BILLINGS, Mont.  – It was an exciting game in Alterowitz Gym, but Western Washington held tough down the stretch, defeating MSU Billings 82-71 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball action Thursday.
 
Alisha Breen with 30, and Kayleen Goggins with 26, both tied their respective career-highs in points, but it wasn't quite enough as the Vikings used a balanced offensive effort and some tough defense in the last three minutes to hand the Yellowjackets the loss. With the win, Western Washington University improved to 13-6, 7-3 GNAC, while Montana State University Billings dropped to 11-9, 3-7 GNAC.
 
The Yellowjackets just couldn't get over the final few points to take the lead during the game. MSUB tied it up twice and was within five with 1:44 remaining, but each time MSU Billings got close, Western Washington was able to find a response to keep the Yellowjackets at bay.
 
"Offensively, both Alisha Breen and Kayleen Goggins were effective tonight but we need another player or two to also be in double figures and/or we need to shoot a higher percentage from the perimeter," head coach Kevin Woodin said. "Defensively, Annie DePuydt led our team with seven defensive boards but our inability to get key stops proved costly."
 
The game started out with a fast opening three minutes. The Vikings jumped out to a 6-2 lead. MSUB responded, scoring the next four points. Western Washington made two more points off the first free-throws of the night on a Monica Grimsrud foul. The Yellowjackets' Courtney Henry got into the game adding two for MSUB on a pull-up jumper. Breen made a huge steal on the Western Washington possession and fought for the ball on the line. She was able to convert, making a layup, but WWU's Jenni White came through with a 3-pointer to widen the gap 17-10 with 10:38 on the clock. Goggins made her first 3-point basket of the game for MSUB and the Yellowjackets were back to within four, 17-13.
 
Into the mid-point of the half, Goggins made a layup at the 7:19 minute mark and MSUB was within three, 20-17. Breen made it a one-point game, 20-19, as she sank two free-throws after being fouled on a layup attempt with 5:47 left in the half. Western Washington answered with two free-throws of its own, and the Vikings again took a three-point lead, 22-19.
 
At four minues, MSUB's Marissa Van Atta made a layup for her first points of the game. Another Goggins layup from a long feed by Rylee Kane kept the margin close, 29-25 with 2:45 left to play in the half. Breen made another two free-throws with a minute and a half left, and the Yellowjackets made it a two-point game, 29-27. Goggins made another free-throw for the last point of the first half, but WWU made another basket and held the lead 31-28 at the break.
 
At the half, the teams were almost even in shooting percentage. Western Washington was 12-30 for 40.0 percent to MSUB's 11-28 and 39.3 percent. The Vikings held the edge in 3-point baskets, 3-8, while the Yellowjackets were just 1-8.
 
"Western is a great team," Coach Woodin said. "I thought both teams played very hard in the first half and I think the low score proved that. We struggled early with turnovers, but I thought we started to play with better offensive flow and I felt fortunate to be down by only three at halftime."
 
Back on the floor, Goggins made a steal to start the half and Breen hit a three from the outside pocket to tie the score at 31. WWU's Sydney Donaldson made a layup for the Vikings, but DePuydt with the short pull-up jump shot tied the game back up at 37-37.
 
That's when the Vikings responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead 43-37 with 15:53 left in the game. Coach Woodin called for a timeout to talk to his team. Back on the court, Western Washington's Donaldson made a layup followed by a steal and another layup from White increased the run to 10-0 giving the Vikings a 47-37 lead with a little over 14 minutes remaining.
 
Adding to that, WWU's Katie Colard made a 3-point shot followed by an offensive rebound and a put-back from Kiana Gandy and the Yellowjackets found themselves down by 15, 52-37.
 
The Yellowjackets weren't out of it yet. Breen made two free-throws and a layup to fire up MSUB. Two more points from Breen in transition and a layup from Goggins made it an 11-point game, 56-45 with still almost 10 minutes to play. Grimsrud made a steal after a missed free-throw from Goggins on the extra-point. A long 3-pointer from Breen, and the Yellowjackets were back within 10, 58-48. WWU's Taylor Peacocke responded with a jump-shot, but MSUB's Quinn Peoples connected for her first points of the game and MSUB again made it back within 10, 60-50.
 
Kane made a great layup under the basket and was fouled on the play. She made the extra point to push the Yellowjackets under the 10-point lead, 62-55. A fantastic feed from Kane to Goggins to Breen continued the rally for MSUB. Another quick layup from Breen and MSUB was again closing in, 71-63 with 4:19 left to play.
 
Peoples was fouled with 2:26 on the clock. She sank both free-throws to make the score a seven-point game, 74-67. After a steal by Goggins, WWU was called for a hold and Goggins made both of her free-throws to give MSUB a chance at 74-69 with 1:27 remaining.
 
In the final 90 seconds, Western Washington made all six of its free throw shots, to close the victory on a 6-0 run.
 
"I thought our team fought hard after getting down by 15 or so points, but we could not get the needed stops in the final five minutes," Coach Woodin said. "Our interior defense was definitely exposed tonight. I think Bernsen, Donaldson, and (Tia) Briggs hardly ever missed from the field and give credit to WWU for their excellent execution at the free throw line. It seemed as though they never missed." 
 
Western Washington was 20-21 and 95.2 percent from the free-throw line. They ended the game shooting 48.3 percent and four players ended-up with a double-digit scoring game.
 
MSUB's Breen was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game. She tied a career-high 30 points, including shooting 6-6 from the free-throw line with a game-high tying seven rebounds, a game-high six assists, and a career-high matching three blocks in the game. Goggins was 10-18 from the floor for 26 points, with five rebounds and two steals.
 
Peoples reached a milestone tonight. The Butte, Mont., native now has 1,003 total career points. Peoples was 2-2 from the free-throw line, and had two rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
 
Kane finished with five points, four rebounds, and two assists. DePuydt finished with a game-high tying seven rebounds.
 
The Yellowjackets increased their shooting percentage to 48.5 in the second half to end the game at 44.3 percent. The team was also 14-17 and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line.
 
MSUB was hurt on turnovers as the team had five more in the second half than the Vikings, and ended the game with 17 to WWU's 11. Western Washington was able to convert 25 points off of turnovers to the Yellowjackets' nine. They Yellowjackets were better in the paint, 44-40, and better in rebounds, 31-26.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets host Simon Fraser on Saturday, Jan. 31. MSU Billings plays the Clan at 7 p.m. in Alterowitz. Live video and live stats will also be available at msubsports.com.