SEATTLE – With less than six minutes on the clock, the Seattle Pacific Falcons were within reach of a big women's basketball victory.
 
But that was more than enough time for nationally ranked Montana State Billings to reach in and swipe it away.
 
The No. 20 Yellowjackets went on a 14-0 scoring run, turning a 65-59 deficit into a 73-65 lead, and they went on to secure a 77-67 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win on Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Hunter Berine had 19 points, one of four players in double figures for the Falcons (6-17, 0-10 GNAC). Lolo Weatherspoon added 17, Layne Kearns tallied 13, and Emilia Bishop chipped in 10, along with six rebounds.
 
SPU had an 11-0 scoring run of its own bridging the third and fourth quarters, turning a 57-52 deficit into a 63-57 lead. The last seven of those points came at the outset of the fourth on a turnaround banker by Beirne, a shot from the left of the hoop by Kearns, and then a 3-pointer from the right corner by Kearns.
 
Montana State Billings (19-4, 8-2 GNAC), which missed its first six shots to start the final quarter, finally got back onto the board on a spinning lay-in by Dyauni Boyce with 6:02 left. Kearns answered with a bank shot at the 5:41 mark for a 65-59 SPU advantage.
 
Bu that was all for the Falcons for the next 4 minutes, 40 seconds.
 
 

"We really dialed down our defense and had our game plan going. Take away that last five minutes, and we were looking really good," coach Karen Byers said. "I think we got sped up and had some bad turnovers at bad times. That's how we lost our composure in the last five minutes."
 
Boyce banged in a 3-pointer, cutting it to 65-62. The Yellowjackets then forced six turnovers, converting five of those into 11 points. During that stretch, they allowed Seattle Pacific just one shot until Weatherspoon finally scored from straight in front of the hoop with 1:01 to go. That made it 73-67, and Billings effectively put it out of reach on a Boyce lay-in with 34.4 seconds left.
 
When the teams met in Billings on Jan. 4, the Falcons were blown out, 97-57. On Saturday, the game was competitive from start to finish.
 
"We're just not giving up. We're taking all the things we're learning and adding it to the next game," Byers said.
 
The Falcons shot 50 percent for the day, hitting 28 of 56. That included 12 of 19 (63.2 percent) during the second half, but they had just seven shots during the fourth quarter (hitting five).
 
"We didn't get enough shots and didn't take enough threes," Byers said. (The Falcons were 2 of 12 from downtown.) "We weren't really hunting our threes today."
 
SPU put together a solid first half, building a 29-17 lead near the midpoint of the second quarter. Billings responded with a 16-5 run to get within 34-33. The Falcons then put up the last four points of the half on lay-ins by Bishop and Weatherspoon to take a 38-33 lead into the break.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- All five Seattle Pacific starters shot 50 percent or better from the field: .833 for Layne Kearns and Emilia Bishop (both 5 of 6), and .500 for Hunter Beirne (8 of 16), Lolo Weatherspoon (7 of 14) and Grace Turley (2 of 4).
-- SPU was a perfect 9 of 9 at the free throw line, its first perfecto of the season.
-- Montana State Billings scored 27 points off 26 Falcons turnovers. The Jackets, always one of the better ball handling teams in the GNAC, turned it over just 14 times, leading to 12 SPU points.
-- Seattle Pacific had a 39-26 rebounding advantage. Along with Bishop's six boards, Weatherspoon also had six.
-- Dyauni Boyce, who had 35 points last month against SPU, led Billings with 22 points. She scored just one during the first half, then got going in the second half, although was under pressure from Weatherspoon all day. "Lolo has said that she wants do defend their best player. We gave it to her and she did well." coach Karen Byers said. "We knew (Boyce) was going to be extra fiery in the second half, and she was."
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons head out of town this coming week, visiting Western Oregon on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Saint Martin's next Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBASLL
Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
(No. 20) Montana State Billings 77,Seattle Pacific 67
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (19-4, 8-2 GNAC)
Boyce 8-16 5-6 22, Giese 4-12 0-0 10, Williams 3-8 2-4 10, Nelson 6-9 5-5 19, Grossman 0-5 0-0 0, Baumann 5-11 2-2 14, Browning 0-0 0-0 0, Louie 1-2 0-0 2.   Totals 27-63 15-17 77.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-17, 0-10 GNAC)
Weatherspoon 7-14 3-3 17, Bishop 5-6 0-0 10, Turley 2-4 0-0 4, Beirne 8-16 2-2 19, Kearns 5-6 2-2 13, Ohta 0-1 0-0 0, Leasure 0-2 0-0 0, Rubino 1-5 2-2 4, Lavigne 0-1 0-0 0, Mertes 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 28-56 9-9 67.
 
Montana State Billings      14           19           24           20           -- 77
Seattle Pacific                     21           17           18           11            -- 67
 
3-point goals – MSUB 9-25 (Boyce 1-4, Giese 2-9, Giese 2-5, Nelson 2-3, Grossman 0-1, Baumann 2-3), SPU 2-12 (Weatherspoon 0-1, Turley 0-2,, Beirne 1-4, Kearns 1-2, Leasure 0-2, Mertes 0-1).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – MSUB 6 (Boyce 5, Nelson 5), SPU 39 (Weatherspoon 6, Bishop 6).  Assists – MSUB 17 (Nelson 4), SPU 6 (Beirne 2, Kearns 2).  Turnovers (points allowed) – MSUB 14 (12), SPU 26 (27).  Total fouls – MSUB 10, SPU 18.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 133.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Thursday, Feb. 6     7:00 p.m.
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.