By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

CARSON, Calif. – A season-high 27 points by Tori Hollingshead propelled No. 4 seed Alaska Anchorage to a narrow, 69-66 triumph over No. 5 seed Montana State Billings on Saturday night at the Torodome in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball West Region Championships.
 
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion Seawolves held their breath through a nerve-racking final minute, that saw the Yellowjackets nearly erase a 12-point deficit. A heroic effort by MSUB’s Layla Baumann, who had eight points and a steal during her team’s desperation push, pulled her team within three points down 68-65 with 29 seconds left on the clock.
 
A Jazzpher Evans free throw extended the Seawolves’ advantage to four points, and enough time ran off where a final free throw by MSUB’s Chloe Williams at the three second mark was only good enough to cut the spread to three points.
 
Hollingshead was dominant individually, making 13 of 20 shots, completing her 12th double-double of the year with a game-high 10 rebounds and adding three blocks and two steals. UAA freshman Ashlyn Rean scored 16 points on an efficient 6-for-9 shooting line and just missed a double-double with nine boards. GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Emilia Long had six steals, six points, three assists and three boards in 26 minutes on the floor, and Evans finished in double figures with 11 points. In the rubber match after the teams split their regular-season encounters, the Seawolves shot 46.8% (29-for-62), 33.3% (3-for-9) from 3-point range and made 8 of 15 free throws (53.3%).
 
The Seawolves (28-4) advance to Saturday’s second round, where they’ll have a 7:30 p.m. (Pacific) matchup against No. 1 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills after the Toros handled No. 8 seed Azusa Pacific 77-58 earlier on Friday.
 
Montana State Billings saw its season come to a close with a record of 25-8, after finishing tied for second in the GNAC standings. First-team all-GNAC forward Dyauni Boyce led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds in her final game in a Yellowjacket uniform. Williams was three off her career high with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, senior Aspen Giese added a dozen and Baumann finished in double digits with 10. Senior Kortney Nelson, the 2023-24 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, wrapped up her career by adding seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals and playing all 40 minutes. MSUB shot 41.1% (23-for-56) for the game, 29.6% (8-for-27) from 3-point range and made 12 of 17 free throws (70.6%).
 
Giese connected on a three to open the game and back-to-back buckets by Boyce spotted the Yellowjackets to a hot 7-0 start. The Seawolves’ first points didn’t come until Hollingshead made a layup three minutes into the game, but they went on to out-pace the ‘Jackets 39-17 the rest of the opening half.
 
After out-scoring the Yellowjackets 20-10 in the second quarter, the Seawolves set themselves up to weather the storm during their opponent’s second-half comeback. MSUB kept itself within striking distance, winning the third quarter 19-14 and entered the fourth trailing 53-43. Two buckets by Hollingshead and four made free throws by Rean helped UAA keep the difference at a dozen points into the closing minutes with the score at 65-53 with 2:48 to go.
 
The ‘Jackets out-scored the Seawolves 11-2 in the final minute of the game, but it wasn’t quite enough to overcome a deficit that it chased for all but the beginning of the contest. The teams were dead even at 34 rebounds apiece, while MSUB committed 15 turnovers and UAA had 14 giveaways.
 
GNAC Historical Notes
Long, the NCAA leader in steals and steals per game improved both of her GNAC-record figures to 135 total and 4.2 per game with her six-steal performance on Friday.
 
Giese became the second woman in GNAC history to make 100 threes in a season (finishing with 101), joining conference record holder Jenna Buchanan of Alaska Anchorage who made 108 treys in 2015-16. The senior’s 99 made threes entering Friday’s game were the most in Division II basketball, and her 3.06 made threes per game was sixth-best in GNAC single-season history. Giese’s 221 career made 3-pointers ranked her 10th in conference history.
 
Boyce finished her career with 1,581 points, ranking her 13th in GNAC history. Giese wrapped up her career with 1,184 points and Nelson was close behind with 1,113 points.
 
Nelson tied for 10th in GNAC history with 456 total assists in her career.
 
Boyce broke the GNAC career record for games played on Friday night, making the 137th appearance of her tenure with the Yellowjackets. That surpassed the previous mark of 136 games played, achieved by Hannah Wandersee of Alaska Anchorage from 2015-19. Fellow MSUB seniors Nelson and Giese also appeared in the top-10 in conference history in the category, with Nelson tying for fourth with 133 games and Giese tying for ninth with 127 games. Nelson’s 4,026 minutes played were fourth-most in league history, while Boyce ranked ninth (3,687) and Giese was 12th (3,538).
 

GNAC Women’s Basketball – Career Games Played Leaders (as of March 14, 2025)
Rank	Player	School	Games	Career
1	Dyauni Boyce	Montana State Billings	137	2020-25
2	Hannah Wandersee	Alaska Anchorage	136	2015-19
3	Tara Thompson	Alaska Anchorage	134	2015-19
4	Hanna Johansson	Alaska Anchorage	133	2008-12
	Kortney Nelson	Montana State Billings	133	2020-25
6	Kiki Robertson	Alaska Anchorage	131	2013-17
7	Alisha Breen	Montana State Billings	130	2013-18
	Nikki Aden	Alaska Anchorage	130	2007-11
9	Anna Allen-McGarrah	Northwest Nazarene	127	1998-02
	Jessica Madison	Alaska Anchorage	127	2012-16
	Aspen Giese	Montana State Billings	127	2020-25