BILLINGS, Mont. – The Central Washington University Women's Basketball Team couldn't complete a 19-point comeback, falling to the 16th-ranked Yellowjackets Thursday evening. Capri Sims earned her third-straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (61), #16 Montana State Billings (66)
• Records: CWU (17-6, 10-4 GNAC), MSUB (22-4, 11-2 GNAC)
• Location: Alterowitz Gymnasium, Billings, Mont.

 
QUOTING HEAD CWU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH RANDI RICHARDSON:

"In the first half we fouled too much and struggled to convert on early looks which sent us into an early deficit. I was proud of how we responded to come back in the second half and tie it with about three minutes left. However, with that early and big of a deficit it narrowed our margin of error in the second half and some critical mistakes late hurt our chances while MSUB hit the shots they needed to."

HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• Sims put the first points on the board in the game with a layup 36 seconds after tip-off but was immediately responded to by Kortney Nelson of MSUB to make it a 2-2 game.
• Both teams exchanged a pair of buckets, but a layup by Annalee Coronado and a pair of free-throws by Asher Cai made it a 10-7 CWU lead with 5:24 left in the first.
• An 11-3 run by the Yellowjackets saw MSUB take the 18-13 lead after the first quarter.
• Two threes by Dyauni Boyce and a layup by Chloe Williams made it a 26-13 MSUB lead with 7:42 left in the second.
• Buckets by Cai and Sims were the first points of the second quarter, but MSUB scored eight more points before Cai nabbed the next bucket for the 'Cats making it a 34-19 MSUB lead with 3:14 left.
• The Yellowjackets earned two more buckets, but Sunny Huerta finished the first half with a jumper to send the teams to the half break with the crimson and black trailing 38-21.
• A 7-0 run by CWU out of the halftime break saw the Yellowjacket lead cut to 10, 38-28 with 8:31 left in the third.
• Back-to-back and-one opportunities by Cai and Coronado made it a 43-36 MSUB lead with 5:58 left in the third.
• A 9-4 run by the 'Jackets sent the teams to the final 10 minutes with MSUB leading 51-40.
• Williams scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter, but a three by Shelby Blodgett sparked a 6-0 run to cut the Wildcat deficit to six, 53-47 with 7:11 left.
• The two squads exchanged buckets over the next couple of possessions, but a layup by Sims and a layup and three by Huerta tied things up at 57 apiece with 3:03 left forcing Billings to call a timeout.
• The Yellowjackets came out of the timeout knocking down a pair of free-throws and a three which prompted the exchanged of a pair of buckets by the teams as MSUB took the game 66-61.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Huerta led CWU with 17 points, adding four rebounds and four assists.
• Sims had her third-straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to go with one block and one steal.
• Cai also finished in double-figures with 12 points while adding two rebounds and one steal and leading CWU with five assists.
• Coronado had seven points, one rebound, and one steal.
• Blodgett added five points and one rebound while Malia Smith had three points, three rebounds, and one assist.
• Aliyah Finch had two points while Keira Marsh and Rylee Leishman each had one steal with Leishman also tacking on a rebound.
• Jordy DeMott had a rebound as well.
• CWU shot 45.5 percent from the floor, 15 percent from three, and 80 percent at the free-throw line.
• MSUB shot 40.7 percent from the floor, 27.8 percent from three, and 68.4 percent at the free-throw line.
• MSUB had 37 rebounds while the 'Cats only had 30.

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• The Yellowjackets lead the series 32-18 since 1997.
• The two teams won on their home court this season with CWU going 4-6 against MSUB in the past 10 matchups.
• The Wildcats are 7-14 in Billings.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will wrap up the roadtrip with another 4:15 p.m. tip-off, this time at Seattle Pacific (7-19, 1-12 GNAC) on Saturday inside Royal Brougham Pavilion over in Seattle.