Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE – Sometimes, it's the little things that gradually add up on the basketball court – win or lose.

On Saturday, those little things added up the right way for Montana State Billings – and the wrong way for Seattle Pacific.

Maddie Maloney tied her career high with 14 points, but was the only SPU player in double figures as the17th-ranked Falcon women dropped a 59-50 decision to MSUB in Brougham Pavilion.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for SPU (9-3, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) and also ended a 21-game homecourt winning streak that began with a victory against Colorado Christian on Nov. 20, 2009.





Beata Bak led Montana State Billings (7-6, 3-2 GNAC) with 12 points. Bobbi Knudsen added 11.

The Falcons, who shot 51 percent from the floor in their last two games, hit just 31.4 percent on Saturday (16 of 51). And while the Yellowjackets also struggled from the field (just 39.3 percent, 22 of 56), they had a sizable advantage of points in the paint, 26-16, and points off of turnovers, 21-8. And, they hit six more field goals (13-7) than SPU did during the second half.

“I give (Billings) credit – they hit shots when they needed to, they were smart, and they attacked the basket hard,” Falcons coach Julie Heisey said. “I think we came off a really strong stretch of four games in six days. You kind of reach that mountain top and it's really easy to fall, and it's hard to maintain that intensity. … You could tell today we were not playing with intensity and energy, and we just didn't execute.”

Seattle Pacific had a 26-20 lead at halftime, and stretched it to seven at 29-22 early on the second half on traditional three-point play by senior guard Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS). But MSUB went on a 7-0 run to get right back into the game.

“I thought we had it going at the end of the first half,” Heisey said. “But coming out in the second half, we just didn't set the tone. They won the first (part of the half), and it kind of went downhill from there.”

With the Falcons up one at 34-33, the Yellowjackets ran off eight points in a row to take a 41-34 lead. Seattle Pacific eventually climbed back in at 46-46 – the last of seven ties -- on a short turnaround shot by senior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) with 6:33 left in the game.

But Montana State Billings, which had lost 10 in a row to the Falcons, put up the next six points as SPU went scoreless for 2 minutes, 56 seconds, not getting back onto the board until redshirt freshman forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) hit a pair of free throws with 3:37 to go. That cut the Jackets' lead to 52-48.

The Falcons got as close as two at 52-50, but were blanked for the final 2:27 of the game.

“We went (multiple) possessions in a row without a purpose. You can't do that against a good team, and Billings is a very good team,” Heisey said.

Junior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) added nine points for Seattle Pacific. Reich grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go along with her seven points.

Seattle Pacific returns to action on Thursday in Ellensburg against Central Washington at 7 p.m.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

Montana State Billings 59, (No. 17) Seattle Pacific 50

MONTANA ST. BILLINGS (7-6, 3-2 GNAC)
Bak,Beata 5-13 1-2 12; Knudsen,Bobbi 4-9 2-2 11; Heringer,Jenny 3-9 3-4 10;
Ryan,Kayla 3-11 3-5 9; McNamee,Sarah 2-4 2-2 6; Jacobs,Mandy 3-4 0-0 6;
Reed,Ashley 1-1 0-0 2; Marquis,Shantell 1-4 0-0 2; Laslovich,Lisa 0-0 1-2 1;
Smith,Corie 0-1 0-0 0; Stanhope,Kalli 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 12-17 59.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-3, 3-1 GNAC)
Maloney,Maddie 4-7 4-4 14; Harazin,Jordan 4-12 0-0 9; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 2-7
2-4 7; Reich,Melissa 3-8 1-1 7; Benson,Katie 1-3 3-4 5; Reimer,Joani 1-1 1-2
3; Sims,Nyesha 1-8 0-0 3; Murray,Rachel 0-0 2-2 2; Callen,Aubree 0-3 0-0 0;
Thralls,Katie 0-0 0-0 0; Gorman, McKayla 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 13-17 50.

Montana St. Billings.......... 20 39 - 59
Seattle Pacific.................... 26 24 - 50

3-point goals--Montana St. Billings 3-10 (Knudsen,Bobbi 1-4; Heringer,Jenny
1-4; Bak,Beata 1-2), Seattle Pacific 5-21 (Maloney,Maddie 2-4; Sims,Nyesha
1-4; Harazin,Jordan 1-5; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 1-3; Callen,Aubree 0-2; Gorman,
McKayla 0-2; Benson,Katie 0-1). Fouled out--Montana St. Billings-None,
Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Montana St. Billings 36 (Ryan,Kayla 7),
Seattle Pacific 36 (Reich,Melissa 9). Assists--Montana St. Billings 11
(Ryan,Kayla 3), Seattle Pacific 12 (Maloney,Maddie 5). Total fouls--Montana
St. Billings 15, Seattle Pacific 18. Technical fouls--Montana St.
Billings-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-185.