Box Score Box Score
MONMOUTH, Ore. – Down 52-44 with 10:57 left, the Montana State Billings women's basketball team responded outscoring the Western Oregon Wolves 19-5 the rest of the way for a key 65-57 Great Northwest Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Yellowjackets improved to 14-10 overall and 10-6 in conference play. WOU fell to 9-15 overall and 7-9 in conference play.
"It was a great win for us tonight," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. "We played hard, but we really struggled in the second half stopping them as it seemed like they made everything eary in the half. I thought we saved our best for last, as we played our best in the last few minutes. It was a total team effort as we got contributions from everyone to get the win."
MSUB was led by 15 points off the bench from senior Beata Bak. Senior Jenny Heringer added 13 points as she led all players with eight rebounds. Senior Shantell Marquis chipped in 11 points and freshman Bobbi Knudsen added 10 points.
The Jackets shot 48.1 percent for the game on 26 of 54 from the field. They were just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc, but were 11 of 19 from the line.
WOU was led by 12 points from Sara Zahler and Danielle Bellando. Melissa Fowler chipped in 10 points. The Wolves shot 42 percent for the game on 21 of 50 from the field. They were 4 of 17 from beyond the arc and 11 of 12 from the line.
MSUB led 31-30 in rebounds, including 11-8 in offensive rebounds. The much bigger Yellowjackets dominated the Wolves in the paint to the tune of 48-20. Both teams scored 17 points off turnovers, while the Jackets led 23-14 in bench points.
The game saw 11 ties and nine lead changes.
Through the first five minutes it was back-and-forth as the Jackets held an 11-9 lead on a jumper from Knudsen with 15:40 left. From there, the Wolves went on an 8-0 run capped by a jumper from Fowler with 13:35 left and a 17-11 lead.
The Jackets responded with 10-2 run over the next six minutes for a 21-19 lead with 7:18. The Wolves again had the answer as they responded with a 9-2 run for a 28-21 lead with 2:58 left.
MSUB then closed the half with a 7-0 run capped by a layup from Marquis with 20 seconds left. The Wolves didn't score a point in the final 2:58 or a field goal in the final 4:44 for a 28-28 tie at intermission.
The Jackets shot an even 50 percent from the field on 12 of 24 in the first half. They were just 1 of 6 from beyond the arc and were 3 of 5 from the line. Knudsen led the way with eight points. WOU countered with an 11 of 24 performance from the field. It was just 2 of 9 from range and 4 of 4 from the line.
MSUB led in rebounds 14-11, but the teams combined for 21 turnovers in the first half as Jackets had 12 miscues, while WOU committed 11.
The teams each scored 10 points through the first four minutes of the game. WOU then went on a 12-6 run for a 52-44 advantage capped by a jumper from the free throw line by Rylee Peterson with 10:57 left giving the Wolves their largest lead of the game.
Out of a Yellowjacket timeout, Ryan hit a jumper cutting the deficit to 52-46 with 9:32 left for just her fifth point of the game.
Zahler hit two free throws for a 54-46 lead, but Bak responded with a triple for a 54-49 deficit keeping the Jackets within striking distance. Two free throws by Bak out of a media time out cut the deficit to 54-51. Marquis swelled the Yellowjacket run to 7-0 with a layup with 7:08 left.
Bak scored her 10th point of the half giving the Jackets its first lead since the first half at 55-54 with 6:33 left. Zahler then committed the Wolves' 18th turnover followed by a timeout.
A layup by Heringer off another Wolves turnover extended the Jackets' run to 11-0 with 5:07 left and a 57-54 lead. WOU's last field goal came with 10:57 left.
Knudsen hit a jumper with 1:34 left, followed by a layup from Bak for a 62-55 lead with 1:18 left. MSUB went on for a 65-57 victory.
The Wolves didn't score a field goal in the final 10:57 and scored just five points on free throws during that span.
The Yellowjackets return home to close out the regular season with two games next week. The Jackets battle nationally ranked Western Washington Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 5:15 p.m. in Alterowitz Gymnasium and host Simon Fraser Thursday, Feb. 24, at 5:15 p.m. Both games are very important as the Jackets are in the hunt to host a GNAC Tournament game the following week.
"We are looking forward to playing Western Washington on Tuesday at home as they are a very good team and it will be a great challenge," Woodin added. "It will be nice to end the regular seaosn with two home games."
