BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team faced crosstown foe Rocky Mountain College in the team's final game before opening regular season play, collecting a 70-54 win in Rimrock Rivalry action.
The Yellowjackets pulled out to an early lead, but a pesky Battlin' Bears (2-0) team kept the game close, hanging around the entire night and even pulling back ahead in the third quarter. A big fourth quarter saw MSUB put some separation between them and their foes, seeing out a win to head into the regular season with a strong exhibition result.
"I like that we just stuck with it tonight," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We played a good first quarter, but give Rocky credit we had a hard time keeping them from getting to the basket which hurt us. I thought Rocky played a good game tonight, but we were still up at halftime despite not shooting great. Then I thought we played much better in the second half, we made the extra pass and ended up with more assists than turnovers, which is a great stat to see early in the season. We're just working on our consistency, but I was proud of our team for regrouping and how we played down the stretch."
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Cassie Chesnut led all players in scoring, posting a double-double effort with 28 points, 12 rebounds and six steals, shooting 12-for-20 from the field and knocking down 3-of-5 from three. Molly Hays also posted a double-double, scoring 17 points to go with 10 rebounds and a trio of assists and steals.
"Both Molly and Cassie did a great job of establishing themselves tonight," praised Woodin. "The two of them on the court can really do some special things, and they played great tonight. I thought our team did a great job of finding those players when they were hot tonight, and our whole unit did a great job of spreading the ball out tonight."
Rae Smart filled the box score with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and one block and steal each, while Layla Baumann scored six points while dishing out three assists. Tailey Harris dished out a game-high six assists, adding five points, two rebounds and a steal and block apiece.
"Tailey played some really great minutes tonight," Woodin said. "The ball doesn't stick when Tailey's on the court. She shares the ball, and that becomes contagious for everyone in our lineup."
Lauren Kuhbacher scored three points, while Alli Ligocki scored two points while grabbing three boards and dishing out a pair of assists. Brooklynn Brennan pulled down three boards.
After trading baskets to open the game, a first-quarter 8-0 run with two baskets from Baumann and Chesnut saw MSUB create some early separation. Rocky hung around, with Iliana Moran scoring nine of the team's 13 points in the quarter, but a strong offensive push out of the gate saw MSUB holding a seven-point lead heading into the second quarter. Rocky continued to make things difficult for the Yellowjackets, outscoring MSUB in the second quarter as they chipped away at that lead. The hosts got to within one point of tying the game in the final minute, but a jumper from Harris pushed MSUB's lead back to 32-29 heading into the break.
The third quarter remained tightly contested, with both teams trading runs. The Battlin' Bears opened the second half on a tear, outscoring MSUB 9-2 in the opening three and a half minutes to retake a lead they had only held for moments of the opening minutes of action. MSUB responded with a 6-0 run over a minute on big shots from Harris and Chesnut to retake the lead, before four straight made free throws by the Battlin' Bears put them back in front. The sole newcomer on the Yellowjackets roster, Hays, scored seven of MSUB's final 10 points in the quarter, helping spark MSUB on a 10-4 run to retake a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Yellowjackets dominated the final 10 minutes on both ends of the floor, outscoring Rocky 20-8 across the final 10 minutes of play, with Hays and Chesnut combining to score 18 of the team's 20 down the stretch to help MSUB exit the Bears' den with a victory in the first of two meetings between the rivals this season.
"Our defense really ignited our offense," Woodin said about the second half. "We got a lot of takeaways and defensive rebounds, which let us get our transition offense going, and we did a great job of moving the ball both side to side and inside out, and we got to the foul line a little bit more. We did some great things at the end, which set us up well going into this weekend."
THE BUZZ: Hays was named the Player of the Game… she and Chesnut combined to score 33 of MSUB's 38 points in the second half, with Hays scoring 13 and Chesnut scoring 18… the Yellowjackets have now won nine consecutive Rimrock Rivalry matchups against the Battlin' Bears.
The Yellowjackets will head to Ellensburg, Washington, to open the regular season at the CWU DII Tipoff Classic, beginning a three-game slate of neutral games with a matchup against No. 24 University of Texas-Tyler. Live video will be available here, while live statistics are available here. A full look at information for the CWU DII Tipoff Classic can be found online here.
