BILLINGS, Mont. – One rough quarter for Seattle Pacific. Three solid quarters for Montana State Billings.
 
That ultimately made the difference in favor of the Yellowjackets on Saturday.
 
MSUB hit 50 percent from the field during the second period, 50 percent again in the third, and 58 percent in the fourth, enabling the Jackets to get in front and stay in front on the way to a 66-49 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
Ashley Alter and Anna Eddy had 10 points apiece for SPU (10-5, 5-2 GNAC), which saw its four-game winning streak halted. But after building an early 15-8 lead, the Falcons went frosty during the second quarter, hitting just 2 of 13 and managing just six points while MSUB (14-4, 5-2 GNAC) put 15 on the board.

The two teams are now tied for second place in the GNAC standings.

 
 

"Billings is very good at what they do. They make the game play at their speed and they're very physical," Falcons head coach Mike Simonson said. "We just never could get any momentum. They seemed to get some breaks at timely times, and we just never generated any momentum. We never had a scoring run during the game."
 
Even so, it was just a four-point deficit at halftime, 25-21. Seattle Pacific kept pace through the first five minutes of the third, still trailing by just four at 33-29.
 
That's when Billings (14-4, 5-2 GNAC) strung together 10 straight points – the first seven of them by Taryn Shelley – to stretch it out a commanding 14-point bulge at 43-29.
 
The margin never dropped below double digits the rest of the way.
 
"They got hot from 3 during that run. I thought we had some minor breakdowns, but you have to give them credit," Simonson said. "They were making some shots."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU's 49 points was a season low. The previous low was last Saturday in a 52-50 victory at Saint Martin's.
--The Yellowjackets hit 50 percent for the day from the field (24 of 48), 10 percentage points better than their season mark of 40.3. On Saturday, that included 52.9 percent from behind the 3-point arc (9 of 17), 20 points better than their .324 for the season.
-- Seattle Pacific finished at 39.6 percent (19 of 48), close to its season mark of .404. But the Falcons were just 3 of 13 downtown (23.1 percent).
-- Montana State Billings wound up with one more rebound than the Falcons, 27-26. That's just the second time this season an opponent has had more boards – and the other time also was a difference of one (37-36 for Regis on Nov. 25).
-- SPU had just 16 turnovers slightly below its season average of 17.4. However, the Yellowjackets converted them into 23 points.
-- Billings, always one of the best teams in the conference at taking care of the basketball, turned it over just 11 times, leading to 14 Seattle Pacific points.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return home this coming week to wrap up the first half of the conference schedule. Western Washington, ranked No. 8 nationally this week, visits Brougham Pavilion on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Simon Fraser is in on Saturday at 4:15 p.m., the second half of a doubleheader. The Seattle Pacific men tip of the twin bill at 2:00 p.m. against Montana State Billings.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
Montana State Billings 66, Seattle Pacific 49\
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (10-5, 5-2 GNAC)
N. Hoff 4-8 0-1 8, M. Hoff 0-4 0-0 0, Berirne 2-4 2-2 6, Eddy 4-10 1-2 10, Alter 4-9 2-2 10, De Virgilio 3-7 0-0 8, Weatherspoon 0-2 2-2 2, Berry 2-4 1-2 5, Marlow 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-48 8-11 49
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (14-4, 5-2 GNAC)
Kunkel 5-8 0-0 12, Boyce 2-6 0-0 5, Giese 5-10 0-0 12, Montague 3-3 0-0 8, Nelson 2-6 7-8 11, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Shelley 4-5 0-0 9, Andreas 1-3 0-0 2, Zahn 2-6 0-0 5, Grossman 0-0 2-2 2, Heggem 0-0 0-0 0, Sayler 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 24-48 9-10 66.
 
Seattle Pacific                    15             6           12           16           -- 49
Montana State Billings     10           15           20           21           -- 66
 
3-point goals – SPU 3-13 (M. Hoff 0-1, Beirne 0-2, Eddy 1-5, Alter 0-2, De Virgilio 2-3), MSUB 9-17 (Kunkel 2-2, Boyce 1-1, Giese 2-5, Montague 2-2, Williams 0-1, Shelley 1-1, Andreas 0-2, Zahn 1-3).  Fouled out – None..  Rebounds – SPU 26 (Eddy 6), MSUB 27 (Nelson 7).  Assists – SPU 11 (Beirne 5), MSUB 18 (Nelson 6). Turnovers – SPU 16 MSUB 11.  Total fouls – SPU 19, MSUB 14.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 108.
 
 
Next game
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 19     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.