Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons got back to basics …
 
… and got back into the win column.
 
 

Riley Evans pumped in 18 points, including a key pair of free throws with 51.5 seconds left, and Cici West recorded her sixth double-double of the season on Thursday night to help SPU down Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 79-74.
 
The victory in Brougham Pavilion snapped a two-game losing streak for the Falcons (7-12, 6-6 GNAC). It also earned them a split of the season series against Billings (8-9, 4-7 GNAC).
 
In a nutshell:
 
-- SPU rebounded the ball (grabbing 50 in a game for the first time since November 2016).
-- Passed the ball (17 assists, tying a season high).
-- Took care of the ball (just 12 turnovers, its lowest total in the past seven games).
-- And hit its free throws (21 of 22 for 95.5 percent, the second-highest single-game percentage in school history).
 
The Falcons did all those things against a team that, year in and year out, is always one of their toughest opponents. Billings had won the last two, including 72-64 in Montana on Jan. 5.
 
 "We really challenged them to stay together and stay poised," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We know our best basketball is pretty good. We believed in ourselves and we executed. It was ignited by our defense. We had a few great strings of stops, and that's what we've been talking about."
 




SPU led for all but the opening moments of the game, several times by double digits. One of those leads was 50-38 with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
 
But Montana State Billings responded with 10 straight points, cutting it to 50-48 with 1:59 left in the third, as the Falcons went without a field goal for a span of 7 minutes, 49 seconds. Senior center Carly Rataushk finally ended that dry spell with a lay-in off a feed from Hailee Bennett, and Seattle Pacific eventually took a 54-53 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
It stretched back out to eight at 69-61 with 5:25 to go, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Evans and Jaylee Albert.
 
But it was down to one at 73-72 after Hannah Collins buried two free throws for the Yellowjackets with 1:57 left for the last of her game-high 25 points.
 
 

"They hit some big shots, and Hannah Collins is one of the best guards in the conference," Simonson said of the MSUB sophomore, who got 16 of her 25 during the first half. "I loved that it was a gritty game. Billings is a great team, and we need all the experience we can get."
 
It was still 73-72 with 51.5 seconds left when Evans managed to get one up underneath the hoop just as the shot clock was about to expire. She was fouled on the play and drained both free throws for a 75-72 lead.
 
Billings missed a jumper on its next possession, then was forced to foul twice in quick succession to put SPU into the bonus. Jaylee Albert hit both foul shots with 31.5 to play, making it 77-72, then Kaprice Boston hit two more at the 19.7-second mark for a 79-72 lead.
 
Redshirt senior forward West had 14 points and 12 boards for the double-double. Sophomore guard Boston tallied 12, just one shy of her career, high, and sophomore guard Hailee Bennett added 10, along with five assists.
 
"Riley had the quietest 18 points ever. That's such a luxury to have her score 18 that quietly," Simonson said. "Cici had a double-double, and we gotta count on those two. But then when you have Kaprice and Hailee come to the party (with their stats), that turns you into a pretty darn good basketball team."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Seattle Pacific's single-game free throw shooting record was set on Nov. 10, 2017, when it hit 23 of 24 (95.8 percent) in a season-opening 69-49 victory at Humboldt State.
-- Hailee Bennett hit all four of her foul shots and is up to 26 in a row.
-- The Falcons out-rebounded Billings, 50-35. That the first time they have had more boards than an opponent since a 44-31 advantage against Concordia-Portland on Nov. 29 – a stretch of 13 games.
-- The last time SPU had 50 rebounds in a game was Nov. 11, 2016 with exactly 50 against Fresno Pacific.
-- Evans needed just five points to score her 400^th, and got that with room to spare, giving her 413. She has been in double-digits for five straight games and seven of the past eight.
-- Senior center Carly Rataushk dished a career-high five assists. Her previous best was two.
 
UP NEXT
SPU plays the second half of its four-game homestand next week. Central Washington visits on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., then Northwest Nazarene comes in next Saturday, Feb. 9, at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (8-9, 4-7 GNAC)
Stavish 1-7 0-1 2, Shelley 3-9 0-0 6, Cunningham 4-14 2-2 11, Collins 8-15 7-7 25, Lemelin 5-10 2-2 12, Edwards 1-6 4-4 7, Hull 2-4 2-2 6, St. John 1-3 2-2 5, Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Gardner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-70 19-20 74.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-12, 6-6 GNAC)
West 4-8 6-6 14, Rataushk 4-10 1-2 9, Evans 5-16 6-6 18, Albert 2-4 2-2 8, Bennett 3-11 4-4 10, Boston 5-9 2-2 12, Skidmore 3-4 0-0 6, Hingston 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 27-65 21-22 79.
 
Montana State Billings........   14   19   20   21  -   74
Seattle Pacific...............          20   18   16   25  -   79
 
3-point goals--MSUB 5-26 (Collins 2-5, St. John 1-2, Edwards 1-3, Cunningham 1-4, Stavish 0-5, Shelley 0-2, Hull 0-2, Lemelin 0-3), SPU 4-19 (Evans 2-9, Albert 2-4, Boston 0-2, Bennett 0-3, Hingston 0-1). Fouled out--MSUB-Stavish, SPU-None. Rebounds--MSUB 35 (Cunningham 8), SPU 50 (West 12). Assists--MSUB 9 (Cunningham 5), SPU 17 (Bennett, Rataushk 5). Turnovers – MSUB 7, SPU 12. Total fouls--MSUB 16, SPU 14. Technical fouls--MSUB-None, SPU-None. Attendance-239.