HELENA, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team headed to the state capital on Friday for an exhibition game against Carroll College, falling by a score of 80-65.
After opening the regular season last week with a trio of contests, the Yellowjackets (1-2) returned to the court for their final exhibition game against the Fighting Saints (4-0), playing the role of the visitors in Carroll's Elementary Game. In front of a raucous crowd, the Saints started hot in the first quarter, taking a 23-9 lead following the first quarter and seeing off MSUB's repeated attempts to clamber back into the game, taking the victory over the 'Jackets.
"It was a great environment and a loud gym today," said MSUB head coach
Kevin Woodin. "I thought Carroll came ready to play, they were incredibly prepared and came out with a lot of energy, and we fell behind big early. We battled back multiple times to get it closer, but we just made a lot of errors and lacked consistency today."
The Yellowjackets found their stroke from the field with there best shooting game of any exhibition or regular season game yet this season, shooting 25-53 (47.2%) from the field and 10-20 (50%) from three-point range. But despite shooting stronger and narrowly winning the rebounding battle 34-31, turnovers would be MSUB's downfall, with Carroll turning 21 Yellowjacket turnovers into 32 points. The Saints also shot 27-30 (90%) from the free throw line in the game, compared to MSUB who attempted just seven free throws in the game, making five.
"We shot the ball as well as we've shot all year today," Woodin remarked about his team's offense. "It was nice to see us getting shots to fall more consistently today, especially from three. Now we need to work on cutting down on some of our other mistakes. We need to take better care of the ball, and we have to cut down on our fouls."
Cassie Chesnut led MSUB in scoring with 23 points, shooting 10-17 while going 3-4 from beyond the arch. The sophomore added seven boards to go with four blocks and a pair of assists. Meanwhile,
Molly Hays would score 19 points on 7-13 shooting, also hitting a trio of three-pointers while collecting six rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
Tailey Harris scored eight while hitting a pair of threes, adding on five assists and three boards, while
Layla Baumann scored six points on a pair of long-range efforts, grabbing three boards and two assists.
Brooklynn Brennan scored five points, while
Rae Smart scored four.
Both teams took a couple of minutes to get going in the first quarter, each scoring just one basket in the first three-and-a-half minutes of action. But once the Saints found the gas pedal, it would be full speed the rest of the quarter, with the hosts quickly using an 11-4 run to pull ahead going into the first media timeout. The Yellowjackets would have no answer for Carroll coming out of the break either, with the Saints extending their lead to 14 by the end of the first behind a 9-2 run across the final five minutes, and going a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. The Yellowjackets found their rhythm more offensively in the second quarter, led by Chesnut's eight point as they shot 4-7 (57.1%) from three in the period. But Carroll continued to shoot strong from the free throw line, and matched MSUB every step of the way to maintain a 14-point lead going into halftime.
Needing a response out of halftime, MSUB would answer by making four of it's first five shots coming out of halftime, using an 8-0 run to pull to within six just three minutes into the third. Carroll responded with a long run of their own though, using a 12-0 over the following three minutes that they would extend into a 23-4 run before a pair of threes at the end of the quarter by MSUB would halt the run, but leave MSUB trailing by 19 going into the fourth. The 'Jackets continued to battle until the final whistle, cutting the Fighting Saint's lead back to eight down the stretch, but MSUB would run out of time, forced to foul Carroll late as the home team closed out the victory.
"We battled back multiple times in the second half," said Woodin. "I was really proud of the start we had to the third quarter. But give Carroll credit, they went right back ahead. Our players fought hard until the end, but today was all about Carroll playing really well in a great environment, and us not adjusting to it. We're looking forward to getting back home next week. We'll be home for a while, so hopefully we can establish some consistency. We've got a plan going forward to keep getting better, it'll just take time."
THE BUZZ: Chesnut was selected as the Player of the Game.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets resume regular season action next week when they host the GNAC/PacWest Crossover, opening their weekend with a matchup against Vanguard University on Friday, November 13. Tipoff is set for 7 PM, with live video available on the
GNAC Network, and live statistics
available here. Tickets can be purchased
online here.
