BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team accomplished something never done before in the history of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, becoming the first ever No. 6 seed to win a GNAC Championship with the it's 66-61 win over Western Washington University, collecting the second GNAC Championship crown in program history.
 
The ultimate Cinderella story of the tournament, the Yellowjackets (21-14, 9-9 GNAC) faced a daunting challenge against the Vikings (24-7, 15-3 GNAC), facing off against the No. 1 seed in the tournament and needing to win on their home court. MSUB would accomplish just that, using a dominant third quarter to build up a late cushion, and seeing off a late challenge from the Vikings to win the team's first GNAC Championship since 2018. MSUB also became the first team to ever defeat the top three seeds in the GNAC tournament on their way to the trophy, and will be set for an automatic bid into the NCAA West Regionals, making the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
 
"I'm really proud of this group," praised Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin. "This was a tremendous win. I'm so proud of our team and our coaches, they've worked so hard for this. This season was a grind, we're really young and battled injuries, but we came together late. We played a really good first half against Western last week on this court but they wore us down. This time around our players were determined to board with them and play with them, and just worked hard to come out on top. To win is really rewarding, and I'm so happy for our program. To be the six seed, and beat the three two and one in as many days is remarkable."
 
Cassie Chesnut was named MVP of the GNAC Championships, becoming the first ever freshman to receive tournament MVP. The GNAC Freshman of the Year scored a team high 21 points, shooting 8-16 and grabbing six rebounds, four blocks, an assist and a steal. For the tournament, Chesnut averaged 21.7 points across MSUB's three games, along with 9.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.
 
"We were just playing it day-by-day," Chesnut said. "We just wanted to win on Thursday to get to Friday, and then win Friday to get to today, and then finishing it today. When there were two seconds on the clock and we were up five and I knew we were going to win, it was just the best feeling ever."
 
Kaitlin Grossman would finish with 14 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a block, while Rae Smart would score ten points with four boards, two blocks, a steal and an assist. The duo would join Chesnut on the All-Tournament Team, with Grossman averaging 17.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.7 steals, while Smart averaged 12.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks across their three games.
 
"It feels pretty awesome," said Grossman when asked about the win. "I don't think I would have guessed this for us in September, but I couldn't be happier."
 
Tailey Harris and Kyla Momberg would each score eight points, with Harris grabbing a career-high nine rebounds to go with a pair of assists, and Momberg collecting two rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Alli Ligocki scored three points with three rebounds, and Brooklynn Brennan scored two points with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
 
The opening of the first quarter would see the team's exchange makes, but the 'Jackets would wrestle some early control with a 9-4 tun across the first 4:09 of play to build up a small cushion. It wouldn't hold long though, as a 7-2 over the next three minutes in favor of the Vikings would even things once more at 11. But Chesnut would take charge down the stretch, scoring the final six points of the quarter to finish the opening ten minutes with nine points, and helping MSUB take a three point lead heading into the second quarter.
 
Chesnut would score the first three points of the second quarter, but the Vikings would quickly close the gap to get some momentum going for them, sticking just a few points behind. MSUB would fall cold from the field in the second, hitting just 3-11 (27.3%) from the field in the quarter, and while the Vikings would struggle to hit shots as well, they would flip the rebounding battle in their favor, tying the game up with 2:17 remaining before a layup the following possession gave the hosts the lead. Harris would even things up with a pair of free throws in the final minute before a three by Western Washington with :22 remaining would look to send the Vikings into the half with the lead, but Ligocki would beat the buzzer with a three of her own in response, knotting things up at 30-30 as the game made it's way into halftime.
 
With the game firmly up for grabs coming out of halftime, MSUB would take control of the proceedings with a dominant third quarter, outscoring the Vikings 21-10 across the third quarter. MSUB would open the third on a 10-2 run, and push it's lead to double digits behind an outstanding offensive performance, shooting 9-17 (52.9%) to pull ahead by as much as 14 in the period. But the Vikings would drill a three to cut the lead to 11 before the break, and would come out firing in the fourth quarter, where they hit five threes as they continued to cut into the lead and rally. At multiple moments Western Washington would hit big shots to make it a one possession game, but MSUB would find a way to respond at every juncture, never giving back the lead on their way to completing one of the biggest underdog stories in conference history, with Momberg sinking four free throws in the final :35 seconds to ensure the victory, and send the Yellowjackets surging to midcourt to celebrate their title.
 
"They took the lead from us late in the second quarter," said Woodin. "But Alli Ligocki hit that three right at the buzzer, and that gave us a good feeling. We were tied with 20 minutes left, but we talked earlier in the day about how in both our previous games against Western, the third quarters was tough on us. We said that if we could come out and execute and make some shots we could put a little pressure on them, and it went better than expected. I think that third quarter was the best quarter of our season. Give them credit, you knew they were going to make a run back, but we got some good free throws down the stretch and some really good defensive plays. Our defense down the stretch was important for us to come out on top."
 
THE BUZZ: Chesnut was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game… She became the second ever Yellowjacket to win tournament MVP, following in the footsteps of associate head coach Alisha Breen… it's the second GNAC title in Woodin's coaching career, and third conference title of all time… MSUB became just the third team in the history of the GNAC to win multiple conference tournaments…. The Yellowjackets reached the 20-win mark on the season, reaching that threshold for the fourth straight season.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB will await it's next matchup in the NCAA West Regionals, with the team finding out it's opening round matchup during the NCAA Selection Show on March 8, streamed live on the NCAA website beginning at 8:30 PM MT.