By: Hope Hensley
November 14, 2026
BILLINGS, Mont. — Locked in a back-and-forth battle through the opening quarter, the Westmont women's basketball team was undone by 27 turnovers and a cold fourth quarter, falling 68–47 to host Montana State Billings on Saturday night at Alterowitz Gymnasium to wrap up the GNAC-PacWest Crossover.
With the loss, the Warriors move to 2–1 on the young season while the Yellowjackets improve to 3–2.
After playing Montana State Billings to an 18–18 deadlock through the first 10 minutes, Westmont built a 29–24 advantage midway through the second quarter behind consecutive three-pointers from Cara McKell and Molly Garnand. However, MSUB closed the half on a 14–0 run to carry a 38–29 lead into the locker room and never relinquished control.
"MSUB is a tough and physical team that played gritty defense tonight for sure," said Westmont Head Coach Kirsten Moore. "We struggled to execute and our youth definitely showed with our inability to take care of the basketball.Twenty-seven possessions where we didn't even get an opportunity to shoot is going to make for a rough offensive night."
Westmont dominated the glass throughout the contest, outrebounding the Yellowjackets 42–37—including 13 offensive boards—and held MSUB to 31.3 percent shooting in the second half. Yet the Warriors could not capitalize on their defensive stops, shooting 22.2 percent (2-of-9) in the fourth quarter and finishing with just five points in the final frame.
"For sure our rebounding was a bright spot for us, especially in the first half," Moore added. "We tried to switch up defenses to change tempo and we got some initial stops, but we just couldn't string together enough good possessions to shift the momentum."
Mariah Brown paced the Warriors with 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists in 38 minutes of action, while Garnand added 11 points, five rebounds, and a block. McKell finished with seven points, five rebounds, and two steals, and Jazmyn Shipp chipped in four points, five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Immaculate Adongpiny provided a defensive spark off the bench with three steals and a block.
"Certainly we've got to get much tighter on our offensive execution, and also our ability to turn defensive stops into scores in transition," Moore concluded. "We've got a lot of tough and physical games coming up, so it is important that we learn and grow from tonight's game."
