Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. – Despite leading for much of the game, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team fell behind late in the going and never recovered as they dropped their home Great Northwest Athletic Conference game with Central Washington University 65-59 inside Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
With the loss, the Yellowjackets find themselves 12-7 overall with an even 4-4 mark in league play while the Wildcats improve to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the GNAC.
 
“I really liked the way we started the game off,” stated head coach Kevin Woodin. “We were aggressive on both ends of the court and were playing very well. But as the game progressed, we struggled off especially the offensive glass and that was critical to them coming back to make a game of it by half time and all through the second half. I have to give them credit, they played very well after that rough start and when you play them, you have to play faster and be prepared to defend them at three-point range.”
 
Despite being able to turn the Wildcats' 15 turnovers into 14 points, the Yellowjackets struggled from the field at times. Montana State Billings finished the game with a .333 (21-63) shooting performance behind Bobbi Knudsen and Quinn Peoples' double-digit outputs.
 
A Malta High School product, Knudsen finished the game with 17 points while Butte native Peoples ended her efforts with 12 points. Both guards hit two three-pointers in the game as MSUB hit just five treys during the 40 minutes of play.
 
Under the net, Janiel Olson corralled in 10 defensive boards to lead the team with 11 total rebounds. The Billings West High School product finished the game with seven points that included going 3-4 from the free throw line.
 
For Central Washington, Jessica VanDyke, who typically averages close to 15 points per game, was held to just 10 points that included going 5-6 from the charity stripe and just 2-11 from the field. But VanDyke was able to make a huge impact on the game as she corralled in a game- and career-high 16 total rebounds, 13 off the defensive glass, to finish the contest with a double-double.
 
Sophie Russell led CWU in scoring with a game- and career-high 28 points that saw her drain a game-high three treys. Stacy Albrecht was the final player to finish with double-digit points as she recorded 11 off a 5-8 night from the field.
 
MSUB was able to race out to an early, double-digit lead that was as high as 17 (21-4) with 11 minutes remaining in the opening stanza of play. The Yellowjackets took advantage of the Wildcats' early shooting woes that saw CWU shooting as poorly as 16% from the field at one point, including going cold and not connecting on a basket for almost five minutes.
 
But the Wildcats would claw their way back into the game by intermission as MSUB was clinging to a 33-25 lead.
 
Out of the half though, things would continue to go Central Washington's way as Alex Dunn broke free for the first two points off a fast break and from there, the Wildcats would continue to pressure the Yellowjackets, eventually tying  the game at 44-all with 11:42 remaining.
 
Central Washington eventually earned their first, and final lead of the contest when Melanie Valdez connected on one of her two free throw attempts. From there, despite the Yellowjackets attempts to mount a come-back, CWU would hold them off for the victory.
 
“I would like to see us play more consistently throughout the game because right now, we are going through streaks where we play extremely well, and at a high pace, but then we will fall off entirely too much,” Woodin said. “I cannot expect us to play at such a high level at all times, but we need to learn not to drop off as much. Part of it is our overall young age and another part is just the players getting fatigued but they are still showing signs of improvement.”
 
MSUB was able to neutralize Central Washington's prolific three-point shooting, but that just opened up the game under the basket as the Wildcats scored 21 second-chance points that included 14 in the paint.
 
MSUB will benefit from a long week off as they will not be back in action again until next Saturday, Jan. 21. The Yellowjackets will begin a three-game road swing with a mid-afternoon, 2 p.m. league game at Seattle Pacific University.