GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence women's basketball team will take on Dickinson State in a neutral-site game in Billings, Mont. on Dec. 29. Tip off will occur at 2:00 p.m. MTN. 

The team will take the court again after a three-game sweep at the Cactus Classic last week, including a win over #17 Dakota State in the final game. The team traveled home for the holidays, and will reconvene in Billings prior to their bout against the Blue Hawks (2-14, 0-1).

"They got some rest in and were happy to see their families," head coach Bill Himmelberg said. "The biggest concern is making sure we get our wind. Execution-wise it'll all come back to them it will just be a matter of if they have their wind or not."

The Blue Hawks present a matchup problem for the Argos (13-3), as they play without a traditional post player. They run a five-out offense, which will force the Argos to defend the three-point line.

"They are going to shoot a lot of threes," Himmelberg said. "They don't have a ton of bigs. Half of their shots will probably be three-pointers. If they're hitting, they're a problem. We're really going to have to run them off the three-point line. They can score it. That'll be the thing for us."

The Blue Hawks will also have to focus on containing the Argos, who currently have four players in double-figures. Emilee Maldonado currently leads the team with 15.6 points per game, while Parker Esary is right behind her with 14.9. Reed Hazard is currently averaging 12.1 points per game, while Brooklyn Harn is adding 11.6 points off the bench.

Despite the loaded offensive attack, the coaching staff believes the game will be decided by how the team performs on the defensive side of the ball.

"The biggest thing for us is working on our defense and making sure we stay down," Himmelberg said. "I'd really like to see us defend, especially on the three-point line. As we're moving into conference we're going to have to defend that anyway. It's a good matchup for us to have to practice that. We have to get out there and contest all those threes."