Get to know the Loyola Wolfpack

For the Montana State University-Northern Skylights, playing in the NAIA Women's National Basketball Championship has always required a long journey. But this time, it will be MSU-N's first-round opponent who will have to travel a long way.

While the Skylights have just a short trip to reach Billings, where the tournament will be hosted at the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra, the team they are playing, Loyola University of New Orleans, has to make a much longer trek for tip-off time Thursday night at 8.

Yet, the travel distance to Billings is one of the few differences between the No. 22 Wolfpack (26-6) and the No. 11 Skylights (24-8), who will each bring teams that are both talented and tournament-tested into the 32-team field.

"They (Wolfpack) are athletic, super athletic," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "They are really good on the boards, especially the offensive boards. They have a D-1 transfer who is a double-double almost every night. I think they led the nation in offensive rebounds. They are strong, have length and are quick to the ball."

Much like Northern, Loyola is led by an experienced head coach in Kelle Kennedy, who has led the Wolfpack to 169 wins in nine seasons at the helm, including five trips to the national tournament in the last six years. And like MSU-N has Natalee Faupel, Loyola has Meghan Temple, who scored 12 points and grabbed 9.8 rebounds in 31 games this season. She also averaged more than four offensive rebounds per game, which is fifth in the country, along with 1.5 blocks.

Temple, who shoots 53 percent from the field is a staple of the Loyola offense, which ranked 10th in the nation with an average of 77.2 points per game. However, the Wolfpack can also attack the basket and are also efficient scoring from beyond the arc with a number of talented guards that combined to make 7.5 3-point field goals per game, 15th best in the NAIA.

Zoie Miller, the Wolfpack's leading scorer at 13.4 ppg is one of those perimeter scorers and one of five players with at least 25 triples on the season. Paige Frankiewicz led the team with 89 makes on 39-percent shooting. But Miller is the team's best outside shooter percentage-wise, as she has made treys at a 46-percent clip.

"Offensively, they have a nice mix of players," Mouat said. "They have size, and they have guards who can get to the rim. They have guards who can stroke the three, and some who can shoot it and get to the rim. They have a lot of quickness, too, so with that, and their size, they're a really tough matchup. They just have a lot of weapons."

The Wolfpack may be a skilled offensive team, but they are hard nosed defensively, too. Loyola ranks fourth in the country in field-goal percentage defense, after holding opponents to just 33 percent shooting for the season. In addition to that, they ranked 12th in the nation in steals with 11 per game and finished 15th in blocks with 3.8 per game.

On top of that, Loyola is also among the best rebounding teams in the country. The Wolfpack rank third in the nation in defensive rebounds with 30.6 a night and led the country in total rebounds with 48.4, including 16.3 offensive rebounds per outing.

"They push the tempo on both ends of the floor," Mouat said. "They average around 80 per game, and most of their wins were blowouts. So they know what to do with a lead when they get it. They play hard and they play with a lot of energy on both ends of the floor."

Loyola possesses solid depth, with nine players that average double-digit minutes and six that average at least 7.5 points a game. The Wolfpack also come in on a hot streak, winning 13 of their last 15 games, as well as compiling a 17-3 record in the Southern States Athletic Conference on their way to winning the league championship and earning the automatic berth into the national tournament.

As with Northern, the Wolfpack, who finished second this season in the Southern States Athletic Conference, are no stranger to the national tournament. Back in 2014, they reached the Elite 8, before losing out in the opening round the last two seasons, including a loss to the University of Great Falls in 2015.

"They're a really diverse team," Mouat said. "They're well-coached. She's (Kennedy) been in their program for a long time and she does a great job. They've had a lot of success over the years at the national tournament, and they'll be a handful for us for sure.

The Skylights and Wolfpack will play Thursday night at 8 inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra.

University of

Loyola

Nickname: Wolfpack

Location: New Orleans

Enrollment: 4,982

NAIA National Tournament Appearances: 9, 4-8 overall

Head Coach: Kellie Kennedy (9th season)

2016-17: 26-6, 17-3 in SSAC, 2nd Place. Ranking. No. 22

Key Stats: 30.65 rebounds per game, 3rd in NAIA, 77 ppt, 10th in NAIA, 12th in NAIA in steals, 15th in NAIA in blocks, 16 offensive rebs per game, 9th.

Key Players: Zoie Miller, 13 ppt; Meghan Temple, 12 ppg, 10 rpg; Kylah Jones, 10 ppg, Paige Frankiewicz 10 ppg.