Yellowjackets Pull Away From Nanooks

Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska–  Timing is everything they say.  Montana State Billings (8-7 GNAC, 16-10) continues to roll as they beat Alaska Fairbanks (0-16 GNAC, 5-20) 77-63 Thursday night.  The win was the fifth in a row for the Yellowjackets and kept them still in the hunt for an NCAA West Regional Championship bid.  MSUB closes the regular season at No. 5 Alaska Anchorage, Saturday, Mar. 7.  The game is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m.

Alaska Fairbanks came out and drew first blood.  Ronisha Edwards drove, stopped and popped a 12-footer just twenty-one seconds into the contest.  Montana State Billings quickly answered that with seven points in less than two minutes.

Jetton Meadors dialed in from Sprintland which was quickly followed by a long range bomb by Jen Smith.  One minute later, Shantell Marquis got into the act by hitting a triple of her own.  Just like that, MSUB led 9-2 with 17:46 to go.

The Nanooks refused to give up so easily in the last game of the season.  They went on an 8-to-2 run over the next two minutes.  Caitlin Hamsley banged one in from three-point range to cut the margin to one, 11-10 at the 15:46 mark.

Ten seconds later, Kayla Ryan hit a free throw to make it 12-10.  UAF came down and Megan Thigpen hit a three-pointer to give the Nanooks a 13-12 lead with 15:33 left.  The Jackets wasted no time, actually three seconds, before Ryan hit a trifecta to make it 15-13.

Montana State Billings held the lead for the next five minutes.  Sheena Brown drove the lane and scored to tie the ballgame at 21-21 with 11:19 left.  Fairbanks grabbed a missed shot, drove the court and Hamsley hit Brown behind the arc.

Brown delivered the triple to make it 24-21, UAF, at the 10:39 mark.  Edwards hit a charity toss to make it a four point game.  MSUB came back on jumpers from Smith and Alira Carpenter to tie the game at 25 with 8:07 to go.

With 4:54 to go, Alaska Fairbanks made a run on the Yellowjackets.  Hamsley dropped in a three-pointer followed by a jumper from Edwards.  Brown hit a tough shot in the paint to give the Nanooks their biggest lead, five points, 32-27 with 1:50 to go.

Quinn Halverson came in off the bench and immediately drained a three-pointer to cut the gap to two with 1:30 to go.  The last minute was action packed with nine points being scored.  Edwards hit a 15-footer to make it 34-30.

Meadors came back with a trifecta and a lay-up to put the Yellowjackets back on top, 35-34 with 45 seconds left.  Brown drove the lane and got her shot to drop with thirty-two seconds left.  That made it 36-35 at the half.

“Fairbanks played very hard,” said head coach Kevin Woodin.  “They had us on our heels for most of the first half.”

In the second half, the teams pretty much traded baskets in the opening two minutes.  Edwards hit a shot in the paint to make it 40-38, MSUB with 18:18 to go.  Carpenter answered with a triple followed by a bucket from Edwards.

Up 43-40 with 17:25 to go, Montana State Billings tried to put some distance between themselves and UAF.  Marquis hit a shot and Carpenter dropped in a triple to make it 48-40 at the 16:20 mark.

Over the next seven minutes, the Yellowjackets could not shake the pesky Nanooks loose.  Brown hit a lay-up to close the gap to eight, 56-48 with 9:16 to go.  Ryan countered twenty seconds later with a driving jumper. 

Mandy Jacobs came off the bench and hit two triples in 26 seconds.  Those shots made it a 14 point game and broke the hearts of Alaska Fairbanks.  The Nanooks never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.

“We played much better in the second half,” said coach Woodin.  “Coach Visger did a good job of making adjustments in the second half.  Mandy really sparked us off the bench in the second half.  I thought we rebounded better and we were able to get Alira more shots.  This is a good win for us and we are looking forward to the challenge of playing Anchorage on Saturday.”

For Montana State Billings, Carpenter got 20 points in the second half to finish with 22.  She also had eight rebounds and hit five triples.  Ryan had 14 points and nine boards while Smith had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Meadors had a solid game with eight points and seven assists while Jacobs scored nine points, all off trifectas.  For the game, MSUB hit 15 three-pointers, the second most in school history.  All five starters and eight of 10 players who played hit a triple.

For Alaska Fairbanks, Edwards had a solid game with 22 points, 17 rebounds, two steals and blocked two shots while Brown finished with 18 points and four steals.