ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team finished it's 2025-26 season on Friday at the NCAA West Regional Championships on Friday evening, falling to Central Washington University 63-36 in the first round.
 
The loss spelled the end to an incredible postseason run for the Yellowjackets (20-15, 9-9 GNAC), who marched into the tournament coming off of an incredible run to the GNAC Championship title. The 'Jackets finished the year with their fourth consecutive season with 20+ wins, fourth straight trip to the regional tournament, and collecting the second conference crown in school history.
 
"This team was special in that it was very young," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We we're lucky to have Kaitlin Grossman as such a tremendous leader and player for us. She's the winningest player in our history, she gets in done on and off the court, and really found another level the last month of the season. She led a group of mostly freshmen and sophomores with a couple of junior transfers, and we took a little bit of time to get going, but we stuck together, and over the last month we got hot and won so many must win games just to get to this point, and to go on the run in Bellingham last week was pretty special. That's what I want these guys to remember. Tonight wasn't our night, but overall they have so much to be proud of."
 
The 'Jackets, who entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed, would start strong as they kept pace with the No. 1 seed and tournament host Wildcats (24-6, 14-4 GNAC). But Central Washington would find it's rhythm offensively in the middle two quarters, which would coincide with a cold stretch from MSUB and swing the game in the favor of Central Washington.
 
"I thought we had a great effort today," said Woodin. "We just got beat by the better team today," We started strong, but went cold in the second quarter and sort of dug ourselves a whole. Give Central a lot of credit they player well. But our team has accomplished a lot, not just in one game but the entire season, and I'm very proud of their effort tonight."
 
Cassie Chesnut finished with a team-leading 11 points, adding seven rebounds, four blocks, a steal and an assist to her stat line. Meanwhile Tailey Harris scored eight points with two boards, two assists, and a steal, while Kyla Momberg scored six points with a pair of assists and steals. Rae Smart scored five points with seven rebounds and a pair of assists. Kaitlin Grossman, Brooklynn Brennan, and Allison Kunze each scored two points, with Grossman grabbing eight rebounds and an assist, Brennan dishing out an assists, and Kunze grabbing a rebound and a steal each.
 
The first quarter would see the Wildcats strike first, but back-to-back buckets from Momberg and Harris would give MSUB a narrow lead to begin a narrowly-contested first quarter. The 'Jackets would hold onto a small lead for the next few minutes before consecutive baskets by the Wildcats as well would see the hosts regain a lead that would change hands four times in the first, with a midquarter 8-2 run setting Central up early. But after trailing by four, a pair of baskets from Momberg and Chesnut would even the game up at 13 going into the second.
 
But Central Washington would steal momentum as the game continued on into the second quarter, opening the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a strong lead. The Wildcats would hold the 'Jackets to just four points in the second period, outscoring the team by 13 to swing a double-digit in the Wildcat's favor heading into halftime.
 
The Wildcats would then keep that momentum going into the second half, shooting 10-17 (58.8%) in the third quarter as they continued to push onwards and build up their lead. The Yellowjackets would show no quit, battling until the bitter end, but there would be no give from the top seeded team in the region as they would complete the victory on home court, ending MSUB's season.
 
THE BUZZ: Chesnut and Harris shared Intermountain Health Player of the Game honors… Grossman finished her MSUB career with 114 games played, tied for 17^th most in program history… she scored 617 points in her career, along with grabbing 519 rebounds, 25^th most in program history.