SEATTLE – The first 29 minutes of the game went just the way the Seattle Pacific Falcons wanted it to go.
 
The last 11 minutes … not so much.
 
Ashley Alter poured in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but SPU, up 57-50 late in the third quarter, managed just four more points the rest of the way and dropped a 64-61 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball decision to Montana State Billings on Saturday afternoon.
 
The outcome in Brougham Pavilion left the Falcons at 7-7 in conference play and 12-10 overall. They remain in fourth place in the standings, half a game ahead of Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser (both 7-8).
 
Hunter Beirne added 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists for Seattle Pacific.
 
"Montana State Billings has really good poise. They've won a lot of games, and they've won a lot of close games," SPU head coach Mike Simonson said of the Yellowjackets (21-4, 12-2 GNAC), who put their 10th straight victory into the book. "It comes down to doing the little things right in crunch time."
 
The Falcons led by as many as 16 points late in the second quarter, 41-25, and were still up 41-30 at halftime.
 
 

"The first half, I thought we were playing really good defense and making them uncomfortable. They had eight turnovers in the first half, which is uncharacteristic for Billings, then just had one in the second half," Simonson said. "That kind of proves they felt comfortable with the way they were playing, and the game was going the way they wanted it to.
 
"The first half, it was going the way we wanted it to go. The second half was playing into their hands, and in the fourth quarter, they made the plays."
 
MSUB (21-4, 12-2 GNAC) already had scored the final five points of the half, then tacked on eight more in a row to start the third quarter, getting within 41-38.
 
But the Falcons kept responding, and at one point had pushed the lead back to eight at 55-47. A  pair of free throws by Alter made it 57-50 with 49 seconds left in the third.
 
Those, however, would be their final points for the next 7 minutes, 41 seconds. During that same stretch, the Yellowjackets ran off 12 in a row, tying it at 57-57  on a 3-pointer by Dyauni Boyce with 6:31 to play – the first tie of the afternoon – then going in front for the first time at 59-57 on a 16-footer from the left of the lane by Taryn Shelley with 4:09 to go.
 
Billings stayed ahead the rest of the way. Down 62-57, SPU finally got back on the board when Anna Eddy buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 3:08 remaining, cutting the gap to 62-60. The last tally for the Falcons came on a free throw by Natalie Hoff with 58.4 seconds left, making it 63-61.
 
The Yellowjackets got one more point at the foul line by Kortney Nelson with 35.1 seconds to go. Seattle Pacific had the ball for 34 of those seconds, as back-to-back fouls by Billings reset the shot clock.

But the only shot the Falcons got off was a contested 3-pointer from the right corner by Beirne. It fell short, and the shot clock expired with 1.4 seconds left.
 
Billings inbounded at the other end following a timeout, and that last second ticked off the scoreboard.
 
"Every game is a must-win, and this one would have been sweet to put in our back pocket," Simonson said. "Billings is a really good NCAA Tournament team for a reason. We did some things very well, and we can't get discouraged. We have to really take ownership of the things that we didn't do well, but also take ownership of the things that we did do well."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons shot 50 percent for the game, hitting 25 of 50. They were even hotter through the first three quarters at 58.5 percent (24 of 41), including 50 percent in the first (8 of 16), 69 percent in the second (9 of 13) and 58 percent in the third (7 of 12). But they hit just 11 percent in the fourth (1 of 9).
-- Seattle Pacific limited Billings to just 36.7 percent for the game (22 of 60).
-- MSUB had a 35-28 rebounding advantage, including 16-4 at the offensive end. The Yellowjackets turned those into 11 second-chance points, and did not allow Seattle Pacific any second-chancers.
-- Ashley Alter's 23 points brings her within 28 of 1,000 for her career. She'll head into the coming week with 972.
-- Hunter Beirne's 11 points pushed her past 200. She now has 202 in her career.
 
UP NEXT
SPU takes its final road trip of the season this coming week, visiting Simon Fraser on Thursday in Burnaby, B.C. and Western Washington on Saturday in Bellingham. Both games tip off at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Montana State Billings 64, Seattle Pacific 61
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (21-4, 12-2 GNAC)
Kunkel 1-5 2-2 54, Boyce 4-7 4-5 15, Giese 3-14 0-0 7, Montague 5-10 0-1 13, Nelson 1-8 4-6 6, Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Shelley 3-6 0-0 7, Zahn 1-1 0-0 3, Andreas 3-5 1-1 7, Heggem 0-0 0p0 0, Grossman 0-0 0-0 0.   Totals 22-60 11-15 64.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (12-10, 7-7 GNAC)
Weatherspoon 3-7 0-0 6, N. Hoff 4-9 1-2 9,Beirne 5-9 0-0 11, Eddy 1-4 0-0 3, Alter 9-14 2-2 23, Marlow 2-4 0-0 5, Berry 1-3 2-2 4, M. Hoff 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 25-50 5-6 61.
 
Montana State Billings        16           14           22           12           -- 64
Seattle Pacific                      21           20           16             4           -- 61
 
3-point goals – MSUB 9-27 (Kunkel 0-1, Boyce 3-5, Giese 1-8, Montague 3-8, Williams 0-2, Shelley 1-1, Zahn 1-1, Andreas 0-1), SPU 6-19 (Weatherspoon 0-1, N. Hoff 0-1, Beirne 1-4, Eddy 1-4, Alter 3-6, Marlow 1-3).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – MSUB 35 (Giese 10), SPU 28 (Alter 8).  Assists – MSUB 18 (Boyce 4, Nelson 4), SPU 15 (Beirne 4).  Turnovers – MSUB 9, SPU 12.  Total fouls – MSUB 7, SPU 16.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 124.
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Thursday, Feb. 16     7:00 p.m.
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.