Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons started going with the flow.
 
When they did, it flow was enough to swamp Montana State Billings.
 
Courtney Hollander scored 18 points, and Erica Pagano tallied eight of her career high-tying 15 during a 28-5 third-quarter outburst on Saturday night, as SPU extended its women's basketball winning streak to seven by downing the Yellowjackets, 66-50.
  
The Falcons (16-3, 10-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) were down 33-25 at halftime in Alterowitz Gymnasium. But they came out and scored the first nine points of the third to edge back in front, 34-33.
 
Moments later, an even-bigger 17-0 scoring run took them from 36-34 down to 51-36 ahead.

 

"We just had more flow on offense," said senior forward Pagano, who drained 6 of 11 from the floor and got her second straight start while fellow senior Julia Haining has been bouncing back from an illness. "We were focusing on that in the first half, but it just wasn't clicking for us.
 
"The second half, we were making good passes and not being selfish with the ball and that got us on that run. We had a lot of people hitting good shots, too," she added.
 
Jaylee Albert and Rachel Shim started the 17-point surge with back-to-back 3-pointers, then Albert had a scoop lay-in to make it 42-36. Haining, who did get 16 minutes of playing time after missing Tuesday's 94-76 win at Saint Martin's, drained consecutive baskets, converting the second of them into a traditional three-play for a 47-36 advantage. Pagano finished it with a lay-in and a pair of free throws.
 
Taking a 53-38 advantage into the fourth quarter, Seattle Pacific bumped it up to 18 at 58-40 with 7:37 left in the game. Billings (15-7, 8-4 GNAC) made a 7-0 run to cut it down to 11 at 58-47 with 4:22 still on the clock, but never got closer than that.

 

"At halftime, I challenged our kids to get back to doing what we do," Falcons head coach Julie Heisey said after MSUB closed the second quarter on an 11-4 run to extend a 22-21 lead to 33-25. "Billings is a very good team. They took control and dominated the second quarter. They were the aggressors and dictated everything.
 
"To save ourselves, we had to come back aggressively, and we were able to do that in the third quarter," she added. "We had to do the little things that made us good, and I felt offensively and defensively, we rose to the challenge."
 
Jordan McPhee added 11 points (seven in the third quarter), eight rebounds, a career high-tying five assists, and two blocked shots.
 
MSUB's Alisha Breen, who leads the GNAC in scoring at 20.2 points per game, was limited to 13. She had 12 during the first half, hitting 5 of 10 from the floor. But she got just one point after halftime, that on a free throw with 3:22 left in the game, as the Falcons forced her into 0-for-9 shooting.
 
"We did some good things defensively against Breen," Heisey said. "She's one of the best players I've ever coached against."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- It was just the fourth time this season that Seattle Pacific has trailed at halftime, and the second time is has come back to win the game. The other time was 80-69 at Azusa Pacific after being down 40-39 at the break.
-- The Falcons kept the Yellowjackets to their lowest offensive output of the season. Their previous low was 52, and they came in averaging 70.4.
-- SPU did that in part by limiting Billings to just 17 points and 16.7 percent shooting (5 of 30) in the second half.
-- Jordan McPhee pushed her career total to 971 points, and Courtney Hollander is now up to 960.
 
UP NEXT
Now halfway through their four-game road trip, the Falcons return to action on Thursday at Central Washington in Ellensburg. Tip-off in Nicholson Pavilion will be at 5:15 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3. Seattle Pacific won the first game against Central, 62-43 at home on Jan. 6.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
Seattle Pacific 66, Montana State Billings 50
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-3, 10-2 GNAC)
Courtney Hollander 6-12 2-4 18, Erica Pagano 6-11 3-5 15, Jordan McPhee 4-10 3-3 11, Jaylee Albert 3-5 1-2 9, Rachel Shim 3-7 0-0 8, Julia Haining 1-4 1-2 3; Carly Rataushk 0-2 2-2 2, Hailee Bennett 0-2 0-0 0, Lindsay Lee 0-3 0-0 0, Riley Evans 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 12-18 66.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (15-7, 8-4 GNAC)
Rylee Kane 4-13 3-7 13, Alisha Breen 5-19 3-5 13, Taylor Cunningham 4-7 0-0 8, Vanessa Stavish 2-6 0-0 5, Hannah Collins 1-6 2-2 4, Brina Hull 1-1 0-0 3, Grace Weeks 0-1 2-2 2, Rachel Koehler 1-2 0-2 2, Lexi Prevost 0-5 0-0 0, Jeanann Lemelin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-60 10-18 50.
 
Seattle Pacific                     14           11           28           13           -- 66
Montana State Billings       12           21             5           12           -- 50
 
3-point goals – SPU 8-20 (Hollander 4-7, Shim 2-3, Albert 2-4, Bennett 0-1, Lee 0-1, Evans 0-1, McPhee 0-2, Pagano 0-1), MSUB 4-22 (Kane 2-4, Stavish 1-4, Hull 1-1, Collins 0-3, Prevost 0-5, Cunningham 0-1, Breen 0-4). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 41 (McPhee 8), MSUB 43 (Breen 7, Stavish 7). Assists – SPU 14 (McPhee 5), MSUB 11 (3 players with 2). Turnovers – SPU 14, MSUB 16. Total fouls – SPU 17, MSUB 20. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 1,000.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Central Washington
Thursday, Feb. 1     5:15 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.