BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team would kick off the team's final week of home games in style, taking down University of Alaska Anchorage 65-53 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 
With two weeks remaining in the season and the team's deadlocked in the GNAC Standings, the Yellowjackets (15-13, 7-8 GNAC) would collect a pivotal conference win over the Seawolves (14-10, 6-9 GNAC), putting up a dominant showing on both ends of the floor. MSUB would finish the game shooting 25-51 (49.0%) from the field overall, while holding their opponents to a 19-69 (23.1%) shooting from the field in a strong overall performance. MSUB would also continue it's strong performance on the boards, outrebounding Anchorage 45-37 overall, and leading for almost 95% of the entire game.
 
"We're happy to take this win," praised MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "I'm really proud of the way we battled. I thought defensively we really took them out of their game, and guarded hard all night. Anchorage is an athletic group that plays fast and has a lot of good players. We got them up there in double overtime the first game which was crazy, and this one was similar, but just a different kind of score."
 
Tailey Harris and Cassie Chesnut would tie for a team-high 18 points, with Harris grabbing seven rebounds to go with four assists and a pair of steals, and Chesnut totaling eight boards, and two assists, blocks, and steals each. Kaitlin Grossman would fill in the box score with nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a steal, while Rae Smart would post a team-leading ten rebounds to go with eight points, and an assist, block, and steal each. Brooklynn Brennan would finish with six points, while Kyla Momberg would score four points with five rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Allison Kunze scored two points with a pair of rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
 
After Harris opened the first quarter with a made three-pointer on the first possession, Anchorage would score six straight points to gain the lead, before back-to-back jumpers from Chesnut and Grossman to regain the lead. The sequence would set up a tightly contested first quarter that saw the lead change hands four times, with the 'Jackets growing their lead to as high as five after being boosted by a 6-0 mid-quarter run in just over a minute of action. The Seawolves would cut the lead to one shortly before the break, but a basket with seconds remaining by Grossman would restore a 19-16 lead in favor of the 'Jackets going into the second quarter.
 
MSUB would take control in the second quarter, jumping out to a 9-2 run to open the period and pushing their lead to double-digits. MSUB would extend that run even further following the media timeout, with Chesnut scoring seven straight points in a 1:41 stretch to build MSUB's lead to as high as 13 in the period. The Yellowjackets finished the first half shooting 14-30 (46.7%) from the field, while performing even stronger on the defensive end, holding the Seawolves to just 9-28 (32.1%) shooting and a single made shot from beyond the arch in the first half to lead 35-24 as the buzzer sounded to signal halftime.
 
The first quarter was tough," said Woodin. "But I thought that in the first half, we played a complete game both offensively and defensively."
 
The Seawolves would threaten to cut into the lead early and steal back momentum, but MSUB would respond by finding it's touch from beyond the arch, hitting a trio of three-pointers in the first three minutes of action to keep pace with the visitors. The freshman duo of Harris and Chesnut would do the bulk of the damage for the Yellowjackets, combining to score the team's first 11 points of the half to spark the offense. MSUB would then go on to put up an 11-2 run across the middle of the third, and finish the quarter by outscoring the Seawolves 19-12 overall, making over half of their shots once more while holding Anchorage to a 3-15 (20%) mark from the field as the 'Jackets continued to grow their lead.
 
It would set up a comfortable conclusion to the game for the Yellowjackets, who would see out the fourth quarter with little issue as they comfortably collected the win, completing a regular season sweep of the Seawolves for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign and breaking the tie between the two teams in the GNAC Standings, with the 'Jackets taking a one game lead over the Seawolves.
 
"The third quarter was key," Woodin said. "They scored early, but I thought we responded well, got some stops and did well to get it to 20 with a run there. They chipped away at our lead late and fought hard, but we built a big enough lead. We need to protect the lead a little better, but overall, this was a great win. Anytime you can sweep a team in conference play it's huge."
                                                                                 
THE BUZZ: Grossman was selected as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB is set to play it's final home game of the season this Saturday, February 21 when the Yellowjackets play host to University of Alaska Fairbanks. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 PM at Alterowitz Gym. A pregame ceremony for MSUB's lone senior Kaitlin Grossman will take place around ten minutes before tipoff, while the 2026 Yellowjacket Hall of Fame and Distinction class of 2026 will be celebrated upon the conclusion of the game, including the 2013-14 MSUB women's basketball team.
 
Live video of the game and ceremonies can be found on the GNAC Network, and live statistics will be available online here. Tickets can be purchased online here.