Box score, play-by-play

BILLINGS, Mont. – Last week, a couple of double-digit leads got away – and so did the games.
 
On Saturday, only the lead got away. The game never did.
 
Rachel Murray pumped in 19 points, and Katie Benson had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds as Seattle Pacific finished on an 18-4 scoring run to beat Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game in Alterowitz Gymnasium, 70-56.
                                            
That snapped a two-game losing streak (16-8, 10-6 GNAC) and lifted the Falcons into a fourth-place tie with Billings (18-9, 10-6 GNAC) with two regular-season games left. It also clinched a spot for SPU in the conference tournament, set for March 1-3 at Saint Martin's.
 
That spot might have been clinched earlier. But last week, Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington both had other ideas on their respective home courts as each team came from 13 points behind to beat Seattle Pacific.
 
“We learned a lot in the games where we lost leads or weren't able to pull over the top,” SPU coach Julie Heisey said. “We had to keep attacking the basket, and that made a huge difference tonight. We had to commit to playing defense and talking and rebounding.”
 
The differences were indeed huge. The Falcons got to the foul line 29 times, hitting 21; the Yellowjackets were just 5 of 7. They limited Billings to just 34.9 percent shooting from the field (22 of 63) and dominated the boards, 47-27.
 
“Last time (in a 63-62 MSUB overtime victory in Seattle on Jan. 21), they got the rebounds and ran with it,” Heisey said. “This time, we got the rebounds and got a new 30 seconds.” (SPU had a 16-9 advantage at the offensive end and outscored Billings on second-chance points, 15-0).
 
The double-double for sophomore forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) was her second in a row and her fourth of the season and career. The 11 rebounds tied a career high, and is the third time she has grabbed that many.
 
Sophomore guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) tied her career high with 17 points, and hit 8 of 10 from the free throw line. Senior forward Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash./Lynden Christian HS) pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
Seattle Pacific seemed to be in complete control of the game, doubling up the score on Billings for a 44-22 lead with 16:25 left.
 
But the Yellowjackets ran off nine straight points to start a 30-8 scoring run over the next 8 minutes, 38 seconds that produced at 52-52 tie with 7:47 to play. Of those 30, 18 of them came on six shots from behind the 3-point arc.
 
From there, it was all SPU. The Falcons responded with the next five points for a 59-54 lead. Billings got within 57-54 at the 6:15, mark, then went scoreless for nearly five minutes as Seattle Pacific rang up seven straight points to push the lead back to double-digits with 1:29 left.
 
“We were playing a little bit tentative,” Heisey said. “We just had to refocus. We weathered the storm against Anchorage (when the Seawolves wiped out a 19-point deficit before SPU prevailed 67-62 in Brougham Pavilion on Feb. 2), and we just had to do it again here.”
 
Bobbi Knudsen had 17 points and was the only Yellowjacket in double figures.
 
Except for the 52-52 tie, Seattle Pacific led from start to finish.
 
SPU closes out its regular season with visits from Western Washington on Thursday night at 7, and Simon Fraser next Saturday on Senior Night, also at 7 in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Montana
 
Seattle Pacific 70, Montana State Billings 56
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-8, 10-6 GNAC)
Harazin 1-6 0-0 3, Ohlsen 1-4 1-2 3, Callen 3-5 8-10 17, Murray 8-13 3-4 19, Benson 5-13 2-3 12, Gorman 1-3 1-2 3, Teng 2-2 0-0 4, Kingma 1-5 0-0 3, Reimer 0-0 5-6 10, Butler 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-51 21-29 70.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (18-9, 10-6 GNAC)
Knudsen 8-20 0-0 17, Olson 0-2 1-2 1, Stanhope 3-6 0-0 9, Peoples 1-7 2-2 5, Goggins 2-7 0-0 4,Tolman 2-7 2-2 7, DePuydt 2-3 0-0 4, Grimsrud 1-6 0-0 2, Emerson 3-5 0-1 7. Totals 22-63 5-7 56.
 
Seattle Pacific                      33           37           -- 70
Montana State Billings       18           38           -- 56
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-15 (Harazin 1-3, Ohlsen 0-2, Callen 3-4, Murray 0-2, Gorman 0-1, Kingma 1-3), MSUB 7-26 (Knudsen 1-6, Stanhope 3-6, Peoples 1-6, Tolman 1-4, Grumsrud 0-3, Emerson 1-1). Fouled out – MSUB: Tolman. Rebounds – SPU 47 (Benson 11, Reimer 10), MSUB 27 (Tolman 5). Assists – SPU 15 (Callen 4), MSUB 12 (Knudsen 3, Grimsrud 3). Turnovers – SPU 16, MSUB 9. Technical fouls – None. Total fouls – SPU 9, MSUB 20. A – 815.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 16-8, 10-6 GNAC. Montana State Billings 18-9, 10-6 GNAC.
 
Next game – Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, Thursday, Feb. 23, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.