BILLINGS, Mont. – Looking to regain momentum in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team would do just that Thursday night in Alterowitz Gym, defeating Northwest Nazarene University 73-72 in a tightly-contested thriller.
 
Returning to Billings to play the team's first home game in over a month, the Yellowjackets (10-9, 2-4 GNAC) were able to return to the win column in friendly confines, taking an early lead after a red hot start, leading by as much as 19 in the first half, before seeing off the Nighthawk's (8-6, 3-3 GNAC) comeback attempt late in the game to hold on to the victory, moving to 6-4 when playing at Alterowitz this season. The Yellowjackets would put together one of their most impressive shooting performances of the season on the night, making 27-46 (58.7%) of their shots from the field, including a 5-9 (55.6%) mark from three, and going 14-20 (70%) from the free throw line.
 
"Tonight was a great win for our team," praised MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "They have been working so hard recently, and deserved to come out on top in a very close game like this. This was a complete team win, we had a really balanced scoring effort tonight and shared the ball well. Just a really phenomenal team win, I'm happy with how we competed tonight."
 
Leading the way for the Yellowjackets in scoring was Cassie Chesnut, who would post 19 points on 7-14 shooting, grabbing nine rebounds to go with four steals and two assists. Tailey Harris would stand out as a scorer and playmaker, scoring 16 points along with a career-best nine assists, three rebounds, a pair of blocks and a steal. Rae Smart would finish the night with 16 points as well, hitting 6-7 from the field and going a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arch, adding three boards, an assist, and a steal. Kyla Momberg scored 13 points, making 5-6 free throws to help seal the game late, and added three assists, three rebounds, and a pair of steals. Brooklynn Brennan scored five points with a trio of assists, a block and a rebound, while both Allison Kunze and Alli Ligocki scored two points. Offensively, MSUB finished the game as a group with 21 assists, while dominating in the paint, outscoring the Nighthawks 34-22.
 
MSUB would start fast as the first quarter kicked off, controlling the opening stages of the game on both ends of the court to take an 11-2 lead after the first seven minutes of play, with five of the early points coming from Smart. From there, The Yellowjackets would continue to push on despite the Nighthawks beginning to find some momentum of their own, including seven points across the last 1:33 of the quarter. The Yellowjackets would open the first quarter shooting 8-14 (57.1%) from the field, forcing six turnovers in the early stages to help boost their offensive efforts as they led 20-11 at the end of the break. They would grow their lead to as high as 19 in the early stages of the second quarter, opening the period on a 21-8 run and threatening to put the game out of reach early, as they continued to hit shots at an impressive clip, nearly matching last quarters output with a 8-15 (53.3%) shooting performance in the second. But Northwest Nazarene would snatch back some momentum late, finishing the final 2:09 of the first half on a 9-0 run of their own to cut MSUB's lead to ten heading into halftime.
 
"We started so well tonight," said Woodin. "We came out of the gate strong, and had a great first quarter and most of the second quarter to build up a double-digit lead. The opening 15 minutes was one of our best stretches of the season. Give NNU a lot of credit though, they fought back hard to get it to ten before halftime."
 
Coming out of halftime, the Nighthawks would continue to build upon their strong finish to the second quarter, opening the third on a 7-0 and quickly making it a one-possession game. From there the teams would trade baskets as the visitors threatened to overtake the 'Jackets, but Harris would help to spark MSUB's offensive efforts on a 12-4 run to restore a cushion to her team's lead, scoring eight of those points and assist on two more. Her efforts would help MSUB maintain a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, where the game would remain a battle as both teams fought hard to close out the game. MSUB would only manage five shots from the field as the Nighthawk defense began to force more turnovers, but MSUB would make four of those attempts, while closing out the final quarter 9-11 from the free throw line. The Nighthawks would tie the game back up for the first time at the 4:32 mark before a pair of clutch free throws by Chesnut, and would then take the lead for the first time all game the following possession with a clutch three-pointer. But Chesnut would respond with a long midrange shot of her own, before Momberg would score four Yellowjacket points in the final 1:04 of the game to help MSUB retake the lead. The Nighthawks would have one final shot to steal the victory after a late turnover, but the Yellowjacket's defense would hold strong, getting one last stop to hold on to the win.
 
"We got a little too complacent on offense in the second half," said Woodin. "They had another run to start the half, and then the rest of the game was just really good basketball. We would pull away, and they continued to battle back. I really liked our execution in the final few minutes. We did a lot of things the way we wanted to on both offense and defense. Alisha and my assistants did a great job of preparing our team for what NNU was going to throw at us, and even though we turned the ball over late, but Alisha set us up great and our players did a phenomenal job to get one more stop and secure the win."
 
THE BUZZ: Harris was selected as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… her nine assists were not only a career-high, but a season-best for any MSUB player, and tied for fourth most in a game by a GNAC player this season… Harris became the first Yellowjacket to total nine assists in a game since Rylee Kane did so against Central Washington on January 13, 2018… Smart set career-bests in total scoring and three-pointers made in the game… MSUB now sits at 27-22 all-time when facing Northwest Nazarene.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB will turn around and compete again in Alterowitz Gym on Saturday, January 17, when the 'Jackets face down a top-25 opponent in #14 Central Washington University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 PM, with live video available on the GNAC Network, and live statistics available here. Tickets are available for purchase online here.