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BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings women's basketball team continued to roll Tuesday night as they opened their home rivalry game with Rocky Mountain College (6-1) on a 9-2 run off three-pointers from three different players. The Yellowjackets (3-0) would never look back as they downed their in-town rivals 65-55 inside Alterowitz Gymnasium to remain perfect on the season.
 
“This was a great victory for us,” head coach Kevin Woodin said after the game. “Rocky is a very talented and athletic team. They are very tough to guard, and I like the way our players responded to some adversity in the second half to finish the game strong. I have to give Rocky a lot of credit, they played hard and would not go away.”
 
The Yellowjackets hit 34.4% (22-64) of their shots in the game with Bobbi Knudsen once again leading all scorers with 18 points including hitting three treys to go 3-5 from beyond the arc. She also led all players with five assists in the contest and added three steals and three defensive rebounds.
 
Janiel Olson just missed out on her second double-double of the season as she registered nine points and seven boards while both Ashley Reed and Kayleen Goggins corralled in eight rebounds each. Goggins matched her board total with eight points.
 
For the Battlin' Bears of Rocky, three players recorded double-digit points led by Alli Blake with 15. Amie Jensen and Erin Cooke were the other two players in double-digit points with 11 and 10 respectively; Cooke led all players with nine rebounds.
 
The 'Jackets never trailed in the contest which was a rematch from an earlier game on Nov. 9 that saw Rocky win 68-63 on their home court in what was an exhibition for MSUB but counted for the Bears.
 
Kalli Stanhope knocked down the game-opening three off a feed from Knudsen with the Bears answering with a Blake layup on the other end. But that would be as close as Rocky would pull all game as the Yellowjackets would extend their lead in the first half by as many as 12 at the intermission.
 
Out of half-time, the Bears would be the first to strike off a jumper by Cooke to cut the deficit to 10, but freshman Quinn Peopls swished a trey at the other end to give MSUB its largest lead of the contest at 13.
 
Down the stretch, the Bears would pull to within five three separate times, but could not find an answer for the fast-paced and fiesty 'Jackets who forced 24 turnovers and out-rebounded Rocky 44-40.
 
“Defensively in the second half, we fouled too much and sent them to the line 20 times which is way too much. We need to continue to be aggressive but we need to work on being smarter defensively.”
 
The Bears were able to hit on 62% (13-21) of their free throws while MSUB hit 56% (14-25) of their own, but Rocky did not hit a shot from three-point range in the second half as they attempted to penetrate the Yellowjackets' defense more, but only hitting eight shots in the entire second half.
 
Woodin and his young squad will now turn their attention towards a pair of Thanksgiving weekend games while hosting the 2011 Yellowjacket Women's Basketball Classic sponsored by the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. The two-day classic will feature the host 'Jackets, Minnesota State – Moorhead, , Minot State University amd Montana State – Northern.
 
MSU – Northern and Minnesota State – Moorhead will tip off the tournament on Friday at 5 p.m. before MSUB and Minot square off in the night-cap at 7 p.m. The following day, Northern will tangle with Minot at 2 p.m. with the Yellowjackets taking on Minnesota State – Moorhead in the final game of the weekend at 4 p.m.