Monday, January 24, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – There have been few harder tasks in the history of the GNAC than winning a women’s basketball game at the Alaska Airlines Center. Since the 5,000-seat arena opened in 2014, Alaska Anchorage had lost a total of two regular-season conference games in its home building, with winning streaks of 41 straight GNAC home wins and 33 straight overall home wins.

On January 17, however, Montana State Billings blew those records to smithereens.

The Yellowjackets took the lead with a monster scoring run in the first half and pulled away after halftime for a shocking 72-48 road win over Alaska Anchorage, then returned home and soundly defeated Seattle Pacific, who entered in second place in the conference standings, by an 81-55 score on Saturday. For the two decisive wins, including the historic triumph at Anchorage, MSUB has been named the GNAC Team of the Week.

“We are very appreciative to be recognized as Team of the Week,” head coach Kevin Woodin said. “Collectively, I felt we played our best basketball of the year for an entire week, especially our team defense and our ability to take care of the basketball.”

The match-up with Alaska Anchorage last Monday was the culmination of three road games in four days for MSUB. The fresher Seawolves looked every bit like the No. 9 team in the country, opening up a 15-6 lead in the game’s first six minutes. But after UAA’s Sala Langi earned a three-point play with 3:54 left in the first quarter, the Seawolves didn’t make another field goal until there was 2:32 left in the second.

In between, the Yellowjackets went on a 16-0 scoring run, which included six points from Cariann Kunkel and a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Shayla Montague that ended the first quarter with the teams tied at 15. The ‘Jackets defense hounded the Seawolves, forcing 22 turnovers, seven of which came during the 16-0 run. Alaska Anchorage was held to 32 percent shooting from the field over the course of the game.

Montana State Billings led by eight at the break, but with UAA’s track record, halftime adjustments and a closer game in the second half could have been expected. That didn’t happen. Instead, a Kortney Nelson layup, a Kunkel three and a Taryn Shelley jumper extended the MSUB lead to 15 within the first minute and a half after the break and Alaska Anchorage never cut the lead to less than 10 the rest of the way.

Kunkel led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 8 of 13 from the field, 2 of 4 from three-point range and a perfect 6 of 6 from the line. Nelson had 15 points, nine rebounds and three of MSUB’s 12 steals, while Montague added 10 points on three three-pointers. No GNAC team had beaten Alaska Anchorage at home since February 2016 and MSUB hadn’t done it since December 2003.

The Yellowjackets returned home for a Saturday contest against Seattle Pacific. The Falcons had found themselves in second place in the GNAC standings after racing out to a 3-1 start in conference play, but MSUB barely gave them a shot. Once again, the ‘Jackets held an opponent to 32 percent shooting, but they themselves were on fire offensively, hitting 47 percent from the field and 52 percent from beyond the arc.

Danielle Zahn led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and seven assists, while Kunkel contributed 15 points and four rebounds. Both Nelson and reserve guard Aspen Giese went a perfect 3-for-3 on three-point attempts, and the team combined for 20 assists against only five turnovers across the 40 minutes. After leading by five at halftime, MSUB utilized a 29-point third quarter to bury the Falcons and stretch the lead to 20 on its way to the 26-point final margin.

“Our wins were great team wins and we played much more consistently,” Woodin said. “We got solid contributions from a lot of players and had strong second halves in both games.”

The Yellowjackets have won three straight and five of their past six. At 11-8 overall and 5-2 in the GNAC, they sit tied for second in the conference standings. After receiving votes in the D2SIDA West Region poll for seven consecutive weeks, MSUB finally earned a ranking this week, slotting in at No. 9. Another stretch of three games in four days awaits the Yellowjackets, including an intriguing rematch with Alaska Anchorage in Billings on Thursday and a home doubleheader against Alaska on Saturday and Sunday.