BILLINGS, Mont. – Playing it's final game on home court in the 2025-26 season, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team would put on a show in front of a home crowd, taking down University of Alaska Fairbanks 80-53 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets (16-13, 8-8 GNAC) would honor their lone senior Kaitlin Grossman before her final home game, and then send her off in style, dominating throughout the game to take down the Nanooks (0-24, 0-16 GNAC). The Yellowjackets would jump out to an early lead in the first half, shooting 18-34 (54.5) across the first and second quarters while knocking down 12 three-pointers in one of the team's best shooting games of the season. Ten different Yellowjackets would score a point in the game, with MSUB dishing out a season-high 25 assists.
 
"I'm really proud of how our team executed," said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin. "We needed a 2-0 week to help keep our chances alive for postseason. We haven't had an undefeated week at home this season, and so soon after beating Anchorage on Thursday, I'm proud of the way we kept things going."
 
Grossman would score nine points with 11 boards, three assists, and three steals in the game.
 
"Kaitlin is a special person. She's an incredible student athlete and leader for us. She was a preseason all-conference selection with Layla Baumann, and with Layla getting hurt this year that put extra pressure on her. She's a four-year graduating nursing student, interviewing for her first jobs and is getting married in late April. But she just gives you everything you want. She's battled through so much, she's the kind of player you want to be around, and exemplifies everything out program is about. She gets it done on the court and in the classroom, and is a great teammate and leader, and I'm so proud of her."
 
The Yellowjackets of the past were also celebrated post game, with the 2013-14 team being celebrated as one of MSUB's inductees into the Hall of Fame and Distinction for the class of 2026. Interviews with Coach Woodin, Grossman, as well as MSUB Hall of Famer Bobbi Knudsen can be found online here.
 
Cassie Chesnut paced all scorers with 16 points, collecting ten rebounds to complete a double-double, while adding in a trio of blocks, an assist, and a steal. Katelyn Hamilton scored a career-best 11 points behind her, hitting three shots from beyond the arch and adding a pair of rebounds and a steal. Rae Smart would also score nine points with a trio of rebounds, and two assists and steals each. Tailey Harris scored eight points while dishing out seven assists to go with five rebounds and a steal and block each, while Allison Kunze would post eight points, four rebounds, and two steals. Brooklynn Brennan and Alli Ligocki both scored six points, with Brennan posting five assists and a pair of boards, and Ligocki snagging six boards and a pair of assists. Kyla Momberg scored five points with three rebounds, two assist and two steals, while Avery Burkhart rounded out the scoring with two points.
 
The Yellowjackets set the tone early, jumping out to a 13-0 run to open the game in the first 4:35 of action, with Chesnut scoring seven of those points. The Yellowjackets would go on to score 27 points in the opening period, shooting 11-19 (57.9%) from the field on their way to claiming a 15-point advantage over the Nanooks going into the second quarter. MSUB would remain just as efficient in the second quarter, shooting 7-14 (50%) and draining four three-pointers, including a run of three straight long balls from Hamilton and Harris as they continued to open up the game, pulling ahead by a score of 49-19 going into halftime.
 
The Yellowjackets would keep things going strong in the third quarter, continuing their success from beyond the arch with four more made triples as they continued to keep the Nanooks at bay. Fairbanks would battle back to cut the lead a tad as the Yellowjackets offensive efforts slowed down a little, but MSUB would put the clamps back on defensively in the fourth quarter, holding the Nanooks to just 4-14 (28.6%) as they rotated the lineup, with every player dressed out for the 'Jackets seeing the court as they put the finishing touches on the victory, and finished the season 10-6 on home court.
 
THE BUZZ: Hamilton was named the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… the Yellowjackets posted their fourth straight season sweep of the Nanooks, and have now won nine straight games against Alaska Anchorage.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets take to the road for their final week of regular season action, in hopes of clinching their place in the GNAC Championships with one win. They'll starting things off on Thursday, February 26 with a contest in Burnaby, B.C. against Simon Fraser University, with tipoff scheduled for 8 PM MT (7 PM PT) at West Gymnasium. Live video will be available on the GNAC Network, while live statistics will be available here.