Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons couldn't get it done from inside. And Montana State Billings did get it done from outside.
That made all the difference on Saturday afternoon.
Cici West scored 14 points and was one of three SPU players in double figures, but Billings had a 33-3 scoring advantage from 3-point range on the way to a 72-64 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
While the Yellowjackets (6-4, 2-2 GNAC) were putting them in from behind the arc (11 of 25), the Falcons (4-7, 3-1 GNAC) struggled to convert from underneath the hoop, as 18 attempted lay-ups fell short.
"We missed some high-percentage shots that we normally get," SPU head coach
Mike Simonson said. "We knew they were a good 3-point shooting team, and we talked about how we had to defend the 3-point line. But they hit some tough ones early, and that really spring-loaded them into a pretty good game."
With Seattle Pacific up 10-8, Billings went on a 7-0 run late in the first quarter to go ahead for good. The Falcons closed with 15-12 on a reverse lay-in by freshman
Natalie Hoff just before the end of the quarter, but the Yellowjackets took command by scoring the first eight points of the second period to go up by double digits at 23-12.
SPU got back within nine by halftime at 36-27, and came even closer a 40-35 on a six-point run early in the third quarter. Montana State Billings responded by scoring nine in a row, capped by a 3-pointer from Brina Hull to make it 49-35 with 4:34 left in the third.
The margin grew to as many as 18 and never dropped back to single digits until the final seconds of the game.
"We just couldn't get any traction going," he added. "If we had made some of those shots early, the game probably would have gone a little bit differently."
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Sophomore guard
Hailee Bennett (12 points) and freshman center
Natalie Hoff (11) joined
West in double-figure scoring.
--
West was just one rebound away from her fifth double-double of the year, finishing with nine.
-- While MSUB finished at 44 percent from downtown, Seattle Pacific hit just 11 percent (1 of 9). The Jackets also buried 11 treys in Thursday's 75-67 victory against Saint Martin's.
-- Billings had its share of lay-ups fall short, missing 16.
-- As was the case on Tuesday at Saint Martin's, the game on Saturday featured two of the GNAC's top three scorers, but neither had an easy time finding the hoop. SPU's
Riley Evans, averaging 15.5 points, finished with eight, and MSUB's
Hannah Collins, with her 15.9 average, tallied just nine.
--
Evans did hit her 100
th field goal as a Falcon (now with 101) and her eight points gave her exactly 300 for her career.
-- Two of the best ball-handling teams in the GNAC lived up to their reputations in that department, as each side had just 12 turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Falcons wind up a four-game road trip this coming week. They visit
Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time, then are in Ellensburg next Saturday to tangle with
Central Washington at 5:15 p.m.
"We're playing two good teams who can really shoot the ball and score well," Simonson said. "We'll have to guard the 3-point line next week."
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
Montana State Billings 72, Seattle Pacific 64
SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-7, 3-1 GNAC)
West 5-10 4-7 14, Bennett 5-10 2-2 12, Hoff 4-5 3-4 11, Rataushk 2-9 4-4 8, Evans 3-7 1-1 8, Skidmore 1-3 3-4 5, Albert 1-4 2-5 4, Hingston 1-6 0-0 2, Alter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 19-27 64.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (6-4, 2-2 GNAC)
Shelley 7-10 2-4 17, Cunningham 4-11 2-2 12, Lemelin 4-8 0-0 10, Collins 2-7 4-4 9, Hull 3-5 0-2 8, Williams 3-5 0-0 6, Edwards 2-7 0-0 6, Stavish 1-8 0-0 3, St. John 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 26-62 9-14 72.
Seattle Pacific 12 15 13 24 -- 64
Montana State Billings 15 21 22 14 -- 72
3-point goals – SPU 1-9 (Evans 1-2, Bennett 0-1, Rataushk 0-2, Skidmore 0-1, Albert 0-2, Hingston 0-1), MSUB 11-25 (Lemelin 2-4, Hull 2-2, Cunningham 2-5, Edwards 2-5, Collins 1-4, Stavish 1-4, Shelley 1-1).
Fouled out – None.
Rebounds – SPU 35 (West 9), MSUB 37 (Shelley 10).
Assists – SPU 10 (West 3), MSUB 19 (Collins 4, St. John 4).
Turnovers – SPU 12, MSUB 12.
Total fouls – SPU 16, MSUB 20.
Technical fouls – None.
Attendance – 222.
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Thursday, Jan. 10 4:15 p.m. PST
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho