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BILLINGS, Mont. – For the first time since the 1995-1996 season, the Montana State Billings women's basketball team swept a regular season series from Seattle Pacific, downing the visiting Falcons 54-51 Saturday evening in Alterowitz Gymnasium. With the win, the Yellowjackets improved to 11-9 overall and 7-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. SPU fell to 13-7 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
“This was a great win for our team tonight,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “I thought both teams played very hard and the final score is indicative of that.”
The Yellowjackets were led by three players in double figures as freshman Bobbi Knudsen again had a solid outing against the Falcons. She led the team with 11 points with two triples. Senior Mandy Jacobs had 10 points, as did senior Beata Bak.
For the second consecutive game against SPU, the Yellowjackets came up huge on the defensive end, holding SPU to just one player in double figures. This time Melissa Reich tallied 11 points on 5 of 13 from the field and eight rebounds. Knudsen and the Yellowjacket defense again held Falcon leading scorer Nyesha Sims, in single-digits with just eight points and two triples. She scored just three points in the first meeting, a 59-50 win by MSUB in Seattle, Jan. 8.
In virtually an even game throughout, the Jackets shot 38.9 percent from the field on 21 of 54 from the floor. MSUB was 4 of 15 from beyond the arc and was just 8 of 14 from the line. Conversely, the Falcons were 20 of 55 from the field for 36.4 percent. They were 5 of 15 from range and 6 of 12 from the line.
The Falcons raced out to an early 14-7 lead with 12:50 remaining in the first half.
“I felt we were ready to play at the beginning but they executed better early,” Woodin said. “We were working hard on defense, but offensively we were stagnant early.”
From there, the Yellowjackets went on a 13-0 run over the next seven minutes for a 20-14 lead with 6:18 left courtesy of a driving layup from senior Sarah McNamee.
“Our bench did a nice job in the middle of the first half, and it had a lot to do with our run to get ahead after being down seven,” Woodin added. “Sarah McNamee, Beata Bak, and Kalli Stanhope really sparked us.”
Moments later, SPU's Katie Benson hit a triple ending a scoring drought of almost eight minutes. The Falcons then cut the deficit to 23-21 on a triple from Sims with 3:34 left in the half. The game was tied at 26 at intermission.
Knudsen hit a triple to open the second half for the Jackets early on for a 29-26 lead. Midway through the half, the Falcons jumped out to a six-point advantage for a 37-31 lead with 12:29 left. MSUB quickly erased the deficit as senior Jenny Heringer hit a big triple to bring the home crowd to life and a 40-37 deficit.
An inside layup by senior Kayla Ryan cut the Falcon lead to one at 40-39 with 10:30 left. Moments later, Jacobs hit a big jumper for a 42-42 score and the eighth tie of the game.
A break-away layup by Bak off an assist from senior Shantell Marquis gave MSUB a 49-48 lead with 5:09 left. Knudsen followed with a jumper for a 51-48 lead, moments later. From there, the teams went cold and neither team scored until the final minute.
SPU's Maddie Maloney made one of two free throws for a 51-49 deficit with 53 seconds left.
The Falcons fouled and had a couple of open looks to tie or take the lead as the Jackets missed a couple of free throws late. Knudsen calmly knocked down two charity tosses for a 54-49 lead with nine seconds left. Maloney drove to the hoop on the ensuing SPU possession for a 53-51 deficit.
Heringer made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left as SPU was unable to get a desperation shot off at the buzzer.
“The second half had an awesome atmosphere and our entire team contributed,” Woodin said. “Defensively, we rebounded by committee. Shantell Marquis did a great job of directing our offense. All of our seniors did a nice job of keeping our team focused.”
MSUB hasn't swept the Falcons during the regular season since the 1995-96 season when the Jackets won 85-59 in Billings on Jan. 20, and followed with an 83-72 win in Seattle, Feb. 10. The Jackets won four-straight between in the series Feb. 8, 1995 and Feb. 15, 1997.
The Yellowjacket did win back-to-back contests against the Falcons with one in the NCAA Tournament, Mar. 9, 2000 and Jan. 6, 2001, in Billings. SPU then won 10-straight in the series prior to this season's meetings.
The Yellowjackets continue at home next week as they host Central Washington Thurs., Feb. 10, at 7 p.m., and then will host Northwest Nazarene for WBCA Pink Zone night Sat., Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. All fans are encouraged to wear pink for the NNU game.
“We are looking forward to remaining at home for next week,” Woodin concluded. “We lost to both Central and NNU earlier and now we will have to be at our best to win.”
