BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team finished just shy of the victory in their regular season opener, falling 66-58 to #24 University of Texas-Tyler on day one of the CWU DII Tipoff Classic.
The Yellowjackets (0-1) would stagger a bit out of the gate, struggling to find an answer for the Patriots (1-0) on both ends of the floor in the first two quarters of action, trailing 42-23 going into halftime. The 'Jackets mounted a strong second half comeback effort however, pulling to within four points of the Patriots in the fourth quarter. The comeback effort would ultimately fall short however, with UT Tyler holding out for the win despite MSUB's best efforts.
"It was nice to get a game early in the tip off tournament," said MSUB head coach
Kevin Woodin. However, I felt that our performance wasn't where it needed to be. In the first quarter, we struggled offensively, which led to some defensive errors. I think we showed some preseason jitters in the first half, and Texas Tyler played excellent and shot the ball well in the first half."
The 'Jackets would win the rebounding battle, dominating UT Tyler on the boards 36-24 overall, and 11-3 offensively. The difference would come from three-point range however, where the Patriots would go 8-18 (44.4%), while the 'Jackets would be held to 3-16 (18.8%) from long distance. MSUB would shoot 21-55 (38.2%) overall, while the Patriots would shoot 21-50 (42.0%).
Cassie Chesnut collected her first double-double of the campaign, putting up a strong all-around effort with 18 points, ten rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block.
Layla Baumann scored 12 points, hitting a pair of threes along with five rebounds and a pair of steals, while
Rae Smart scored 11 points to round out MSUB's scorers in double figures, while totaling six boards, three assists, and two blocks and steals apiece.
Brooklynn Brennan would score seven points off the bench with two rebounds, and a steal, while
Alli Ligocki would finish with six points and five rebounds.
Tailey Harris would score four points with a trio of assists, while
Molly Hays pulled down six rebounds to go with three assists.
A tough first quarter would see MSUB dominate on the boards, outrebounding the Patriots 13-7 overall, and 7-0 offensively. But the Yellowjacket's shooters would fall cold, knocking down just 2-16 (12.5%) attempts from the field while UT Tyler would shoot over 50% from the field, boosted by a 4-6 (66.7%) start from three-point range to pull ahead by ten heading into the second quarter. The 'Jackets would find a rhythm on the offensive side of the ball more in the second quarter, improving to 50% shooting. The Patriots would remain red hot through, shooting 8-12 (66.7%) from the field and three more triples to outscore MSUB by nine in the second, putting up a commanding lead heading into halftime.
MSUB would begin to chip away at the UT Tyler lead in the third quarter, with the third quarter shooting percentages almost inverse of the first quarter. The Yellowjackets would go 6-12 (50%) from the field while holding the Patriots to just a 2-13 (15.4%) clip. MSUB would cut the lead to 13 going into the fourth quarter, and would dive even further into that lead as the fourth quarter began to tick away, pulling to within four points with 5:40 remaining. But the Patriots recovered in the final minutes of the game, finishing the game on a 10-6 run across the game's final five minutes to stave off the Yellowjackets, with MSUB finishing with the loss despite an impressive effort across the final 20 minutes.
"I was proud of our team and how we regrouped," stated Woodin. "We made a good run to chip away at their lead and battle back, but then they just had that last burst we couldn't match. I think we learned a lot from this game though, we just need to be more settled in at the start of games. We lost to a good team today, but now the challenge is how we respond tomorrow."
THE BUZZ: Chesnut was named the Player of the Game.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets are back in action tomorrow, October 31 in a matchup with Minnesota State University Moorhead. Tipoff is scheduled for 10 AM MT (9 AM PT), with live video available on the
GNAC Network, and live statistics available
online here.
