MSUB fades against No. 3 Seawolves in Alaska

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu January 26, 2017 MSUB fades against No. 3 Seawolves in Alaska MSUB Women’s Basketball on Facebook | MSUB Women’s Basketball on ISSUU | Interactive Box Score

MSUB’s Brina Hull had seven points in the game at Alaska Anchorage.

The Yellowjackets falter against nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage as turnovers and a poor performance from the freethrow line lead to a loss in Alaska.

ANCHORAGE. – MSUB led the first half in shooting percentage, but turnovers and a poor night at the free-throw line took its toll as the Yellowjackets fell 82-43 to No. 3 Alaska Anchorage in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The opening half was a defensive battle on both sides of the floor. A free-throw from MSUB’s Rylee Kane had the Yellowjackets eight points back, 25-17 with two minutes left in the second quarter before the Seawolves engaged on an 11-0 run at the start of the second half that pulled UAA ahead by 19, 36-17. A big 28-8 fourth quarter from Alaska Anchorage finished the final scoring streak for the Seawolves.

“We got beat by a very good team tonight,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “I thought Anchorage’s pressure in the first half bothered us. We turned the ball over too many times, which was a big factor in the outcome. However,

down by 13 at the break I thought we had a chance before they went on that run in the opening minutes of the second half and we weren’t able to respond back.”

Brina Hull made a 3-pointer for MSUB in the middle of the third quarter that closed the gap to 15, 41-26, but that was as close as the Yellowjackets got again.

Tiana Hanson led the ‘Jackets with 15 points in the game as the senior was the lone bright spot from the free-throw line for MSUB, shooting a perfect 8 for 8. Marissa Van Atta had eight points and five rebounds. Kane posted seven points and Grace Weeks seven rebounds.

The win for No. 3 Alaska Anchorage keeps the Seawolves undefeated in conference action at 12-0 and 19-1 overall. MSU Billings is now 6-13 and 3-8 in the GNAC. MSUB shot better than the Seawolves in the opening half, but an off night from the free-throw line combined with too many turnovers began to take a toll on the Yellowjacket offense. In one of the worst games of the season from the freethrow line, MSUB shot just 53.6 percent on the night, connecting on 15 of 28 from the charity stripe. The Seawolves had 20 steals in the game, forced 26 turnovers on MSUB and collected 34 points from those errors.

“In the second half they drove themselves ahead and closed the door in the fourth quarter,” Woodin said. “They are a well-coached and talented team with a lot of depth. Autummn had an outstanding game tonight and was very hard to guard.”

UAA’s Autummn Williams finished with 24 points, and five steals. Freshman Kimijah King had 15 points. Sierra Afoa had nine rebounds.

MSUB finished shooting 12 for 44 from the field (27.3 percent) and were 4 for 18 from the 3-point arc. UAA increased its shooting percentage in the back half of the game, finishing at 49.2 percent (31-63) and were 9 for 27 (33.3 percent) from outside. The Seawolves were also 11 for 17 from the free-throw line.

THE BUZZ: Weeks had three offensive rebounds and was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB was held to six points in the second quarter and eight in the fourth…three MSUB players had two assists and five recorded a steal.

UP NEXT: MSU Billings finishes its trip to Alaska heading north to face-off against the Alaska Nanooks on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5 p.m. Mountain time.

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