ANCHORAGE, Alaska.  – The Yellowjackets opened the game with an 11-0 run to start, but faltered in the final 10 minutes of the game, as the No. 1 Alaska Anchorage Seawolves came up clutch in the waning minutes to hand MSU Billings a 74-64 loss Saturday afternoon.
 
The trio of MSUB seniors kicked in 40 of the 64 Yellowjackets points. Quinn Peoples finished with 15 points, Kayleen Goggins 14 and nine rebounds, and Annie DePuydt shot 50.0 percent and ended with 11 points. Sophomore Alisha Breen was the game's high-scorer with 16 points. The forward from Choteau, Mont., scored 14 of her 16 points in the last 15 minutes of the game, including three treys.
 
The Yellowjackets shot 25-64 from the field for 39.1 percent, but were just 8-28 from the 3-point arc. They were also a slim 6-13 for 46.2 percent from the free-throw line. Alaska Anchorage shot 23-61 from the field for 37.7 percent and only marginally-better in percentage from the 3-point (45.0 percent) and free-throw line (55.9 percent), but the Seawolves had a big difference in free-throw shots making 19-34. The No. 1 Seawolves also dominated the boards, 50-35, including 17 offensive rebounds.
 
"We got off to a great 9-0 start," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. "I think that kind-of shocked UAA. Our players were really focused today; they knew what they had to do. I really like the way we came out at the beginning. We were able to get a lead in the first half and keep it for a while, but they were able to whittle it down in the last few minutes of the first half, as it seemed to go back and forth." 
 
MSU Billings began the game with a strong 11-0 opening bid. Peoples opened the scoring with her first 3-pointer of the night. Goggins added a free-throw and a 3-pointer of her own while DePuydt kicked in a layup and a jumper to hand UAA its biggest opening deficit of the season.
 
Six minutes into the game, a 3-pointer from Jessica Buchanan puts the Seawolves on the board, but MSUB's Peoples drains her second 3-pointer of the game off a long pass from Rylee Kane to make it a double-digit advantage again.
 
To bring the score back within one, the Seawolves rebounded with an 11-2 run for 15-14. Breen added a layup for 17-14 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half, but again UAA come back with another short run of 5-0, as a big steal from Allie Madison with the follow-through layup put the Seawolves up 19-17.
 
It was a tight race into half-time with the teams trading leads. UAA's Sierra Afoa made it a 4-point, 29-25 lead, but DePuydt hit the last shot of the half as the Yellowjackets were down just two, 29-27, heading into the break.
 
"We were down at the half, but I thought we had played very aggressive on both offense and defense," Coach Woodin said. "We were holding our own on the boards. I thought we kept our turnovers down and I also thought we passed the ball extremely well. In the second half, they started to wear us down a little. They started to get hot on the outside, and grab rebounds, but our players kept battling back, and I think over the last four minutes we were in striking distance, but down the stretch they made enough plays to keep us at bay."
 
The Seawolves opened the second half with a quick 4-0 run for a six point, 33-27 advantage. Coach Woodin called for a timeout to regroup the team. DePuydt drained a 3-pointer out of the timeout to cut the lead back down to three. Alaska Anchorage added a layup, but a foul under the basket sent Goggins to the line after she grabbed a ball deflected off a Seawolves player on the inbounds play. Goggins made one to keep the game close at 36-31 with 17:42 left.
 
For the next three minutes the game hit a stall, and MSUB was unable to add points in three-straight possessions. It was UAA's Madison that broke through first, putting up a 3-pointer to give the Seawolves an 8-point, 39-31 lead. The Yellowjackets' Breen hit an open 3-pointer, her first field goal of the half, but Alaska Anchorage's Madison made her second 3-poionter in a row, and added a layup to give the Seawolves a 44-34 lead with just under fifteen minutes remaining.
 
Breen made a great play under the basket and tacked on one after the foul. Both teams got hot at the 3-point arc as the teams traded treys. UAA made the first, MSUB's Peoples answered right back with her own 3-pointer, but the Seawolves, added a third 3-pointer from UAA"s Madison to open up another double-digit lead, 50-42 causing Coach Woodin to call for his second timeout of the half. Out of the break, Peoples added another trey to pull the Yellowjackets back under nine points.
 
Under the 10 minute mark, UAA kept control of the game. The Yellowjackets closed the gap down to seven points three times in the last three minutes, but each time Alaska Anchorage kept MSUB from getting any closer. Breen hit two treys at 2:24 and at 55 seconds to open the window, but the Seawolves closed it down with free-throws.
 
"I can't say enough about our three seniors," Coach Woodin said after the game. "I think they played their hearts out. It was a fun team to coach this year. I sure wish we were playing this week in the conference tournament. We had to deal with some adversity throughout the season, but that's the way it goes. I thank the three seniors for everything they have given to Yellowjacket basketball."
 
Montana State University Billings ends the season at 14-14 overall and 6-12 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Alaska Anchorage is now 27-1 and 17-1 in the conference. The No. 1 Seawolves will be the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament starting next week.
 
UP NEXT: Both MSU Billings basketball teams are done for the season, but next week the conference tournament comes to town as MSUB is set to host the GNAC Championships Mar. 4-7.