Box Score

POMONA, Calif.  – The Montana State University Billings Women's Basketball team won their quarterfinal game against the Academy of Art on Friday, Mar. 14, 60-59.
 
It was a wild game in the Kellogg Gymnasium for the second quarterfinal game of the day at the NCAA Div. II West Region tournament taking place at host school Cal Poly Pomona.  The No. 7 seeded Academy of Art (23-8) opened up the game with a great start.  In the first 5 and a half minutes, AAU had scored 21 points to Montana State University Billings (24-7) seven point start. 
 
The PacWest champions had jumped out to the early lead off some fast breaks and poor shooting by the No. 2 seeded Yellowjackets.  Starting at the half-way mark MSUB would make a small run starting with two free throws by Alisha Breen to draw the Urban Knights lead back down to seven, 23-16.  PacWest Player of the Year Krystal Forthan made a lay-up with 1:35 left in the first half to take a 10 point lead 30-20.  MSUB's Austin Hanser would respond with a three-point shot, to take the lead down to seven.  AAU would score the last three points of the half to take an 11 point lead, 34-23 into the break.
 
"We didn't get off to a great start," Head Coach Kevin Woodin said.  "The effort was there, but the Academy of Art just took it right to us.  We ended up being down by 10 points before we could even blink.  This is a credit to their team, but I was really proud of our players, they didn't panic.  They just kept the team in the game through those rough minutes were we couldn't make a basket.  I thought the game was a lot closer than the 11 point lead AAU had at half-time.  We kinda gave them the last few buckets before the half which is frustrating."
 
MSU Billings shot just 28 percent from the field in the first half, and was only 7 percent (1-14) from three point range.  At the break Hanser led MSUB with six points and five rebounds.
 
At half time, the Academy of Art was 35 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range.  The Urban Knights' Div. I transfer student-athlete Forthan had nine points and eight rebounds.
 
The first basket of the game was a three-point basket by Forthan to open up a 14-point lead, 37-23 on the Yellowjackets.  MSU Billings would respond to that with a 20-2 run to take the lead 43-39 at the 14:01 mark. 
 
"A tribute to our starters again at the beginning of the second half," Coach Woodin stated.  "I was very impressed with their defense and we finally started to hit our shots.  Then it became a great game those last five minutes; a lot of players making some great plays both ways". 
 
From their lead at the 14:01 mark, the Yellowjackets were in steady control of the game, up by as many as eight points until at the 3:53 mark, AAU's Zoie Sheng made her second three-pointer of the game to draw the Knights back to within one point, 53-54.
 
GNAC Player of the Year, Bobbi Knudsen would hit a three-point shot with 2:53 left in the game to put the 'Jackets back up by four, 57-53.  With a 1:57 left in the game, the Urban Knights' Forthan hit a jump shot to put the Academy of Art back in the lead for the first time since MSUB went on the 20-2 run.
 
Knudsen would take the ball down the court for the Yellowjackets and drive into the basket to make a pull-up jump shot with 28 seconds left in the game to give the lead back to MSUB, 60-59.  The Urban Knights would have possession of the ball with under 20 seconds left in the game, but both shots by AAU would not go in, and off the second miss, Hanser would pull down her ninth rebound of the game to give MSUB the ball with under a second to go. 
 
Coach Woodin would call a time-out for his team.  Janiel Olson for MSUB would reenter the game to inbound the ball.  She would make a pass down the court to Knudsen who would chase after it and hold it as time expired to give the Yellowjackets the win in the final seconds.
 
In the second half, MSUB bettered their shooting average by a little over 10 percent to finish the game shooting 33 percent from the field.  The Yellowjackets also made five more three-pointers in the second half to bring their shooting average up from three-point territory to 28 percent.
 
MSUB also had five fewer turnovers in the second half than they did in the first half.  Overall the Yellowackets were able to convert AAU's turnovers into 18 points, while the Urban Knights had just eight points.
 
The Academy of Art did have more second chance points, 16-9, and more points in the paint 24-20.  AAU finished the game shooting 33 percent from the field and 26 percent from three-point territory.  They would outrebound MSUB 50-46.
 
