GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence women's basketball team will kick off conference play on Thursday with a home bout against Rocky Mountain College.

The Argos (9-2) will then make the trip up to Havre to take on MSU-Northern. That game will tip off at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4.

"Anytime you play conference games it's big," head coach Bill Himmelberg said. "Rocky is a good team. They have good players. It's going to be important for us to get that one. Northern is always dangerous, especially at home. They're really good. They're going to be a problem. We're going to have to make sure we're ready for them."

The Argos, who are receiving votes in the latest edition of the NAIA National Poll, have had a long time to prepare for their conference foes. The team last took the court on Nov. 19 in a home win against Our Lady of the Lake.

"I think we have really fresh legs right now," Himmelberg said. "We've really been focused on fundamentals. We've put in our defensive game plans against these teams. We've had the time to focus on those things and prepare for conference which has been great."

The Argos will take on a red-hot Battlin' Bears team, who is 5-1 in conference play. Their lone loss has come at the hands of Lewis-Clark State in a close, three-point road loss on Nov. 13. 

"They have all the pieces in place to be really good," Himmelberg said. "They're still putting it all together. If they do, they could be very dangerous. We have to not let them in right away and make sure we defend and rebound because they have a lot of weapons."

The Lights (3-4) will also present some challenges for the Argos. Though the team has four losses on the season, only one of them has come by double-digits; a 10-point loss to Northwest on Nov. 12. 

"Northern's always good," Himmelberg said. "They're solid top to bottom and have good players. Obviously they're very well-coached. We have to be ready to attack a bunch of different things. We've got a lot of things to try and prepare for."

The two teams will also have to take on the Argos as well. The squad has five scorers who are averaging over 12 points per game; Emilee Maldonado (16.2 ppg), Parker Esary (15.9 ppg), Brooklyn Harn (12.1 ppg) and Reed Hazard (12.1 ppg).

"We can score," Himmelberg said. "All five of our girls can score and be the leading scorer at any time which is a nice situation to be in. Lots of people can score. We got some girls getting some experience early. Hopefully some girls will step up and be able to get in there and give us some more minutes."