Montana State Billings, ranked No. 20 in the nation, outlasted No. 8 Western Washington University 66-64 in overtime Thursday, Feb. 16.
The loss brings MSUB one win behind Western for the top spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with just one week left in the regular season.
Clashes between these two GNAC powerhouses have been intense in recent history. The Yellowjackets bested the Vikings twice this season, but Western last beat MSUB 69-63 in the GNAC tournament semifinals last year on its way to the national championship game.
The first quarter started off tight. Western and MSUB nearly matched points for the first seven minutes of the quarter in a low-scoring 8-7 affair that had the Vikings up. From there, a switch was flipped and MSUB couldn’t miss. The Yellowjackets closed out the first quarter with a speedy 12-4 run to go up 19-12.
Western junior forward Brooke Walling fights for a rebound.
(Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
The second quarter took a similar tone. MSUB strung together five unanswered points, but then Western added four of its own. The Yellowjackets then proceeded to go on an 8-0 run before the Vikings tacked on six unanswered points to staunch the bleeding heading into halftime down 32-22.
In the first half, Western senior center Carley Zaragoza found a soft spot in the MSUB zone defense and led the Vikings with eight points. Sharp-shooting Yellowjacket sophomore guard Aspen Giese led all scorers with nine first-half points. Giese would go on to shoot 10-11 from the field and finish with a game-high 25 points.
Western sophomore guard Riley Dykstra grapples with two MSUB players for a loose ball.
(Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
The Vikings came out of halftime with new energy, and the offense started to flow a bit better. In the third quarter, Western scored 16 points in the paint while holding MSUB to only four. The Vikings shot 9-14 on the floor to reign the game back in, down only 46-43 going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter featured a familiar display of the Vikings’ depth. Four players each cashed in once from three.
With 20 seconds left and Western down 56-54, MSUB was set to inbound the ball. The ball was passed into play, but Viking senior forward Katrina Gimmaka immediately forced a jump ball. With the possession arrow favoring the home team, Western held its own destiny.
After moving the ball down the court, Western junior guard Stephanie Peterson buried a heroic catch-and-shoot three-pointer to take the first Viking lead since the first quarter.
Western junior guard Stephanie Peterson helps up junior forward Brooke Walling after Walling got fouled.
(Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
From there, MSUB moved the ball down the court and driving sophomore guard Kortney Nelson drew a foul. She sank the first free throw, but missed the second, sending the game into overtime.
MSUB struck first in the five-minute overtime with a two-pointer to regain the lead. Western racked up five unanswered points via three trips to the free-throw line, going up 62-59. The Yellowjackets then earned two free throws of their own to make it a one-point game with just under two minutes left.
Western head coach Carmen Dolfo talks to the team during a timeout in overtime.
(Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
The game remained scoreless for another minute and a half until the Yellowjackets found a layup to go back on top.
The Vikings moved around the ball a bit before the Yellowjackets knocked it out of bounds on the baseline.
Peterson found Western junior forward Brooke Walling on the inbound. Walling proceeded to will in a baseline jumper to put the Vikings up 64-63 with two seconds left on the clock.
Western’s bench lights up after junior forward Brooke Walling put the Vikings ahead in overtime.
(Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
MSUB moved the ball down the court with a timeout and Giese knocked down a three from the top of the arc to bring the Yellowjackets ahead for the final time with a tenth of a second remaining.
“It’s disappointing, but what we’re taking away is that we need to put together a full 40 minutes,” Walling said. “We still have [the GNAC tournament] and I know that when it comes time again [to face MSUB], we need to be ready.”
The Vikings close out the regular season with two home games, the next being against Seattle Pacific University (13-10, 8-7 GNAC) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.