Forthan would finish the game for AAU with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds to extend her streak to 16 straight games with a double-double.  Sheng finished with 13 points.  Jasmin Guinn had 13 rebounds for the Urban Knights. 
 
The Yellowjackets would finish the game with three players in double-digits in points.  Knudsen had a team-high 17 points, including the game-winning jump shot, and a game-high six assists.
 
Hanser was just shy of a double-double as she ended the game with a new career-high at MSUB of 14 points and nine rebounds.  Hanser had three treys in the game and was a solid 3-3 from the charity strip to finish as the only Yellowjacket to make all of her free-throws.
 
Chelsea Banis was 6-11 from the field for 13 points and five rebounds.
 
Alisha Breen had a new-career high of 14 rebounds for the Yellowjackets.  She also had eight points.
 
"It was really a team win for us today," Coach Woodin said.  "We had that big run for six minutes in middle of second half.  The seniors on our team led that for us.  By then, we finally were really playing as a team and we were able to buckle down on the last possession to get the win."
 
Tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 15, MSU Billings will face a familiar opponent in Simon Fraser University in the semi-final round.  SFU won their game against fellow GNAC School Western Washington earlier in the day.
 
With both teams win today, MSU Billings, the No. 2 seed will face Simon Fraser, the No. 3 seed for the fourth time this season.
 
During the regular season, MSU Billings won both of their games against SFU.  Last week, the Yellowjackets were upset in the semi-final round of the GNAC Championships as the Clan got the win 85-74. 
 
"SFU is a very well-coached team," Coach Woodin said.  "They are playing extremely well recently.  We are looking forward to playing them.  We have a lot of respect for their team and their players. Today was a great win for our team and the program, but we will need to turn right around and be prepared for this next game.  I know our team will be ready to face them tomorrow." 
 
The game between MSU Billings and Simon Fraser will take place at 5 PM Pacific Time.  Live video and live stats will be available at the tournament website at: broncosathletics.com/ncaa
 
Academy of Art vs Montana State Billings
03/14/14 2:30 p.m. at Pomona, CA
At Pomona, CA
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS 60, ACADEMY OF ART 59
ACADEMY OF ART (23-8)
Forthan, Krystal 10-21 1-2 22; Sheng, Zoie 3-14 5-6 13; Camera, Regina 3-7
0-0 7; O'Brien, Molly 3-8 0-0 6; Griggs, Alisa 2-7 0-1 4; Guinn, Jasmin 2-7
0-0 4; Storey, Sha'Nice 1-6 0-0 3; Krug, Aleigh 0-3 0-0 0; Martin, Madeline
0-0 0-0 0; Encelan, Amanda 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-73 6-9 59.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (24-7)
Knudsen,Bobbi 6-19 3-4 17; Hanser,Austin 4-9 3-3 14; Banis,Chelsea 6-11 1-2
13; Breen,Alisha 3-7 2-3 8; Goggins,Kayleen 2-9 1-3 6; Peoples,Quinn 1-6 0-0
2; Capouch,Tenika 0-1 0-0 0; Kumm,Brandy 0-1 0-0 0; Olson,Janiel 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 22-65 10-15 60.
Academy of Art................   34   25  -   59
Montana State Billings........   23   37  -   60
3-point goals--Academy of Art 5-19 (Sheng, Zoie 2-7; Storey, Sha'Nice 1-6;
Forthan, Krystal 1-2; Camera, Regina 1-2; Guinn, Jasmin 0-1; Griggs, Alisa
0-1), Montana State Billings 6-28 (Hanser,Austin 3-6; Knudsen,Bobbi 2-9;
Goggins,Kayleen 1-6; Peoples,Quinn 0-4; Kumm,Brandy 0-1; Olson,Janiel 0-2).
Fouled out--Academy of Art-None, Montana State Billings-None.
Rebounds--Academy of Art 50 (Guinn, Jasmin 12), Montana State Billings 46
(Breen,Alisha 14). Assists--Academy of Art 11 (Guinn, Jasmin 3), Montana
State Billings 11 (Knudsen,Bobbi 6). Total fouls--Academy of Art 15, Montana
State Billings 13. Technical fouls--Academy of Art-None, Montana State
Billings-None. A-311
NCAA D-II West Regional 1st-Round Game