MSUB SPORTS – Two hours prior to tipoff on any given game day, the main floor is completely clear, and  the cavernous Alterowitz Gym entirely empty awaiting that night's inhabitants – spectators, players and coaches alike.
 
As the clock strikes five, the first two Yellowjackets emerge from the southeast stairwell, as Quinn Peoples and Kayleen Goggins follow the path they have traversed hundreds of times throughout their careers at Montana State University Billings.
 
The unbreakable routine of shooting early before the game is something the two have adhered to since their sophomore season at Montana State Billings, the year when a bond of lifelong friendship was developed.
 
To the ordinary passerby, the routine appears casual, with no real rhythm or sense of organization to it. Five shots for Goggins here, a few for Peoples over there; two teammates getting ready to play another basketball game.
 
But as the two have grown inseparable over the past three years, it has been the sport that has drawn them together and provided a platform to illustrate the exhilarating highs and the unimaginable lows life has to offer.
 
The pregame routine for Peoples and Goggins is one that requires no planning, no reminder to meet one another at the court at a certain time. Some days the two travel to the gym together, and others the meeting under the east basket is the first of the day between the Montana natives.
 
Sometimes the conversation is as simple as talking about what each did that day, and more often than not there are smiles and chuckling.
 
It's impossible to know exactly what it is that comes to Peoples' mind each time she steps onto the court with her best friend, but based on the road she has traveled to becoming a senior for the 'Jackets in 2015, there's no doubt there is plenty to say.

 
PEOPLES TO PEOPLES FOR STATE
 
Peoples grew up in Butte, Mont., the daughter of Butte Central Catholic High School football head coach, Don Peoples. Sports were something engrained in the Peoples blood line, and for as long as she can remember Quinn was a natural on the field.
 
"From the time I can remember, my life has revolved around sports," Peoples said. "My first memories are probably when I was around three or four going to football practices with my older sister Mairissa and sitting on the sideline while our dad coached."
 
Being surrounded by sports was all Peoples knew growing up, and by the time she reached the age of competitive basketball, her father had picked up coaching duties for the high school girls' team. "Probably around second or third grade is when Quinn really started to get into basketball, and she was extremely competitive even as a young kid," Peoples' father commented. "The era where she started being a ball girl for the high school teams is when she really became a gym rat and a kid who loved basketball."
 
Side-by-side Peoples and her older sister honed their basketball skills, fantasizing about the day when they would become teammates for the Lady Maroons and lead the team to a state championship title.

 
"When they were little girls they always used to practice with each other in the yard, and it was always, 'Peoples to Peoples for state,'" remembered Peoples' mother Barb. "There was always a competition over who was passing and who was taking the shot to win the game."
 
It was a dream the sisters shared with one another, and when Peoples reached her freshman year of high school the two would finally have a chance to turn the fictitious backyard games into a reality as teammates.
 
The Peoples sisters never got that chance however, as Mairissa was diagnosed with cancer during Quinn's first year of high school. Don Peoples had to step down from his role as head coach to focus on the care of his oldest daughter, but remained on staff in an assistant role.
 
For Quinn, the diagnosis given to her sister was a shock, but it was basketball that kept her motor running and motivated her to be strong in support of Mairissa. "Basketball was something for all of us to focus on besides what else was going on," Barb Peoples said. "It gave us something to look forward to."
 
By Peoples' senior season, she had emerged as a legitimate college prospect, and had led the Lady Maroons to their first state tournament appearance in 28 years in the previous year. In her final prep season, Peoples' focus turned to just one goal. "My dad always told me that if you can get to state and win it, no one can ever take that away from you," Peoples said.
 
When Peoples and her teammates advanced to the state title game, she carried her sister's jersey out of the locker room and laid it on the team bench, just as she had done before every other game that season.
 
Traveling back-and-forth to Seattle to receive treatment, Mairissa was absent for a great deal of Quinn's prep career. On the most important night of their lives however, not only was Mairissa in attendance, but she had the headset on and was part of the broadcast team for the title game.
 
Sure enough, the dream came true that evening as Peoples led her team to the school's first state title in almost three decades. With the freshly-cut net dangling around her neck, Peoples sought out her older sister to share the moment with. "When we won state she was the first person I went over and hugged," Peoples said with a grin. "I saw her walking over and I sprinted to her and started spinning her around. It was so cool that I got to share that moment with her and that she was a part of that experience too."
 

 
A FINAL WISH
 
"When you are in love with the sport, it becomes everything that you are and everything that you exemplify. That is something I really took away from and learned from my sister, and she helped me realize my passion and that she would do anything to be in the situation that I was in." – Quinn Peoples
 
Following a historic regular season in 2013-14, the MSUB women's basketball team earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships and prepared to head to Pomona, Calif., for first-round action in early March.
 
The Yellowjackets had stormed to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title, posting a perfect 15-0 record at home in the process. The season was already a memorable one for the 'Jackets, and the postseason run was just getting started.
 
"We had just gotten back from the conference tournament in Lacey and after practice on Monday I got a call from my mom," Peoples remembered.
 
