Thursday, March 3, 2022

LACEY, Wash. – Just five days ago, Northwest Nazarene shot 50 percent from the field in a win over Montana State Billings. In the match-up that mattered, however, MSUB’s defense came to play.

The Yellowjackets held NNU to 30.4 percent shooting, blocked five shots and outrebounded NNU 45-31. Meanwhile, it was the Yellowjackets’ turn to shoot 50 percent from the field as No. 5 MSUB led wire-to-wire in a 69-56 victory over No. 4 Northwest Nazarene in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships.

Montana State Billings (17-11) lives to see another day in the semifinals tomorrow against the winner of No. 1 Western Washington and No. 9 Saint Martin’s. For Northwest Nazarene (18-9), all that’s left is to wait until Selection Sunday to see if they have done enough to earn an NCAA regional berth.

Taryn Shelley was dominant for MSUB with 20 points on 9 of 11 shooting, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Cariann Kunkel added 18 points and five assists while Kortney Nelson contributed 14 points and eight rebounds. For the Nighthawks, Cami Knishka led the team with 13 points, hitting three three-pointers, while Nyalam Thabach had a well-rounded line of 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Yellowjackets jumped out to a 14-5 lead after three-pointers from Kunkel and Shayla Montague followed by back-to-back baskets from Shelley. Northwest Nazarene answered, as a Kate Clark three-pointer with 4:15 left in the first quarter cut the lead to 18-15.

Kunkel, who had 14 of her 18 points in the first half, went on a personal 5-0 run to start the second quarter with a layup and a three-point play, and from that point on, Northwest Nazarene couldn’t get the shots to fall to keep up with the ‘Jackets, scoring just five points in the second quarter in trailing by 16 at the break. The Nighthawks shot 30 percent from the field, 24 percent from three and just 53 percent from the free-throw line.

Shelley took over in the second half, with 12 points and eight rebounds coming after the break for the forward. Montana State Billings turned the ball over 25 times against NNU’s high-press defense, but made up for it by consistently getting good looks inside. The trio of Shelley, Kunkel and Nelson combined to go an efficient 22 for 33 from the field. The Yellowjackets outscored NNU in the paint 38-30.