Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawaii. – Freshman Kayleen Goggins netted a career-high 18 points, but she was not the only Yellowjacket to top her career point total as Kabri Emerson and Annie DePuydt both had career nights as well, leading five Yellowjackets in tallying double-digit outings as the Montana State Billings women's basketball team defeated Chaminade University 84-76 in McCabe Gym Friday night.
 
Securing theirseason-high fourth win in a row, the Yellowjackets are now 7-4 during the 2011-12 campaign while the Silverswords fall to 0-6.
 
“Once again I am very proud of how our young players stepped up tonight,” said head coach Kevin Woodin. “The freshmen are gaining some valuable road experience and learning to step up when we need them the most. Kayleen, Kabri, Annie and Janiel all had great efforts for us tonight, and so did the rest of the team. To be able to out-score them 32-10 off the bench just shows how hard these players are working to get better.”
 
Despite out-shooting MSUB with a 56% (29-52) performance from the field compared to the Yellowjackets' 42% (27-64) shooting performance, Chaminade was unable to make the critical shots down the stretch. The Silverswords were just 12-18 (67%) from the charity stripe, and while the Yellowjackets were not much better (25-33), free throws proved to be the difference maker down the stretch.
 
MSUB was led in scoring by Goggins' game- and career-high 18 points. The Shepherd, MT native was 6-10 from the field and hit six of her eight attempts from the free throw line.
 
Three other freshmen stepped up for double-digit outings in the victory as Billings West High School product Janiel Olson just missed out on a double-double performance reording 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
DePuydt and Emerson both came off the bench to score 11 points each, career-highs for the duo. DePuydt was perfect from the field (3-3) and went 5-6 at the free throw line while Emerson went 4-6 from the field, hit all three of her free throws and corralled in a career-high seven boards, six off the offensive glass.
 
The final Yellowjacket to score double-digit points was sophomore point guard Bobbi Knudsen with 11 points. Knudsen also added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
 
For Chaminade, four players recorded double-digit points led by Jordan Ahakuelo's double-double performance consisting of 17 points and 11 boards. Glacen Florita and Rhani Kaneaiakala both tallied 15 points while Nikki Tauau added 13 of her own.
 
Contrary to prior games, MSUB fell behind early in the contest as the Silverswords opened the game with five un-answered points, going up 13-5 in the first five minutes of play.
 
Coming off the bench and stepping a bit outside of her normal post position, Monica Grimsrud nailed a trey with 14:00 minutes remaining in the first half to spur the come-back. The Yellowjackets would go on from there, pushing the ball hard over the next two and a half minutes to go on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 14-all.
 
Goggins would give MSUB its first lead of the contest with just under 10 minutes remaining when she banked a layup in to push the Yellowjackets ahead 18-17.
 
By the intermission, the Yellowjackets would have garnered a 37-31 lead after swapping the lead back and forth for the rest of the first half.
 
Out of half time, the Silverswords were back on the offensive, once again scoring the first five points of the half to tie the game at 37-37 before freshman Quinn Peoples swished her only trey of the contest.
 
The Yellowjackets never trailed in the second half despite Chaminade being able to knot the score several times. The last tied score came with just under 15 minutes remaining in regulation off a Kaneaiakala layup before MSUB was able to slowly pull away.
 
From there, MSUB would steadily extend their lead out to as many as 14 after Brooke Tolman nailed a pair of free throws with over a minute remaining before settling for the final eight-point victory.
 
Once again, the Yellowjackets won the turnover battle, forcing the Silverswords to relinquish the ball 20 times while only committing 11 turnovers themselves. The Yellowjackets converted those 20 turnovers into 25 points while CU only managed 16 points off of their steals.
 
MSUB out-scored Chaminade in almost every aspect of the game as they had 32 points come off the bench compared to 10 by the Silverswords' bench and had 15 second chance points compared to just six by Chaminade.
 
The Yellowjackets will take a day off tomorrow to enjoy their surroundings before jumping back into action Sunday afternoon. MSUB will travel to Hilo for a 2 p.m. tipoff against the University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcans.