LACEY, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team would be unable to complete a comeback on the road Saturday against Saint Martin's University, coming up short by a score of 63-57 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets (9-9, 1-4 GNAC) battled hard throughout the game, continually pushing the Saints (9-6, 5-1 GNAC) to the brink in their search for a road conference win. But Saint Martin's would shoot an impressive 9-19 (47.4%) from three-point range in the contest to boost their offensive efforts, while MSUB would struggle to sustain momentum with 18 turnovers as a team. The Yellowjackets would once more dominate on the boards, outrebounding the Saints 44-35 and 15-9 in offensive rebounds, while also besting the Saints 32-18 on points in the paint, but MSUB would be unable to replicate that success from three, shooting just 5-22 (22.7%) from three.
 
"I was proud of how we competed today," said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin. "Saint Martin's is a very talented and experienced team, and I thought we played them tough. I think this is a game we'll learn from and that will make us better in the long run. We just got beat by three-pointers today, they made too many and we struggled from long range. We played hard throughout though, and I believe better things are down the road for this team."
 
Tailey Harris would lead MSUB in scoring, dropping a career-high 19 points on 8-18 shooting, adding in three rebounds, two blocks, and an assist. Kyla Momberg would post 15 points behind her, nearly missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds, three assists, and a block and a steal. Rae Smart would finish with 11 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, and a block, while Cassie Chesnut would score eight points with 14 rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and two steals. Allison Kunze rounded out the scoring for the Yellowjackets with four points on 2-2 shooting.
 
After trading baskets in the early stages of the first quarter, the 'Jackets and Saints would be tied up 5-5 at the 4:21 mark. Before the Saints would pull ahead then on a 5-0 run in the next minute, but a pair of late three-pointers by Harris. The Saints would still hold a four-point lead heading into the second quarter, and would threaten to pull away after an 11-3 run to pull ahead by as much as 12, but the Yellowjackets would respond strong by tightening up on both sides of the ball, finishing the quarter on a 13-2 run of their own to close the Saint's lead to 28-27 going into the break.
 
"The first quarter was a highly competitive battle," said Woodin. "We started well, but then fell behind early in the second quarter. But I thought we did a great job to battle back and pull it to within one by halftime."
 
Coming out of halftime, the third quarter would play out in a similar way to the one prior. The Saints would open the period on an early run, opening the first five minutes on a 13-1 run, restoring a double-digit advantage. But the Yellowjackets would counter once more with a run of their own, ending the period on a 9-2 run to close the gap back to six going into the fourth quarter. And while the 'Jackets would continue to battle down the stretch, continuing to make it close and pulling to as close as five points, the Saints would be able to see out MSUB's comeback attempt, making five free throws in the final 30 seconds to help keep MSUB at bay, and claim the victory on their home court.
 
"We struggled early in the third quarter out of halftime," Woodin said. "But we didn't quit and continued to keep going until the end. I'm happy with the way we battled to keep it close down the stretch."
 
THE BUZZ: Momberg was named the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… the Yellowjackets blocked a season-high eight shots in the game.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets return to Alterowitz Gym for a home matchup next Thursday, January 15 when they play host to Northwest Nazarene University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 PM, with live video available on the GNAC Network, and live statistics are available here. Tickets are available for purchase online here.