BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team would face off against crosstown foe Rocky Mountain College in the team's final game before opening regular season play, collecting a 70-54 win in Rimrock Rivalry action.
The Yellowjackets would pull out to an early lead, but a pesky Battlin' Bears (2-0) team would keep the game close, hanging around the entire night and even pulling back ahead in the third quarter. But a big fourth quarter would see MSUB put some separation between them and their foes, seeing out a win to head into the regular season with a nice exhibition win.
"I like that we just stuck with it tonight," said MSUB head coach
Kevin Woodin. "We played a good first quarter, but give Rocky credit we had a hard time keeping them from getting to the basket which hurt us. I thought Rocky played a good game tonight, but we were still up at halftime despite not shooting great. Then I thought we played much better in the second half, we made the extra pass and ended up with more assists than turnovers, which is a great stat to see early in the season. We're just working on our consistency, but as was proud of our team for regrouping and how we played down the stretch."
Cassie Chesnut would lead all players in scoring, posting a double-double effort with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and six steals, shooting 12-20 from the field and knocking down 3-5 from three.
Molly Hays would also post a double-double, scoring 17 points to go with ten rebounds and a trio of assists and steals.
"Both Molly and Cassie did a great job of establishing themselves tonight," praised Woodin. "The two of them on the court can really do some special things, and they played great tonight. I thought our team did a great job of finding those players when they were hot tonight, and our whole unit did a great job of spreading the ball out tonight."
Rae Smart would fill the box score with nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and one block and steal each, while
Layla Baumann would score six points while dishing out three assists.
Tailey Harris would dish out a game-high six assists, adding on five points, two rebounds, and a steal and block apiece.
"Tailey played some really great minutes tonight," Woodin said. "The ball doesn't stick when Tailey's on the court. She shares the ball, and that becomes contagious for everyone in our lineup."
Lauren Kuhbacher would score three points, while
Alli Ligocki would score two points while grabbing three boards and dishing out a pair of assists.
Brooklynn Brennan would pull down three boards.
After trading baskets to open the game, a first quarter 8-0 run with two baskets from Baumann and Chesnut would see MSUB create some early separation. Rocky would hang around, with Iliana Moran scoring nine of the teams 13 points in the quarter, but a strong offensive push out the gate would see MSUB holding a seven-point lead heading into the second quarter. But Rocky would continue to make things difficult for the 'Jackets, outscoring MSUB in the second quarter as they chipped away at that lead. The hosts would get to within one point of tying the game in the final minute, but a jumper from Harris would push MSUB's lead back to 32-29 heading into the break.
The third quarter would remain tightly contested, with both team trading runs. The Battlin' Bears would open the second half on a tear, outscoring MSUB 9-2 in the opening three and a half minutes to retake a lead they had only held for moments of the opening minutes of action. But MSUB would respond with a 6-0 run over a minute on big shots from Harris and Chesnut to retake that lead, before four straight made free throws by the Battlin' Bears would put them back in the driver's seat. But the sole newcomer on the 'Jackets roster Hays would score seven of MSUB's final ten points in the quarter, helping spark MSUB on a 10-4 run to retake a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
The 'Jackets would then dominate the final ten minutes on both ends of the floor, outscoring Rocky 20-8 across the final ten minutes of play, with Hays and Chesnut combining to score 18 of the team's 20 down the stretch to help MSUB exit the Bear's den with a victory in the first of two meetings between the rivals this season.
"Our defense really ignited our offense," Woodin said about the second half. "We got a lot of takeaways and defensive rebounds, which let us get our transition offense going, and we did a great job of moving the ball both side to side and inside out, and we got to the foul line a little bit more. We did some great things at the end, which set us up well going into this weekend."
THE BUZZ: Hays was named the Player of the Game… she and Chesnut would combine to score 33 of MSUB's 38 points in the second half, with Hays scoring 13 and Chesnut scoring 18… the Yellowjackets have now won nine consecutive Rimrock Rivalry matchups against the Battlin' Bears
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets will head to Ellensburg, WA to open the regular season at the CWU DII Tipoff Classic, beginning a three-game slate of neutral games with a matchup against #24 University of Texas-Tyler. Live video will be
available here, while live statistics are
available here. A full look at information for the CWU DII Tipoff Classic can be found
online here.
