The Basics

• Final score: Montana State Billings 74, Western Oregon 67
• Records: Western Oregon 6-9, 2-6 GNAC; Montana State Billings 6-10, 3-5 GNAC
• The YellowJackets extended their advantage in the all-time series to 23-6.
• Location: Billings, Mont. – Alterowitz Gymnasium

How It Happened
Shelby Snook flirted with the first triple-double in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference since 2013 as the Western Oregon Wolves could not claw back from an early deficit Saturday in a 74-67 loss at Montana State Billings.
 
Snook led the Wolves with 30 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including eight 3-pointers, adding nine rebounds and eight assists.
 
The teams went back and forth early on. Western Oregon claimed one point leads on 3-point buckets from Snook and Sydney Azorr for a 6-5 lead. The MSUB defense clamped down over the final 2:26 of the opening quarter keeping the Wolves scoreless posting a 23-17 lead.
 
Jasmine Miller's triple early in the second quarter trimmed the MSUB lead to one (23-22), but the Yellowjackets would strike for a 7-0 run over the next 4:36 to lead 35-25. Launia Davis connected on a 3-pointer to break the rally and post the halftime score at 37-30 for MSUB.
 
The Wolves again got within a point with an Azorr layin at the 6:36 mark in the third quarter, but the Yellowjackets had another big run in response. WOU had two turnovers and three missed shots during an 11-0 run that rebuilt the MSUB lead to 12 (52-40). Western Oregon's final push trimmed the double-digit deficit down to five after a pair of Snook 3-pointers, but the rally did not overcome the MSUB advantage.
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• Shelby Snook had a game-high 30 points (9-19 FG, 8-15 3FG, 4-4 FT) with nine rebounds and eight assists.
• Jasmine Miller was 3-of-3 from 3-point land for 16 points.
• Sydney Azorr had a solid performance with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot in 33 minutes

 
For the YellowJackets

• Rylee Kane went 12-of-24 for the night to lead the Yellowjackets with 25 points.
• Tiana Hanson posted a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. She was a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line.
• Lexi Provost scored 10 points and dished out five assists.

 
Stats of the Game

• The Wolves went 22-of-56 from the floor in the game (39.3 percent), but nailed 15 shots from 3-point land (48.4 percent).
• MSUB had 25 points off of 20 WOU turnovers.
• Western Oregon outrebounded the Yellowjackets, 41-34, despite both teams having 12 offensive rebounds.
• MSUB scored three times as many points in the paint compared to the Wolves, 36-12.

 
Coach Quotes
WOU head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter after the loss:

• "This was a tough loss to swallow.  We played them even for most of the game but just could not close the gap enough at the end.  Hats off to both Riley Kane and Tiana Hanson who had career nights.  We can manage one having a good night but to have both players have the production they had is pretty tough to overcome."
• "We have got to value the basketball more, we just can't give up 25 points off turnovers, period.  That was the game right there.  And down the stretch, we didn't grab boards we needed."
• "Shelby hit some big shots late in the game and tried to will us to the win.  Jasmine chipped in as well and I'm happy with how she responded tonight.  We're much harder to guard as a team when we have a balanced scoring attack and we need to get back to that."

 
Up Next
The four-game road trip away from Monmouth continues next week. On Thursday (Jan. 19), Western Oregon plays against Central Washington in Ellensburg at 7 p.m. Pacific. The trip concludes on Saturday (Jan. 21) with a 2 p.m. Mountain time tipoff at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho.