BILLINGS — It's rare to find three players on the same college basketball team that have scored or are nearing 1,000 career points. But that's exactly what's happening at Montana State Billings.
Forward Dyauni Boyce and guards Aspen Giese and Kortney Nelson — all seniors — are on the verge of becoming maybe the program’s most unique trio ever.
“To have three people in the senior class (score 1,000 career points) … it’s pretty awesome,” Nelson told MTN Sports before a recent practice.
“It’s real exciting. I think we’ve all put the work in to get there,” said Giese.
“It just shows how well we share the ball as a team,” said Boyce, who already surpassed the 1,000-point mark last season and currently stands at 1,335. Nelson is only 15 points shy of 1,000 and Giese needs just 24 as the Yellowjackets prepare for a road swing through Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.
“We definitely are unselfish, and we want each other to do well," Giese said. "You know, Dyauni had that (career-high) 35-point game (against Seattle Pacific Jan. 4). I kept giving her the ball because I want her to get to 50.”
It's also noteworthy that the seniors are roommates along with fellow senior Chloe Williams. In three years of living together they've grown to know each other extremely well. Turns out, in separate interviews they agreed on the same answers to every question.
Who's the messiest? Giese. Best chef? Boyce. Most vocal with head coach Kevin Woodin? Giese and Boyce. Cleanest locker? Nelson.
However, they do differ in reasons for their passion about this Yellowjacket program.
“Playing with our best friends,” said Nelson, a Scobey native.
Boyce is happy she's no longer competing against the others, as the three Montanans did as Class C stars in high school.
“I remember playing both of them and being each other's rivals. And then coming together, it’s finally nice to have them on my team,” Boyce, from Winifred, said with a smile.
Fort Benton's Giese loves the program's fiercely competitive drive.
“We have a will to win. We’re going to find a way, even if we’re shooting 22%,” she said.
A year ago, the Jackets were regular-season champions in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. They came within a basket of winning the league's postseason tournament, and within another basket of reaching the NCAA Division II Elite 8.
This season's squad is off to a hot 16-2 start with — at the very least — three experienced scorers. And with the end yet to be written.
