BILLINGS, Mont. – The No. 18 ranked Rocky Mountain College women's basketball defeated crosstown rival MSU-Billings 65-50 in an exhibition match Friday night at Alterowitz Gymnasium. 

Rocky (8-1, 2-0 FC) led MSU-Billings (3-3, 0-2 GNAC) from tip to buzzer after holding the Yellowjackets to only six points in the first quarter. With Rocky's win, the two Billings teams split their pair of games on the season. MSU-Billings won the previous contest 63-62 on Nov. 6 on a Hannah Collins' free throw with less than a second left in the game.

The Battlin' Bears shot a steady 51.1% on the night in comparison to the Yellowjackets who shot 33.3%. On three pointers, Rocky led as well as they knocked 44.4% down from beyond the arc in comparison to MSU-Billings' 26.3% 

For the second game in a row, four Battlin' Bears scored in the double digits. Markaela Francis, Alecia Chamberlin, Kloie Thatcher, and Marissa Van Atta were responsible for 49 of Rocky's 65 points. The pair of Thatcher and Van Atta knocked down 10 points each while Chamberlin contributed 13 points and Francis scored 16.

Rocky out-rebounded the Yellowjackets 39-30. Thatcher led the Battlin' Bears with eight. 

The Battlin' Bears had a 4-2 edge in steals.

Rocky will next travel to Chandler, Ariz., to participate in the 2018 Frontier Chandler Tournament. Their first match will be against San Diego Christian on Dec. 19 at 9 p.m.