Chelsie Morrison (, ) scored a career-high 35 points, including 18 of ’s final 20 points in the second half and overtime, as SeattleU pulled out an 83-78 overtime victory over Montana State Billings Saturday night in GNAC women’s basketball action at Alterowitz Gym.
With 2:51 remaining in overtime, Jackie Thomas () made one of two free throws and grabbed the offensive rebound on the miss. Morrison hit a jumper to extend SeattleU’s lead to three at 79-76. The Redhawk defense forced two turnovers by Montana State Billings, and Morrison made a layup with 26 seconds remaining to give SeattleU a five-point lead on the way to its first road win since Jan. 3 at Alaska Fairbanks.
Morrison shot 14-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-11 from the three-point line, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in accumulating her 35 points. It was the highest point total by a Seattle University player since Kristin Connolly scored 32 points at Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 22, 2005.
The combination of Shantell Marquis and Alira Carpenter scored the first 18 points of the game for Montana State Billings as the Yellowjackets opened a six-point lead. would cut into the lead on several occasions, but MSU Billings took advantage of 15 Redhawk turnovers in the first half to take a 36-32 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
After Montana State Billings (8-13, 5-7 GNAC) opened its lead to nine at 50-41 midway through the second half, SeattleU started its comeback, with back-to-back field goals by Thomas allowing SeattleU to tie the game at 50-50. The lead bounced back and forth throughout the remainder of the second half, with Morrison hitting a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 71-71 and force overtime.
Leah Stepovich (, ) also hit five three-pointers in the game as she scored 16 points, while Thomas finished with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals, and Kamrica Ary-Turner () contributed ten points and eight rebounds to the winning effort. As a team, SeattleU shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field, including 10-of-22 from the three-point line, and committed only seven turnovers after halftime.
Carpenter was the third player in the game to make five three-pointers, also reaching a career high with 33 points to lead the Yellowjackets. Marquis finished with 18 points and five steals, while Jen Smith pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. For the game, MSU Billings shot only 36.8 percent from the field, but did make 19-of-22 shots from the free throw line and earned a slight rebounding edge, 42-40.
(14-7, 5-7 GNAC) returns to the to face crosstown rival Seattle Pacific Thursday, Feb. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. The Falcons defeated the Redhawks earlier this season, 63-47, and came into Saturday night’s action undefeated and the top ranked team in the region.