Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash. – Saturday afternoon's game between the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team and Seattle Pacific University was decided by just one point as Bobbi Knudsen connected on a free throw with just 3.4 seconds remaining in an overtime thriller that saw the Yellowjackets knock off the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's second-place Falcons 63-62 on the road.
 
With the road-win to kick off their three-game road-swing, the Yellowjacket women improve to 13-7 overall, including a 5-4 mark on the road which matches their conference record. The Falcons, who were receiving votes in the national poll, moved to 12-5 overall and 6-3 in the GNAC.

"It was a great road-win for us tonight over a quality team," said head coach Kevin Woodin. "I am very happy for our players as they battled hard all game. We got a little behind early on there, but our players really responded and went back out there to play some of the best basketball I have seen them play all season to take the lead heading into the half.

"Kalli and Brooke really hit some big shots for us early on, but I have to give SPU credit because they came on strong with the three and were extremely hard to guard all over the court in the second half," Woodin stated. "Despite losing the lead, our players really responded with some big stops and hoops to keep us in it into overtime. The game really could have gone either way, but I was overall very happy with how our players did tonight."
 
MSUB opened the game with a 48.3% (14-29) shooting performance in the opening half of play, but struggled mightily in the second half to make buckets. The scoring drought in the second half dropped the Yellowjackets' field percentage to 37.1% (23-62).
 
Besides hitting the game-winning free throw, Knudsen led the 'Jackets in scoring with 18 points that included a 3-4 performance from the charity stripe. The sophomore guard from Malta added three assists and four steals to go along with four rebounds.
 
Freshman forward Janiel Olson put together her second double-double performance of the season as the Billings West High School product scored 11 points and brought down a team-leading 12 rebounds. She also set up a game-high-tying four assists.
 
Senior guard Kalli Stanhope and junior Brooke Tolman were both solid from the field as they had nine and eight points respectively. Stanhope's trio of made shots all came from three-point range while Tolman hit three of her five attempts in the game.
 
For the Falcons, Nyesha Sims proved almost impossible to contain as she finished the game with 26 points (10-16) that included matching Stanhope's game-high three treys. She also corralled in 14 boards to earn the double-double.
 
Katie Benson was the only other player to finish the game with double-digit points as she had 11, seven of which came from in the form of free throws. She was 7-8 from the charity stripe.
 
SPU opened the game on a 9-0 run in under two minutes, taking advantage of two MSUB turnovers and a missed shot before the Yellowjackets came to life and worked to gain their first lead of the game just six minutes later.
 
With just five minutes remaining in the opening stanza, MSUB's lead had been extended to 15 points (28-13 after the Yellowjacket women caught fire and went on a 28-4 run.
 
At intermission, MSUB was comfortably in control of the game with a 14-point lead (39-25), but the second half would prove to be a real test for the young squad.
 
MSUB opened the second stanza appearing to have lost no focus during the break, but the Falcons appeared to have gotten the message as they matched MSUB nearly point-for-point in the early going, eventually wearing down the young Yellowjackets who went ice-cold from the field while SPU went on a 21-5 run to tie the score at 53-all.
 
Neither team could find the necessary points to pull out the win in regulation, so the game spilled over into a five-minute overtime.
 
Similar to the final five minutes of regulation, neither team could establish itself as the favorite, and with five seconds remaining it appeared as if the game would head to a second overtime period. But Knudsen drew a foul as she drove the lane with 3.4 ticks left, sending the league's leading scorer to the free throw line.
 
With the pressure of the game riding on her shoulders, the Malta High School product connected on her first shot, but clunked the second into the waiting hands of an SPU player. The Falcons quickly called a time out to formulate a plan, but their efforts would fall short as the final buzzer sounded with the Falcons' Hail-Mary attempt missing wide.
 
The Yellowjackets were able to convert 20 SPU turnovers into 23 points and the bench gave Woodin 16 points to help lift MSUB to the up-set victory.
 
With a little added road confidence, the 'Jacket women will now prepare to take their talents to Western Oregon University next Thursday for a 7 p.m. GNAC contest.