BILLINGS, Mont.  – The Yellowjackets used a solid second half attack to lead the team to its second exhibition win in a week. MSU Billings won the game 74-64 over Rocky Mountain College in the Fortin Center on Tuesday.
 
Alisha Breen and Kayleen Goggins both had 20 points for MSUB. Quinn Peoples had 14 and Annie DePuydt came up with 10 in the win over the Battlin' Bears.
 
"I felt it was a good win for us tonight," head coach Kevin Woodin said. "Rocky played very hard and made us earn this victory. I was impressed with their intensity."
 
This was an exhibition game for MSU Billings, but the loss is the first for Rocky who drops to 3-1 on the season.
 
MSU Billings shot 37.3 percent from the field, but was better on rebounds and more efficient at the free-throw line as MSUB used another solid second half to contain Rocky's offense down the stretch.
 
The first half of the game was punctuated by back-and-forth scoring as there were nine lead changes for the teams. With MSUB up by six points, 29-23 with two minutes left in the first half, Rocky came back scoring nine points to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
 
MSUB fired back at the start of the second half as Goggins made a 3-pointer to open the second frame. A free-throw by Breen and another lay-up by Goggins gave MSUB an opening 6-0 run.
 
From there the Yellowjackets never relinquished the lead again, opening up the score by as many as nine. Rocky came back within one point, 56-55,  on a Katie Fitzpatrick free-throw with seven minutes left in the game, but that would be as close as the Battlin' Bears would come.
 
A foul by RMC's Jayde Lefevre sent Peoples to the line for the Yellowjackets with 51 seconds left in the game. Peoples missed the first one, but made the second to give MSUB a 71-63 game. Peoples was fouled again with 21 seconds left, this time she made both to ice the game at 73-64. DePuydt was fouled with two seconds left and made one of two shots to seal the end score of 74-64.
 
"I felt we played a stronger second half as we limited our turnovers to five after having 11 in the opening half," Woodin commented. "We were effective at getting the ball inside and started to get some offensive balance."
 
MSU Billings outrebounded Rocky 40-34. Both teams were sent to the line with almost 30 free-throws per team, but MSUB came out on top making 22-29 for 75.9 percent as RMC completed 18-27 for 66.7 percent.
 
Rocky managed more points from its bench, 16-7, and in the paint, 36-22, but the Yellowjackets scored more points off of turnovers, 11-5.
 
Whitney Mitchell was the high-scorer for the Battlin' Bears shooting 6-20, but making 6-7 at the line for 18 points. Tenika Capouch shot 50 percent from the field and contributed 13 points while pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
Breen and Goggins both completed double-doubles for the game. Breen combined for 20 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Goggins also tallied 20 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for MSUB. Rylee Kane was the assist leader for the Yellowjackets with three in the game.
 
"A key for us will be establishing more depth over the next few games," Woodin commented on the upcoming schedule. "I am optimistic that can happen but it will need to play out in practice first."
 
NEXT UP: Montana State University Billings opens its regular season Nov. 14 at the CSU-Pueblo tournament with a game against CSU-P at 5 p.m. The team will then play Western State Colorado University on Nov. 15 for the second game of the tournament.
 
Montana State Uni. Billings vs Rocky Mountain College
11/03/14 7 PM at Fortin Center
At Fortin Center
MONTANA STATE UNI. BILLINGS 74, ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE 64
MONTANA STATE UNI. BILLINGS (0-0)
Breen,Alisha 5-10 9-11 20; Goggins,Kayleen 7-14 3-4 20; Peoples,Quinn 4-17
3-4 14; DePuydt,Annie 3-8 4-6 10; Stavish,Vanessa 1-2 2-2 5; Kane,Rylee 1-4
1-2 3; Van Atta,Marissa 1-3 0-0 2; Henry,Courtney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-59
22-29 74.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE (3-1)
Mitchell,Whitney 6-20 6-7 18; Capouch,Tenika 5-10 3-5 13; Rice,Bridger 2-7
3-4 8; Morias,Marissa 3-5 0-0 6; Lefevre,Jayde 1-6 3-3 5; Harper,Sam 2-4 0-0
4; Perrow-Donovan,Mya 1-5 2-6 4; Spencer,Peyton 1-5 0-0 3; Fitzpatrick,Katie
1-2 1-2 3; Lucas,Kayla 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 18-27 64.
Montana State Uni. Billings...   31   43  -   74
Rocky Mountain College........   32   32  -   64
3-point goals--Montana State Uni. Billings 8-24 (Goggins,Kayleen 3-7;
Peoples,Quinn 3-9; Breen,Alisha 1-2; Stavish,Vanessa 1-2; Henry,Courtney
0-1; Kane,Rylee 0-2; DePuydt,Annie 0-1), Rocky Mountain College 2-13
(Spencer,Peyton 1-3; Rice,Bridger 1-3; Lefevre,Jayde 0-4; Mitchell,Whitney
0-3). Fouled out--Montana State Uni. Billings-None, Rocky Mountain
College-Rice,Bridger. Rebounds--Montana State Uni. Billings 40 (Breen,Alisha
14), Rocky Mountain College 34 (Capouch,Tenika 11). Assists--Montana State
Uni. Billings 13 (Kane,Rylee 3), Rocky Mountain College 8 (Mitchell,Whitney
3). Total fouls--Montana State Uni. Billings 17, Rocky Mountain College 23.
Technical fouls--Montana State Uni. Billings-None, Rocky Mountain
College-None. A-985