BILLINGS, Mont.  – After losing a heart-breaker to Simon Fraser earlier in the season on a last-second shot, this time the Yellowjackets were able to keep the Clan at bay, securing a 79-74 victory over conference opponent Simon Fraser Saturday night in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
Kayleen Goggins had 24 points to lead the Yellowjackets. Alisha Breen completed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Annie DePuydt contributed 15 points and Quinn Peoples had 14 in the very balanced team effort from MSUB. Rylee Kane and Peoples both had a game-high six assists as MSU Billings had 20 assists in the win and only 11 turnovers on the night.
 
Montana State University Billings (12-9, 4-7 GNAC) outscored Simon Fraser 44-36 in the second half and shot 48.3 percent (28-58) from the field. The Yellowjackets had seven treys in the game shooting 46.7 percent from the 3-point arc.
 
"It was a great victory for our entire program tonight," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. "I was proud of our team as we beat a very good Simon Fraser team tonight - everyone contributed to this win. All three of our seniors had solid games. Quinn passed the ball well and hit some very important three-pointers for us. Annie had a great all-around game and Kayleen was her usual dependable self around the basket." 
 
For the Clan, NCAA Division II leading scorer Erin Chambers had 28 points and 11 rebounds. Meg Wilson was just shy of a double-double with 11 rebounds and nine points. Simon Fraser outrebounded the 'Jackets 38-30, but had 17 turnovers in the fast-paced Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
 
MSU Billings started the game out hot with a 9-2 opening run. On the offensive front, Goggins got it underway with two layups and Peoples drained a three to give the Yellowjackets the quick lead.
 
Simon Fraser University (10-9, 6-5 GNAC) rebounded with its own 9-2 run to tie it up at 11-all. Ellen Kett got it started for SFU with two free throws and Chambers finished the run on a short pull-up bank shot.
 
MSU Billings climbed back opening up to a seven-point lead 23-15 at the 11:33 mark. Peoples hit another 3-point shot and Breen made her first points of the game on a layup.
 
The Clan continued to push back. SFU used another clutch 9-3 run to keep themselves in the half. Wilson made a steal off a bad MSUB pass to bring the Clan back up to within two, 28-26 with 7:06 remaining in the first half. SFU's Perrine Fuchs gave the Clan the lead on a 3-point shot at 6:38 left. DePuydt gave the Yellowjackets the lead back on an open 3-pointer, but MSUB hit a lull as the Clan made a 6-0 run to take the lead 36-31 with three minutes left. SFU held onto the lead with a three-point advantage, 38-35 going into the break.
 
At the half, MSUB was leading the Clan shooting 50.0 percent from the floor to SFU's 45.5 percent. The Clan was outrebounding the Yellowjackets 18-11. For MSUB, Peoples was 4-4 in the opening frame, and 3-3 from 3-point territory. Peoples, the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game, had four of the seven treys for the Yellowjackets in the game, including a big make at the 6:16 mark to open up a double-digit lead for MSUB.
 
Simon Fraser started the half with an opening 7-5 run to increase its lead to 45-40 with 17 minutes left. Breen kicked off an MSUB bid with a 3-pointer to pull MSUB up 45-42 and Goggins added to it with a layup to draw the SFU lead down to one, 45-44. DePuydt gave the Yellowjackets the lead after a great offensive rebound and then a pull-up jump shot as MSUB took its first lead of the second half 46-45 with 15:17 left to play.
 
Goggins then made a great turnaround play pulling in an offensive rebound and going up for the layup. She was fouled on the attempt and sent to the free-throw line for two. She made one and Monica Grimsrud added to the lead after making a jump shot to increase the Yellowjacket advantage to three, 48-45.
 
Elisa Homer was able to tie the game back up as the SFU junior made a 3-point shot to tie the game at 53-53. MSUB was able to open its largest lead of the second half, six points, 60-54 after freshman Kane drove into the key making a layup with 7:34 remaining. A free-throw from Goggins and a shot from DePuydt continued the run for MSUB. Peoples made her fourth 3-point basket of the night off a feed from Breen to give the Yellowjackets their first double-digit lead of the game 66-54.
 
The Clan continued to fight back, crawling back into the game on an 11-3 run. Chambers scored nine of the 11 points and SFU was back within four, 69-65 with 3:28 to play.
 
With 2:14 left in the game, Breen made a layup on an inbounds play to give MSUB a five-point lead, 73-68. The Clan added one as Homer made a free-throw, but MSUB's Grimsrud made both of her free-throws after being fouled to give the Yellowjackets the 75-69 lead. DePuydt added two points after a great steal from Grimsrud to take the ball from Chambers, but Chambers responded with a 3-pointer on the next SFU possession to pull the Clan within four 76-72. MSUB's DePuydt made both her free-throws to open a 78-72 lead at 19 seconds remaining to virtually put the game out of reach for the Clan.
 
Chambers responded making two more free-throws for SFU, but MSUB's Kane made one after she was fouled with one second left to seal the victory at a five point game.
 
"Defensively, we played harder and better in the second half," Coach Woodin said. "SFU has so many weapons and Erin is such a great player. We tried a lot of people on Erin tonight and although she had 28 points, I felt she had to work hard for them. Down the stretch, we got some key stops which were huge."
 
MSU Billings made 22 points off of turnovers and had 13 second-chance points. Grimsrud contributed all nine of the MSUB bench points for the Yellowjackets tonight with four rebounds and one steal.
 
"Our bench gave us some valuable minutes tonight and they will continue to play a key role for us over the next month," Woodin said. "Monica Grimsrud, Vanessa Stavish, Courtney Henry, and Marissa Van Atta all played tough tonight. Grimsrud hit a big three and had two important free throws too. I thought Rylee Kane had a solid game and competed hard in the second half. Her six assists and four steals were critical to our success. Alisha Breen battled hard on the boards and got another double-double."
 
Kane had four of the Yellowjackets' eight steals. This is Breen's second double-double of the season. 
 
UP NEXT: MSU Billings hits the road for three-straight conference games. The Yellowjackets play one against travel partner Seattle Pacific in the team's one conference game next week on Saturday. MSUB then travels to Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington the following week.
 
"We are excited to play at SPU on Saturday," Woodin said. "I felt we played them real tough earlier this month at our gym but faded down the stretch. They have a great team but we are looking forward to the challenge."