SEATTLE  – The No. 21 Seattle Pacific Falcons used a second-half run of 28-5 to pull away from MSU Billings Saturday afternoon as the Yellowjackets fell to the Falcons 64-55, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 
MSUB's Quinn Peoples opened the game scoring with a 3-point shot to give the Yellowjackets the first points of the game, but SPU's Aubree Callen tied it up with the Falcons' first of four 3-point baskets in the game.
 
Annie DePuydt got onto the scoreboard with a short jumper for MSUB. Maddy Pflaumer countered that with a layup off an assist from Suzanna Ohlsen.
 
Seattle Pacific then went on a 12-2 run to open up a 17-7 advantage on the Yellowjackets.
 
The No. 21 Falcons used two solid runs in both halves to hold off MSUB offensively, while limiting the Yellowjackets to single-digit field goals of nine (9-25), and just six in the second half (6-30) for a total shooting percentage in the game of 27.3 percent.
 
MSUB's Kayleen Goggins finished the game the high-scorer with 21 points. DePuydt was the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of Game, ending with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Alisha Breen had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Ohlsen had 20 points, Callen finished with 19 points, Pflaumer had 11, and Betsy Kingma collected a game-high nine rebounds.
 
MSU Billings outrebounded SPU by one, 39-38.
 
Montana State University Billings (12-10, 4-8 GNAC) made a big run at the end of the second half to pull themselves back into the game. Goggins got it started with a layup at the 9:20 mark and finished the 27-8 surge with another layup with three minutes left in the first half to make it a one-point game, 29-28. The Falcons then scored another six to MSUB's two points to take a five-point, 35-30, lead into the break.
 
"In the first half we struggled early," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. "We played a bit tight, but then settled down and played better as the first half progressed. SPU scored right before the half to go up five, but I thought our team made a good effort in the last five minutes of the first half to get themselves back into the game."
 
Seattle Pacific University (17-3, 9-3 GNAC) opened the second half with a layup to widen the gap to a seven-point advantage, but MSUB cut the deficit to two on a 3-pointer from Peoples and a jump shot in the paint from Goggins.
 
Into the middle of the second half, the Falcons pushed the lead to a 15-point advantage, 55-40, with 7:05 remaining. MSU Billings made one more big effort closing to within seven, 56-49, in the remaining minutes, but the tough defense from the Falcons, coupled with missed shots from MSUB forced the game into free-throws as Seattle Pacific made several down the stretch to hold-back the Yellowjackets.
 
"In the second half, SPU had the first push making it a double-digit lead, and we had a hard time fighting back," Coach Woodin said. "Defensively, I thought we played better than we did in our home game. We worked harder and executed better in this game, but we really struggled offensively. The team missed several shots that would have made it a much closer game. Give SPU credit for that, they made the plays when they needed to, and played tough defense."
 
MSUB made a big turnover at the 6:49 mark, which SPU's Ohlsen took down shooting the 3-point bucket to give Falcons a 51-48 lead. The teams then both went on a three-minute scoring drought. The Yellowjackets tried to make it interesting in the last 90 seconds. Monica Grimsrud made a 3-point shot, followed by free-throws from Goggins, then a steal to give MSUB another possession, but SPU's Ohlsen came up with a steal on the other end, hustling down the floor for the easy layup at the one minute mark for a nine-point lead, 58-49.
 
Both teams had 18 turnovers, converting those into 17 points apiece. At the free-throw line, MSUB was 21-24 for 87.5 percent. Goggins was the heavy scorer, making 9-10, while Breen was 7-8 from the charity stripe.
 
Seattle Pacific was 14-15 from the free-throw line for 93.3 percent. The Falcons were 23-59 and 39.0 percent shooting from the field. Neither team was very productive from the 3-point arc, both teams making just four shots from the outside.
 
UP NEXT: MSU Billings is again on the road for GNAC basketball action. The Yellowjackets are at Northwest Nazarene next Thursday and at Central Washington on Saturday.
 
"It's going to be a short turn-around for us," Coach Woodin said. "We play NNU and CWU next week on the road, but I know our team is looking forward to those GNAC games."