The Lady Bison: Out to prove their stuff

By Marianne Addison

The first half of the season is over for the Salish Kootenai College women's basketball team and their win-loss record stands at 7-12. At the present, nine players make up the SKC Lady Bison: Angie Redstar from Coulee Dam, WA; Kodi Kuka representing Great Falls, MT; Carla McLean, Rikki Ollinger, Bobbi Woodworth, Racquel Little Plume, and Phyllis Kipp all from Browning, MT; Genevieve Cochran of Fort Belknap, MT; and St. Ignatius High School graduate Carmelita Matt.

The SKC Bison Men's B-Ball Team

Coached by Juan Perez, the Lady Bison have been playing mostly road games in Washington, Montana, and Wyoming. Most recently, the Lady Bison traveled to Dillon, MT to take on the University of Montana-Western JV team on January 26th and 27th.

Bobbi Woodworth, a 6'2" center, returned to the line-up, Friday, to score 17 points and post a team high 18 rebounds. Also scoring in double digits were Genevieve Cochran, a 5'10" forward, with 11 points and 5'9" forward Phyllis Kipp chipping in 10 points. However, SKC's 22 turnovers to Western JV's 7, caused the Lady Bison to drop a tough road game to Western. The game was described as very physical and led to the ejections of an SKC player and a Western player,

The following day, SKC set the tempo, was able to control the ball, and forced 13 turnovers from UM-Western to secure a 10-point victory. While Carla McLean, a 6' center, had a relatively quiet game the previous day with eight points; McLean was anything but quiet in the second contest as she led SKC with 19 points and contributed nine rebounds.

Due to a physical altercation in the previous game, Cochran was bumped out of the starting line-up. Woodworth moved into the starting five and the twin towers from Browning dominated as Woodworth posted a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. She also added five blocks.

"She is so long. A few times she had blocks just by standing there," Perez said of Woodworth. "She could very easily be a starter," he added.

A knee injury occurring in the first half of the season during a scrimmage against Deja Vu, a University of Montana alumni basketball team, caused Woodworth to play sparingly the first half of the season.

Starters for the Lady Bison vary, but for the most part of the season, McLean, Cochran, and Kipp have been leading the charge in the front court while Rikki Ollinger, and Kodi Kuka make up the back court for the Lady Bison.

The upcoming battle on February 12th between Little Bighorn College from the Crow Reservation and SKC should be an exciting event. Down in Crow Agency, the SKC women split against LBHC. On Tuesday, January 16th, led by Cochran's 17 and McLean's 13 points, SKC led at the half, 45-35, and cruised to a victory with SKC scoring 78 to LBHC's 67.

The previous game, on Monday the 15th of January, three players registered double digits in the scoring column: McLean with 13, Kuka with 12, and Racquel Little Plume, a 5'9" forward, dropped in 10 points. While SKC led 36-27 at the half, a high scoring performance by LBHC's Misty McCormick couldn't be stopped as she scored 31 points en route to a Little Bighorn College victory over SKC with a total score of 90-80.

"We've lost some heartbreakers," Juan Perez said of the Lady Bison.

For example, when playing against Edmonds College located north of Seattle, SKC was clearly the better team. "Turnovers killed us," Perez commented on the loss. Limiting turnovers and getting defensive rebounds so as not to allow opponents offensive boards and possible second chance points are two things Perez is looking to improve upon before the AIHEC tournament held in Rapid City, SD at the end of March. One of the teams to beat, besides SKC, at the AIHEC tournament is the Little Bighorn College women's team.

On February 11th, the SKC men's team will square off against LBHC at 7 pm at the Ronan Event Center. On the following day, the 12th, both men's and women's teams will face off against the high-scoring squads from LBHC. The LBHC basketball program has made the jump to the National Junior College Athletic Association and faces off against opponents from a number of junior colleges. SKC has yet to make a jump into any athletic associations, but the idea is certainly being discussed and is a possibility. Northwest Indian College, whom SKC will play February 21st and 22nd at the Ronan Event Center is another basketball program based out of a tribal college wanting to make a jump into an athletic association similar to LBHC.

The college basketball program at SKC wants to showcase what tribal college basketball teams can do and the upcoming games at the Event Center will be the place for that display to take place.

"We had a big crowd down in Crow," Perez said, "We'd really like to pack it in at the Event Center."

On the 12th, University of Montana's mascot and crowd favorite "Monte" will be at the game to entertain the crowd and will be throwing out mini basketballs with the SKC logo and mascot to the crowd.

For more information, scores, and pictures go to the SKC Lady Bison page at myspace.com/skcladybison.

See also: SKC's Bison Basketball: shaping a legacy.