BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Being held to its lowest point total of the 2018-19 season thus far, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team lost 63-57 to Western Washington University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Sam Carver Gymnasium Saturday evening.
 
The Yellowjackets (3-3, 0-2 GNAC) got off to a slow start for the second straight game, as they were limited to a season-low six points during the first quarter of play. Though MSUB eventually overcame the early deficit, and led as late as the 6:46 mark in the fourth quarter, the Vikings finished strong to earn their second straight win.
 
"It was a hard fought game tonight," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "Once again we got off to a poor start, and that is something we need to figure out. It is very hard to get out of deep holes against really good teams."
 
Anna Schwecke led all players with a monster 20-point, 15-rebound double-double, as she shot 7-for-16 from the floor and made all six of her free throws. She also chipped in a pair of blocks and a pair of steals in 32 minutes. Lexie Bland had 18 points, seven boards, and a team-high four assists, and Kelsey Rogers was also in double figures with 10 points to lead WWU. The Vikings improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play with their fifth straight victory.
 
Hannah Collins led MSUB with 19 points, and senior Vanessa Stavish contributed 14 to go along with four rebounds. Junior Janessa Williams led the team with a career-best six rebounds, on a night where MSUB was bullied on the boards to the tune of 51-27. "Rebounding is an area of concern, as we once again got pounded on the glass," said Woodin. "We didn't shoot the three well enough to offset that tonight."
 
After shooting just 3-for-13 in the opening quarter, MSUB rallied with a 10-2 run to pull within one down 17-16 in the second. Jeanann Lemelin capped the push with her first three of the night, but the Vikings scored the next four points to keep the lead in their hands. WWU finished the half strong, and Schwecke hauled in an offensive board to convert it to two points with a layup helping her team lead 29-23 at the break. "We talked at halftime about creating some offense from our offensive rebounding and getting to the free-throw line, which we did better," Woodin commented. "That's something we need to continue to improve upon."
 
The 'Jackets put together another strong run coming out of the locker room, with a layup by Collins and another three by Stavish cutting it to a 33-31 game. MSUB took its first lead in the third quarter, when the same combination of scorers converted again to make it a 38-33 Yellowjacket advantage. "I really liked the way we came out in the third quarter, and it was one of our better quarters of the season," Woodin said. "In the fourth quarter we had opportunities in the last three or four minutes, but couldn't quite finish. Give them a lot of credit."
 
Although MSUB scored just four more points the rest of the third, it still managed to cling to a 42-41 advantage with 10 minutes left to play. The lead changed hands four times in the first part of the fourth quarter, before both teams went cold in a stretch of more than two minutes without a point for either side. Bland finally broke the dry spell with back-to-back layups to give her team a 51-49 lead, and then hit a huge three with 3:07 left to put the Vikings up for good.
 
After a layup by Taryn Shelley with 8:30 to go in the game, MSUB missed its next 10 shots from the floor and only scored because of eight trips to the foul line. Collins banked in a last-ditch trey with 20 seconds left, but by then it was too late for the 'Jackets.
 
MSUB endured its worst shooting game of the season, as it made just 18 of 59 shots (30.5 percent) including 7 of 28 threes (25.0 percent). The Vikings meanwhile shot 40.4 percent overall (23-for-57), but also struggled from distance at just 3-for-10 from 3-point range (30.0 percent).
 
The conference's leading rebounding team – entering the night at plus-12.3 – received eight boards from Rogers, seven from Bland, and overall had at least one rebound from 9 of 10 players utilized on the night. Schwecke's 15 were a season high, and Saturday marked the third double-figure effort on the boards for the conference's fourth-leading rebounder this year.
 
"Both Western and Simon are very good teams, and we had a chance to win both games late," Woodin commented referencing Thursday's 81-74 loss at Simon Fraser. "We just didn't quite get it done. We will continue to work hard and I think we can get our season going in the right direction."
 
THE BUZZ: Collins was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 16-23 all-time against WWU and is 5-14 at Sam Carver Gym…Williams reached her career high in rebounding for the second straight game, as she topped Thursday's total of four against Simon Fraser…the opening quarter marked the third time this season MSUB was held to single digits in a quarter.
 
COMING UP: MSUB takes a break from GNAC play until 2019, and has three more games on the calendar in December. Next up is an exhibition contest against Rocky Mountain College next Friday at Alterowitz Gym. Tipoff on Eastern Montana College Throwback Night is set for 7 p.m., and live video and live statistics will be available online through the MSUB Stretch Internet portal here.