Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Prior to the season, head coach Kevin Woodin said his young squad would surprise some people, and the Montana State Billings women's basketball team did just that Thursday night as they made a hard charge against the Vikings of Western Washington University (4-1, 1-0 GNAC) in the closing minutes of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener, but the Yellowjackets (3-3, 0-1 GNAC) came up just short on the road in a hostile environment, dropping a close 80-72 decision to the Vikings inside Carver Gym.
 
“This was a very good gut-check of a road-test for us to start the conference schedule,” said coach Woodin shortly after the game. “We started the game off very well and I liked how we played for most of the first half. We were sharing the ball well and just playing some good team defense while also making the extra pass on offense.”
 
As a team, MSUB shot 39.7% (29-73) from the field and hit eight three-pointers. The Yellowjackets continued to be a disruptive force, winning the turnover battle as they forced the Vikings into 20 turnovers while only committing 14 of their own.
 
Sharp-shooter Quinn Peoples had a career-high 21 points to lead four Yellowjackets in double-digit scoring. The freshman was a solid 5-9 from beyond the three-point arc to lead all scorers in the game and went 4-5 from the charity stripe.
 
Sophomore point guard Bobbi Knudsen had 19 points (9-21) to go along with four assists, while Brooke Tolman had 12 points and Kayleen Goggins added 10 points in the road loss.
 
Once again, Janiel Olson came up just short of a double-double, leading the 'Jackets with 10 total rebounds to go along with eight points.
 
WWU was solid from the field, hitting upon 55.6% (30-54) of their shots from the field.
 
The Vikings were led in their charge by Corinn Waltrip who had 17 points in a 60% (6-10) shooting performance along with six assists. Britt Harris had a double-double as she had 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, six off the offensive glass and six on defense.
 
The 'Jackets trailed at the half 38-32 after racing out to an early 13-7 lead, pressing the Vikings hard early as they stretched the lead out to 10 three times, the final time off a pair of free throws by Peoples with 3:45 left in the first stanza. WWU responded, going on a 19-4 run to end the first half of play and take the five-point lead, and the momentum into the locker room.
 
The Vikings would never relinquish the lead after the intermission, and by the time Katie Colard hit a trey with just over eight minutes remaining, WWU's lead had been extended to a seemingly insurmountable 14.
 
Not knowing the meaning of “throwing in the towel,” the young and resilient Yellowjackets responded, slowly chipping away at the Vikings' lead to draw as close as within two points after Tolman slashed a fast-break jumper with just under four minutes left. But that would be as close as Woodin's squad could pull to as Western Washington regained their composure and extended the lead back out to nine, before settling for the eight-point final.
 
MSUB won the battle downlow as they had 18 second-chance points off their 17 offensive rebounds compared to WWU's eight off 14 offensive boards. But 22 points off of turnovers and 20 points off the bench by the Vikings would prove to be too much for the Yellowjackets who had 19 points off of turnovers and 14 points from their bench.
 
“I liked the way we responded when we got near that last few minutes of the game,” stated Woodin. “We hit some key three-pointers and forced some key turnovers as we made a run at them with Quinn coming on strong for us there late. In the end, we just couldn't get over the hump, but it was another good game for this young group.”
 
The Yellowjackets will remain on the road this weekend, traveling up to Burnaby, British Columbia, where the Clan of Simon Fraser University awaits their arrival. The two programs will tangle on the hardwood on Saturday at high noon.