‘Jackets start hot against Crusaders, finish with 74-55 win

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu February 25, 2016 ‘Jackets start hot against Crusaders, finish with 74-55 win MSUB Women’s Basketball on Facebook | MSUB Women’s Basketball on ISSUU GNAC Standings | Interactive Box Score

MSUB junior Alisha Breen shot 10-12 at Northwest Nazarene, finishing with 23 points.

A hot-shooting MSUB women’s basketball team came out of the gates with eight 3-pointers in the first half as the Yellowjackets kept rolling with a 74-55 final score at Northwest Nazarene.

NAMPA, Idaho. – A big-21 point lead at half-time helped the MSU Billings women’s basketball team secure a 74-55 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win at Northwest Nazarene Saturday.

The Yellowjackets jumped out to a 20-8 opening lead and by half-time had stretched that to 42-21. MSUB made eight 3pointers in the first half, finishing the game with 11 - one short of the team’s season-high.

Despite sitting out most of the second quarter in foul trouble, junior Alisha Breen was the game’s high-scorer with 23 points. The forward from Choteau, Mont., shot 10-12 on the night, including 3-3 from the 3-point arc, collected five rebounds, made two assists, a block, and a steal. Breen’s 10 field goals and 83.3 percent shooting are both season-highs.

Joining Breen in double-figures were Janiel Olson, Monica Grimsrud, and Marissa Van Atta. Olson was just shy of a double-double, shooting 5-8, ending the game with 14 points and nine rebounds. Grimsrud tied Breen with 3-pointers and had 11 points in the game. Van Atta added 10 points and swiped a team-high two steals.

Although down by 21 points, the Crusaders made a run in the second half, scoring more points in the third quarter than their total in the first half (23-21), but it wasn’t enough as the Yellowjackets finished strong, staying just two points off of NNU in the second half.

With the win, MSU Billings moves to an overall record of 19-8 and 15-4 in the GNAC. Northwest Nazarene falls to 12-14 on the season and 10-10 in the GNAC. Both teams have already secured a berth in the conference tournament taking place next week in Lacey, Wash. The Yellowjackets are in third in the conference standings and Northwest Nazarene is fifth, but those could change after Saturday’s round of GNAC games.

“It was a great win for us tonight,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “We shot the ball from the perimeter really well tonight. I think the 11-23 from outside was critical for our win. It seemed to be contagious with all the players making the extra pass and getting some shots. It was fun to watch from an offensive standpoint. They shared the ball very well. I also think being better off the glass was important. We only allowed them one offensive rebound in the second half, which we had talked about at half-time.”

MSU Billings finished the night shooting 29-54 for 53.7 percent and 11-24 from the 3-point arc for 45.8 percent. The Yellowjackets had a good night off the glass, outrebounding the Crusaders 38-25. NNU finished the night shooting 22-29 for 37.3 percent, but were 2-10 from outside and 9-14 (64.3 percent) from the free-throw line.

MSUB had 22 turnovers in the game, but the Crusaders converted those to 15 points, while the Yellowjackets were able to grab 16 points off of 12 turnovers from NNU. The Yellowjackets also tied their season-high of 19 team assists which they did at Alaska on Jan. 28.

“Alisha played extremely well tonight,” Woodin said. “She was very efficient on offense and battled hard. Janiel had a great all-around game and Monica stretched their defense in the second half. Also, our bench played a lot of good minutes tonight which helped.”

From NNU, Taylor Simmons had 12 points and Lexi Tubbs 11 points and six rebounds. Simmons had eight of the team’s 14 total steals on the night.

In the first half, it was a 3-pointer from Grimsrud that opened up a double-digit, 20-8, lead with 2:23 to play in the first quarter. Olson finished the first 10 minutes 2-2 from the free-throw line to extend the lead 27-12.

Continuing the scoring, Kane capped off a 10-0 run for the Yellowjackets with a 3-pointer in the first minute of the second quarter. The sophomore had to make a recovery after a scuffle under the NNU basket, but with time winding down in the MSUB court, stepped to the arc for her first 3-pointer of the game.

The Crusaders fought for a momentum switch, getting a jumper from Kate Crydermann and one from McKenna Walker, but a jump shot from Olson at the top of the key kept MSUB rolling.

A jump shot from Lexi Prevost and a 3-pointer from Vanessa Stavish on a long outside pass pushed MSUB ahead, 42-21, at the break.

Not going away, the Crusaders matched MSUB point-for-point in the third quarter, but the Yellowjackets were up for the challenge. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Breen and Grimsrud opened up the largest lead of the game at 25 points, 52-27, in the third quarter.

Northwest Nazarene made a 9-3 run to drop the deficit down to 19 points, 59-40, but MSUB headed into the fourth quarter in command of the game.

A free-throw from Van Atta and a layup from Breen moved the Yellowjackets back up by 20, 74-54, with 1:55 left. Simmons grabbed the last point of the game on a free-throw.

THE BUZZ: Breen named the St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Rylee Kane had 6 assists in the game against NNU. Game.

UP NEXT: MSU Billings finishes off the regular season with a game at Central Washington. The Yellowjackets and Wildcats tipoff at 6:15 pm MTN on Saturday, Feb. 27 for the final regular season game for both teams.

--@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--