Barb Peoples informed her middle daughter that she needed to come home right away to see her sister, who had been battling cancer strongly for seven years. Upon arriving, Peoples found out Mairissa only had days to live.
 
"I asked her if she wanted me to stay and she just looked at me and said, 'are you crazy?! You're going to play in the NCAA tournament and I'm going to watch your game on Friday,'" Peoples remembered about the conversation with Mairissa. "Deciding to never see my sister again and choosing to play basketball was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Mairissa helped me make that decision because she had worked so hard her entire life, and it would have made her so happy just to play two seconds in an NCAA tournament."
 
"It amazes me the inner strength Quinn has that she could overcome and play well with her team," said Peoples' mother. "It is exactly what her sister wanted her to do."
 

 
YELLOWJACKETS STICK TOGETHER
 
Mairissa Peoples passed away on Thursday, March 13, 2014, but Quinn Peoples didn't play a single minute of the regional tournament without her older sister and her entire team of Yellowjackets by her side. "It was amazing the way that group of girls came together, and I have never felt something as special as that game," Peoples remembered regarding a dramatic 60-59 victory over Academy of Art in the first round that Friday. "Every huddle we would break and yell, 'for Mairissa,' and I don't think there was any way we were going to lose that game."
 
The 'Jackets advanced to the regional championship game, where one of the best seasons in program history came to an end with a 75-68 loss to eventual national semifinalist Cal Poly Pomona.
 
"When Quinn's mom called her and told her to come home, we weren't sure if she was going to be able to play at the regional tournament," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "It was Mairissa's wish for Quinn to play and she really helped us both on and off the court. She just inspired us to work even harder as coaches, players and teammates."
 
"For Quinn to even be at the regional tournament last year showed her commitment to this program and her team," said Goggins. "There are not a lot of people who, being in her position, would have done that."
 

Now in her senior season at MSUB, Peoples has put together a memorable career as one of the most prolific players in program history. She became just the second player in MSUB history to reach 200 career made 3-pointers, and she and Goggins fittingly each joined the 1,000-point club this season.
 
On paper, the figures speak for themselves and are a testament to a lifetime of hard work and dedication to the sport of basketball. But the milestone numbers also represent something much more than the shots Peoples has made in her career.
 
"It represents consistency and what Quinn has been able to do throughout her career has been simply amazing," Woodin said. "I am very proud of her because she has worked extremely hard to become a better defender and passer, and this season her all-around game has definitely improved."
 
"Of all the kids I have witnessed in my coaching career, she has worked as hard or harder than anybody I have ever seen," Peoples' father commented. "It is very fulfilling as a parent to see her success, and she has truly enjoyed her entire experience at MSUB."
 
Peoples is completing a degree in elementary education and special education, as her passion lies within helping others and teaching and coaching children. "I cannot say enough about the professors in the College of Education here at MSUB," Peoples said. "They worked with me so well during everything I was going through with my family, and I feel like I really got to know my professors here. It is really beneficial for students to be considered individually, and Coach does an awesome job of making sure every player in his program graduates in four years."
 
PEOPLES FOR THE FUTURE
 
Family and friends alike are quick to smile and explain how Peoples struggled immensely with being away from home as a freshman at MSUB. "She was so pathetically homesick and I didn't think she would stay at first," Barb Peoples recalled. "She and Kayleen became such good friends, and the Goggins family has been so amazing in support of her and all of us. That's what helped keep her spirits up."
 
Four years later, Peoples has become one of the model citizens in Woodin's program and has served as a valuable leader by example in mentoring the younger players. "Quinn represents the bond she has formed with her sister and family, and she has brought that same bond to her team," said Woodin. "This year she has done a great job as captain and helping the younger players to develop and realize the ups and downs of playing college basketball.
 
"I feel blessed that Quinn came to MSUB and I got the opportunity to coach her and to get to know her family on a deeper level," Woodin continued. "I know that Quinn has helped me become a better person and coach, and I just know that she will be successful in whatever she chooses to do."
 
Goggins explained the type of commitment and inspiration that Peoples embodies, and how these are the traits that will live on long after her playing career. "She could have stayed at home but she chose to stick it out and come back this year,"

Goggins said. "I hope people will realize what that took, and think of her as being loyal and a hard worker."
 
Overall, Peoples believes she is a living example that things do get better and everything comes full circle. "I always thought to myself, 'why did I choose MSUB?' It just fit me perfectly academically and gave me the opportunity to stick with what I loved doing athletically," Peoples said. "I hope that one day people will see me as an example of hard work paying off. It can be hard to stick with things sometimes, but it really means something when you do."
 
FULL CIRCLE
 
In a way, the pregame shooting routine for Peoples and Goggins is a perfect representation of the extraordinary experience they have shared as Yellowjackets. At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than a few shots here and there in no particular order.
 
But look closer and you'll notice the matching shoes, with Mairissa's initials M.M.P. inscribed on the tongue. The five made shots at each location, the transition from shooter to rebounder flowing as naturally as the gentle conversation between the two. Before long, each has hit from all of their locations, and their simple warmup routine, just like their careers as Yellowjackets, has come full circle.