Box Score
Box Score
Billings, Mont. – Starting the 2013 portion of their season, the Montana State Billings women's basketball team took their six game winning streak on the road as they reentered their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. Facing Saint Martin's University, the Yellowjackets used tough defense to defeat the Saints 67-49.
MSUB owned the 18-8 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, winning the last three contests. The Yellowjackets now extend their official winning streak to seven games as they improve to 9-2 overall, 3-0 in GNAC play.
Saint Martin's now fall to 7-6 overall and remain winless in the conference with a 0-3 GNAC mark.
The Yellowjackets were led by junior guard
Bobbi Knudsen who had a game high in points, rebounds, and assists; scoring 17, grabbing eight boards, and dishing six assists. The Saint's MacKenzie Taylor tied the game high in rebounds as she had eight also, and
Brooke Tolman tied the game high in assists.
“We had a nice win tonight and I feel we played better as the game progressed,” stated head coach
Kevin Woodin. “Saint Martin's played very hard and I was impressed with a lot of things they did.”
Starters
Kayleen Goggins and Tolman also finished in double figures, each scoring 12 points on the night. Sophomore forward
Janiel Olson finished seven rebounds and nine points
Chelsea Haskey was the only Saint Martins' player to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points. She also registered four rebounds on the night.
MSUB's bench had another solid performance as
Annie DePuydt scored seven points and tallied seven rebounds. Sophomore forward
Monica Grimsrud finished with six rebounds.
“We got excellent play off of our bench, and I think our depth wore them down in the second half,” Woodin said.
As a team the Yellowjackets did not shoot the ball particularly well going 36.1 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from behind the three point arch and 75 percent from the free throw line. MSUB's defense was stellar all night forcing 15 turnovers, stealing eight passes and blocking two shots. The Jackets also had 37 defensive rebounds compared to the opposition's 28, finishing with 55 total.
“Rebounding was key tonight; we had 18 offensive rebounds and finished with a plus 14 advantage,” stated Woodin. “Everyone on the team finished with at least one rebound.”
The contest started out very competitive, attributing for three ties within the first eight minutes. After a 15 all deadlock at the 12:37 mark, MSUB put together a 9-0 run to hold the 24-15 advantage with 9:54 remaining in the first half.
A Haskey jumper and Brooke Paulson layup cut the Jackets lead to five (24-19) at the 9:07 mark.
Two free throws and a jumper by DePuydt helped spark the offense to pour in 15 points to close the half. The Yellowjackets owned a 12 point advantage (39-27) entering intermission.
MSUB had no let-up entering the second half, and used a 15-5 run to push their lead to 22 at the 14:13 mark (54-32). Saint Martin's struggled to score and would not be able to competitively get back into the contest. The Saint's trailed by 20 or more points for the majority of the second half, until they came within 18 of the Jackets lead (65-47), as 35 seconds remained in the contest.
“We did a better job in the second half of making the extra pass,” Woodin said. “It was a really good win for us. Everyone contributed on both ends and we look forward to playing Western Oregon on Saturday.”
The Yellowjackets would eventually close out the contest defeating Saint Martin's 67-49. Now standing at 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the GNAC, MSUB will face Western Oregon on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 1:00 p.m. (Pacific Time).
Yellowjacket fans can either click the link below or the “video” link on the women's basketball schedule page to watch away games live.
GNAC Web Stream and Live Stats
