BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Montana State Billings is headed to the championship of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament.
The sixth-seeded Yellowjackets pulled their second consecutive upset of the postseason Friday, toppling No. 2 seed Central Washington 79-74 in a semifinal game at Carver Gym.
MSUB beat third-seeded Saint Martin's in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Cassie Chesnut was again the star for Kevin Woodin's Yellowjackets on Friday, pouring in 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and collecting 13 rebounds. The GNAC freshman of the year added three blocks and two steals to her stat line.
Kaitlin Grossman added 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and six assists while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Rae Smart scored 12 and Kyla Momberg and Tailey Harris each chipped in 11 points. Momberg also had nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals.
"Throughout the year we've kind of experienced a bunch of (close) games like that, so we were able to keep our composure and stay together," said Momberg, who got a game-clinching steal in the final seconds.
The Jackets got out to a quick start and built a 12-2 lead in the first five minutes. They led 16-11 after the first quarter and maintained the edge throughout much of the second. Central Washington ultimately rallied to tie the game at 40-40, but a Harris free throw just before halftime gave MSUB a 41-40 lead at intermission.
Central Washington took its first lead early in the third quarter, starting the frame with 6-0 spurt to jump in front 46-41. Chesnut and Grossman answered with back-to-back buckets, and the teams wouldn't be separated by more than four points the rest of the third period. MSUB led 62-59 going to the fourth.
That's when the Jackets took control. Momberg scored on a layup, then assisted a Chestnut 3-pointer to push MSUB's lead to 67-59. CWU sandwiched another Chestnut basket, then Grossman made a jumper, Momberg sank a 3 and suddenly MSUB led 74-63 with 5:54 to play. The 11-point margin was the largest of the game for either team.
Central Washington whittled away at MSUB's lead, but would get no closer than 78-74 with 1:30 remaining. The Wildcats, who exit the tournament with a 23-6 overall record, were led by Annalee Coronado with 24 points off the bench. CWU won both regular-season meetings against MSU Billings.
The Yellowjackets (19-14) will head to the GNAC championship game, where they will play No. 1 seed and tournament host Western Washington. The title game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. Mountain on Saturday.
"I feel like we're peaking at the right time," said Woodin, who is in his 22nd year leading the MSUB women. "A month ago we were on the outside looking in, and we had tournament pressure, really, for a month.
"I think our best basketball's starting to come around. I think we're very balanced on offense, I think we're communicating on defense. We just have a lot of confidence, and we're excited about the opportunity to play (Saturday), no matter who we play. We're going to show up and work hard and give it everything we've got."
