(RMC release)
BILLINGS – The Rocky Mountain College women’s basketball team picked up its second win over a top-10 ranked opponent in the past three days with a 54-47 upset of No. 10 Montana Western on Saturday night in the Fortin Education Center.
Rocky (13-1, 3-1 Frontier) moved into an early tie atop the Frontier Conference standings with its seventh straight victory. This is the longest winning streak in the 15 seasons of available records for a Rocky team.
It was another strong effort at the defensive end on Saturday to extend the streak. The Battlin’ Bears held Montana Western (11-5, 1-3) for 29.4 percent from the field and just 4 of 18 from beyond the arc. They also forced the visitors into 14 turnovers.
The Battlin’ Bears shot 39.6 percent while scoring 32 points in the paint. They built the early advantage behind 50 percent shooting in the first half.
Rocky led by nine with 9:47 remaining when the Bulldogs ran off a 9-2 run to get within 45-43 with 4:16 to play. Both teams failed to score over the next three minutes until Markaela Francis hit a 3-pointer from the wing – her first of the season – to put the Battlin’ Bears ahead by four. Rocky closed out the victory by hitting 6 of 6 at the stripe in the final minute.
Brooke Jones scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. She made 5 of 11 from the field and added two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Mikayla Jones added 12 points, including eight in the second half.
Along with the seventh straight win, Rocky snapped a 45-game losing streak when they score less than 60 points in a game.
Brianna King led Western with 17 points, but made just 2 of 16 from the field.
Rocky will put the streak on the line on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. when they head to Helena, Mont. to face No. 24 Carroll in the team’s third straight game against a ranked opponent.
