mountain College)

Three Point Percentage:
1st. Mackenzie Dethman- 43.2% (Rocky Mountain College)
2nd. Tynesha Parnell- 42.6% (Rocky Mountain College)
5th. Kacy Horton- 37.5% (Rocky Mountain College)

Steals per game:
1st. Briaunna McCullough- 2.5 spg (MSU-Northern)
5th. Iliana Moran- 1.8 spg (Rocky Mountain College)
6th. Gracee Lekvold- 1.7 spg (Rocky Mountain College)
8th- Kloie Thatcher- 1.6 spg (Rocky Mountain College)

Blocks per game:
1st. Jamie Pickens- 1.5 bpg (Carroll College)
5th. Dominique Stephens- 1.0 bpg (Rocky Mountain College)
6th. Mackenzie Dethman- 0.7 bpg (Rocky Mountain College)
7th. Kloie Thatcher- 0.6 bpg (Rocky Mountain College)
9th. Morgan Baird- 0.5 bpg (Rocky Mountain College)

MBB

Points per game:
1st. Caleb Bellach- 17.1 ppg (Montana Tech)
12th. Kael Robinson- 11.9 ppg (Rocky Mountain College)

Rebounds per game:
1st. Brendan Temple- 7.8 rpg (Carroll College)
6th. Nick Hart- 6.6 rpg (Rocky Mountain College)
7th. Kace Kitchel- 5.8 rpg (Rocky Mountain College)
8th. Maxim Stephens- 5.2 rpg (Rocky Mountain College)
10th. Kael Robinson- 4.6 rpg (Rocky Mountain College)

Assists per game:
1st. Jonny Hillman- 4.0 apg (Carroll College)
1st. Brenton Woods- 4.0 apg (Montana Western)
4th. Jesse Owens- 3.4 apg (Rocky Mountain College)
9th. Kael Robinson- 2.5 apg (Rocky Mountain College)

Field Goal Percentage:
1st. Jesse Keltner- 62.3% (MSU-Northern)
6th. Kace Kitchel- 52.6% (Rocky Mountain College)

Three Point Percentage
1st. Michael Haverfield- 55.6% (Montana Western)
2nd. Elliott Brooks- 51.7% (Rocky Mountain College)
9th. Cade Tyson- 43.9% (Rocky Mountain College)
10th. Tayshawun Bradford- 42.6% (Rocky Mountain College)

Steals per game:
1st. Nick Hart- 2.1 spg (Rocky Mountain College)
9th. Kael Robinson- 1.2 spg (Rocky Mountain College)

Blocks per game:
1st. Jesse Keltner- 2.8 bpg (MSU-Northern)
2nd. Maxim Stephens- 0.8 bpg (Rocky Mountain College)
4th. Kace Kitchel- 0.7 bpg (Rocky Mountain College)

Thursday, January 12th at Montana Western
WBB @ 5:00pm
MBB @ 7:00pm

Scouting the Bulldogs: The Montana Western Bulldog women (15-2, 3-1 conf.) are currently the No. 12 ranked team in the country and are riding a 10 game winning streak coming into Thursday's game.

The Bulldogs have been led by Frontier Conference Preseason Co-Player of the Year and Frontier Conference leading scorer Brynley Fitzgerald (16.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.3 spg), Idaho State transfer guard Jordan Sweeney (12.4 ppg, 3.4 apg, 1.3 spg), and 2021 All-Conference Honorable Mention guard Shainy Mack (7.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.3 spg). The Montana Western women average 73.6 points per game, while only allowing 56.7 points per game.

The Bulldog women are coached by Lindsay Woolley in his eleventh season as head coach.

The Montana Western men (7-10, 2-2 conf.) went 1-1 last weekend, defeating MSU-Northern in Havre on Saturday and falling in a close 74-73 defeat to University of Providence at home on Thursday.

The Bulldogs are led by 2021 Second Team All-Conference member guard Jamal Stephenson (13.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.8 apg), sophomore guard and Billings native Ky Kouba (12.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 47.5% 3pt%), and junior guard Brenton Woods (11.3 ppg, 4.0 apg, 2.5 rpg).

The Bulldog men are coached by Mike Larsen in his fifth season.

Saturday, January 14th vs University of Providence
WBB @ 2:00pm
MBB @ 4:00pm

Scouting the Argos: The University of Providence Argo women (11-6, 1-3 conf.) fell in both of their conference matchups last weekend. The Battlin' Bears won the first matchup between these two teams 48-46. Providence's Maddy Dixon scored a career high 22 points in that game, but 17 points from Kloie Thatcher and 16 points from Mackenzie Dethman gave Rocky the edge, while Gracee Lekvold made the game-sealing steal in the final possession.

The Argos are led by graduate senior Reed Hazard (11.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.9 spg), junior Maddy Dixon (10.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.1 bpg), and senior Brooklyn Harn (9.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.4 apg). The Argo women average 62.2 points per game, while only allowing 53.7.

The University of Providence women are coached by Bill Himmelberg in his 12th season.

The Argo men (8-9, 2-2 conf.) will have a much different look from its first matchup with Rocky in which the Battlin' Bears won 90-72 behind a 55-point second half, led by Maxim Stephens scoring 21 points in his first start of the season.

University of Providence has returned it's two top scorers in junior guard Davien Harris-Williams, and Frontier Conference Preseason All Conference member Marcus Stephens to the lineup, both of whom did not play their first games of the season until December 29th. Harris-Williams in his first four games back is averaging 19.0 points per game, 4.0 assists per game, and 4.0 rebounds per game, while Stephens is averaging 18.0 points per game, 4.0 rebounds per game, and 1.3 steals per game in his first four games back in the lineup.

The Argo men are coached by Steve Keller in his fourth season.

Social Media: Follow @BattlinBears on Twitter for live updates as the game goes on.

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