Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

Coming off of a loss to Concordia, Western’s women’s basketball found themself in a familiar place — desperately in need of a win. After losing on Jan. 22, the Wolves sat just below .500 on the season. Their away match in Billings, Montana on Jan. 26 was a must win if Western wanted to pull their season’s record to even.

During the first quarter, the Wolves looked out matched. The Yellowjackets were relentless and deadly accurate in their shooting. Western’s offense seemed to keep gasping for air with a shot scored every few possessions, but Montana State Billings kept the pressure on. The Wolves found themselves buried in a double-digit hole at the end of the first quarter.

The gap between the teams was narrowed slightly by the Wolves midway through the second. Bringing the lead to only single digits highlighted that the Wolves would not just roll over to Montana State Billings. By the end of the first half, Western trailed by nine.

The glimmer of hope that Western had before the half was quickly squashed minutes into the second half. Throughout the third quarter, the Yellowjackets nailed shot after shot. By the beginning of the final quarter the Wolves found themselves down by 20.

Entering the forth quarter, the game was all but over. Montana State Billings clung to an over 20 point lead. However, the Wolves weren’t done competing. Although the game was all but lost, Western kept pushing. With less than seven minutes in the game the Wolves outscored Montana 23-10 to bring the score to 65-53 when the final whistle was blown.

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton