ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The MSUB women's basketball team earned their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win of the season with a dramatic, 65-62, win on the road at Central Washington on Saturday.
 
MSU Billings was up by seven, 61-54, with 5:46 left in the game when Central Washington closed the deficit to one point on an 8-2 run. The layup from Taylor Baird with 1:28 remaining closed the door to a single possession. MSUB's Tiana Hanson finished a pass from Taylor Edwards with a layup to draw the lead back out to three points at 1:02.
 
A 3-point shot from CWU's Alexis Pana went wide and Hanson was able to grab the rebound to give the possession to the 'Jackets. On a sideline inbounds play from MSUB after a CWU foul, Qua'shaya Hammon stole the ball for the Wildcats earning Central Washington a last shot at the basket with .01 seconds left. The long shot at the buzzer missed the rim, giving MSU Billings its first conference victory of the season.
 
"I was really proud of how our team fought tonight," MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. "I thought we earned the victory. It was a close game throughout, both teams were playing really hard and I really liked how we executed down the stretch."
 
"It was a total team effort from start to finish," Woodin continued. "We had contributions from everyone on the team. I thought they were really unselfish and passed the ball well. They also had timely shooting and defensively battled hard. Central Washington has great size and I thought our team did well up against that. I am really happy with the team and how they responded after Thursday's defeat and I know they are looking forward to being home next week to get ready for our next game."
 
Hanson led all players with 17 points on 6-14 shooting from the field. The forward from Shepherd, Mont., added eight rebounds, three assists, and a block on the night. Junior guard Rylee Kane fought for 13 points, a game-high seven assists with four rebounds. Edwards led the team from the 3-point arc, making 3-7 form long-range and finishing with 12 points, two assists, and two steals.
 
Freshman Taylor Cunningham earned her first start as a Yellowjacket. The 5-foot-11 forward from Spokane, Wash., stepped-up scoring six points with five rebounds and two steals. Marissa Van Atta led the team in rebounds with nine and contributed eight points. Lexi Prevost was 2-2 from the field, including a big 3-pointer and a crucial steal in the second half of the game.
 
The 'Jackets shot 41.7 percent overall and were 5-19 from 3-point territory. Central Washington finished at 43.3 percent from the field and were 3-16 from the 3-point arc. The Wildcats

outrebounded MSUB 41-34. The Yellowjackets did pick-up some important offensive rebounds in the game. Cunningham had three and Brina Hull recorded two.
 
Baird  and Sadie Mensing both had 14 points for CWU. Baird added nine rebounds and three assists.
 
MSUB held its turnovers to nine, forcing 14 from the Wildcats. The Yellowjackets scored 16 points from those CWU miscues. In the paint, MSUB had a solid 36 points.
 
With the win, MSU Billings improves to 3-6 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC. CWU falls to 4-5 and 0-2 in conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets earned the lead at the end of the first quarter on a layup from Edwards. She was fouled on the attempt, sinking the extra point to put the Yellowjackets up, 17-15, after the opening 10 minutes. Prevost added a free-throw at the start of the second quarter. Two baskets from CWU's Mensing gave the lead back to the Wildcats.
 
Hanson earned a layup and a pair of free-throws after she was fouled on an offensive rebound and put-back. Edwards hit a 3-pointer to put some distance on the scoreboard. More free-throws from Hanson pushed the lead out to six points with two minutes remaining in the half. Van Atta was clutch at the end of the quarter, scoring two layups, including an offensive board and layup at the buzzer for a 36-30 lead at the break.
 
Central Washington scored the opening five points of the second half to cut the gap to one point, 36-35. A rebound from Hanson followed by the second 3-pointer of the game from Edwards kept MSUB ahead. Prevost created a steal at the three minutes mark, driving the length of the floor for a break-away layup and Hull knocked down a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter after a steal from Cunningham.
 
MSU Billings used a 9-1 scoring run to open up their largest lead of the night at seven points, 61-54. Central Washington fought back with a 3-pointer from Kortney Grattic and layup from Baird. Handling the pressure, the MSUB defense kept the Wildcats from getting a good look at the 3-pointer, finishing the game out for the win.
 
THE BUZZ: Cunningham named St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Game.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB has two home games left on the schedule for 2016. The Yellowjackets welcome the University of Great Falls for an exhibition game on Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. followed by a game against Rocky Mountain College on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.