by PORTLAND, Ore. – Kola Bad Bear was announced Monday as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week, following a successful weekend in which she helped the Montana State University Billings women’s basketball team clinch a share of the GNAC regular season championship.
It was the second Player of the Week selection this season for Bad Bear, who previously earned the honor for the week of Dec. 4-10.
“Kola had an amazing week,” said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. “She was a major reason our team was able to get two hard fought GNAC conference wins. Kola has been a great addition to our women’s basketball program and has bought in to our “team first” philosophy. She has impacted our team in a positive manner both on and off the court. Kola is a tremendous student-athlete, competitor, leader and teammate.”
In the Yellowjackets final two home games of the regular season, Bad Bear opened the week’s games on Thursday by helping the ‘Jackets defeat their closest competition in the GNAC this season in Western Washington, who was ranked #13 in the WBCA polls coming into the game. In a close, hard-fought game, Bad Bear scored 11 points, shooting 5-9 from the field. Her last two points were the game’s most important, putting in the game winning shot with 1.7 seconds remaining to give MSUB a 48-46 victory. She followed that performance up on Saturday with her sixth double-double of the season Saturday, totaling 18 points and ten rebounds in MSUB’s 86-59 victory over Simon Fraser. Bad Bear also finished with five assists in the game, and three steals. In total over the week’s games, she averaged 14.5 points per game, shooting 52.9% from the field, and making 100% of her three-point and free throw attempts.
