ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team was defeated Thursday by University of Alaska Anchorage, falling 87-64 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
In a Top 25 ranked matchup between the top two teams in the GNAC standings this season, it would be the #19 Seawolves (23-3, 13-1 GNAC) coming out ahead over the #16 Yellowjackets (23-5, 12-3 GNAC). MSUB would be unable to complete a season sweep of the Seawolves, unable to keep pace with a home team that would shoot 53.0% from the field, and outscore MSUB in the paint 54-22.
 
"We got beat tonight by a very good Anchorage team," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We fell behind early and ended up having to play catchup most of the night. I did feel we kept the game where we had a chance for most of the night, but just weren't able to get over the hump. Credit to them on a well-played game."
 
Kortney Nelson would lead MSUB in scoring with 15 points, hitting 7-9 free throw attempts, while adding five rebounds. Dyauni Boyce would score 12 points with five rebounds and a steal, while Aspen Giese would score 11 points with four assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Chloe Williams would lead MSUB in assists with five, while totaling eight points and four rebounds. Kaitlin Grossman would also score eight points, while leading the 'Jackets with six rebounds and a trio of steals. Chenoa Louie would score six points with four rebounds, while Indie Browning would score three points with an assist, and Layla Baumann would score one point with three boards.
 
The first quarter opened as a back-and-forth contest, with the two ranked foes trading made shots over the first four minutes of action. With the Seawolves up 12-10 at the 5:18 mark, Anchorage would step on the gas, outscoring the 'Jackets 18-7 across the rest of the first quarter. The Yellowjackets would shoot strong from the free throw line, knocking down 5-7 attempts in the opening ten minutes, but would fail to score a basket from the field after the Seawolves began their run until there were 27 seconds remaining in the quarter, going into the second quarter down by 11. The divide would only grow larger in the following quarter, with the Seawolves outscoring MSUB 20-14 overall. The Yellowjackets would once again find success at the line, with Grossman hitting six free throws in the quarter, but MSUB would struggle to score from the run of play on a stingy Seawolves defense, shooting just 36.4% from the field while the hosts would knock down 52.9% of their looks, leading the Yellowjackets 48-31 at halftime.
 
The second half would open with MSUB putting together it's best offensive quarter of the night. The Yellowjackets would shoot an impressive 57.1 from the field, and knock down 3-4 looks from three-point range to put together a 21-point effort in the third as they looked to cut into the Seawolves' lead. But Alaska Anchorage would continue to score strong in the paint, only letting MSUB cut into the lead by two going into the final quarter of the night. The 'Jackets would continue to battle down the stretch, but would get no closer, struggling from the field in the fourth quarter to sink any hopes of mounting a comeback as MSUB would fall for just the third time in conference play this season.
 
"Transition was the key tonight," said Woodin. "They beat us both offensively and defensively in transition, and that's something we'll need to improve on moving forward. But I liked our aggressiveness tonight, and we did a great job of getting to the foul line tonight. The important thing now is rebounding quickly and putting together a good game on Saturday.
 
THE BUZZ: Nelson was selected as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… Boyce moved to 1,496 career points, four away from crossing the 1,500 mark… Giese knocked down a trio of three-pointers in the game, moving to 84 made triples on the season… her total ranks as the second most made three-pointers in a single season by a Yellowjacket, only trailing Alira Carpenter's 88 for the best three-point shooting season in program history… MSUB split the season series against the Seawolves, and remains the only GNAC team to knock off Alaska Anchorage this season… MSUB and UAA are 5-5 in their last ten meetings.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB wraps up it's final road trip of the regular season on Saturday, February 22 against University of Alaska Fairbanks. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 PM MT (1 PM AKT) at Alaska Airlines Court, with live video available here, and live statistics available here.