Defense rules in UAA’s 82-43 win over Montana State-Billings in women’s basketball

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UAA’s Yazmeen Goo and Alysha Devine race for a rebound while teammate Sierra Afoa watches at right and Montana State Billings’ Lexi Prevost is at left. UAA hosted Montana State Billings in a GNAC women’s basketball game at the Alaska Airlines Center on January 26, 2017. (Marc Lester / Alaska Dispatch News)

When the offense faltered at times, the defense was there to pick up the slack, and the third-ranked UAA women's basketball team rolled to its 15th straight victory Thursday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves held Montana State-Billings to single digits in the second and fourth quarters on their way to an 82-43 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory.

Senior forward Autummn Williams led UAA on both ends of the court with 24 points and five steals. Freshman guard Kimijah King added 15 points, senior point guard Kiki Robertson tallied nine points and five steals and junior forward Sierra Afoa was shy of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Seawolves (19-1, 12-0 GNAC) fell cold for stretches, particularly in the second quarter, when both teams combined for two field goals in the first seven minutes. But the mayhem UAA created on defense kept the game under control. The Seawolves forced the Yellowjackets (6-13, 3-8) into 26 turnovers and held them to a 27.3 field goal percentage.

"I thought tonight we did a good job defensively for the most part," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "We were more consistent defensively in terms of effort and dictating what (Billings) was doing offensively."

UAA took the lead for good 3½ minutes into the game on a Robertson 3-pointer that made it 9-6. Treys were a rarity for the Seawolves — they started the game 2 of 12 and finished 3 of 27 from beyond the arc.

With the 3s not dropping, UAA took the game to the paint, where it outscored Billings 34-6.

"Our 3s weren't falling, so you gotta get the buckets from somewhere," said Afoa, still sporting a black eye from a Tuesday win over UAF. "Just getting the open layups, even the guards creating open layups for themselves — that's super important."

The Seawolves played their best basketball in the fourth quarter, outscoring Billings 28-8. Williams took control with eight straight points early in the quarter. Two 3s and a steal-and-score layup put UAA up 66-35. It was Williams' 10th game of 20 or more points this season.

Despite the blowout win, McCarthy said there are things the Seawolves will learn from the game. The fifth-year coach was visibly frustrated at times in the first half, putting his head in his hands or staring up at the ceiling. He said his frustration stemmed from UAA's shot selection in transition.

"I think our ladies take pride in being a good transition team, but tonight those shots weren't falling, and that's when you have to trust what we practice everyday," he said.

Afoa said UAA had a good talk at halftime and, leading 30-17 at the break, came out more focused in the second half.

Only five players scored for the Yellowjackets. Tiana Hanson led Billings with 15 points.

Montana State-Billings is struggling this season without GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Alisha Breen, who went down with a knee injury in October. The Yellowjackets have lost seven of their last nine games.

UAA remains at home next week. Concordia visits Thursday and Western Oregon comes to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday.