Lady Jackets’ Lieber Tops All-Heartland Team (3/7/06)
Official Conference Release & Complete Teams

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings junior forward Michelle Lieber was named the Heartland Conference player of the year on Tuesday.  Five different Yellowjackets earned all-conference recognition, with two selected to the first team and three to the honorable mention team.

Montana State-Billings (18-9) and St. Edward’s (15-12) were Heartland Conference regular season co-champions with identical 9-3 conference records.  Both teams were upset in the first round of the conference playoffs.  St. Mary’s (17-12) won the conference playoffs to earn a spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Lieber (Gillette, WY) and Jennifer Knight of St. Edward’s were selected as co-players of the year.  The pair ranked 1-2 in the conference for scoring.  MSU Billings placed the most players on the three all conference teams, followed by three each from Oklahoma Panhandle State, Incarnate Word, St. Edward’s, and St. Mary’s.  Western New Mexico had one all-conference selection.  Alira Carpenter of Montana State-Billings was the conference’s freshman of the year, and Oklahoma Panhandle State’s Nina Kuleff was named the newcomer of the year.

Lieber was second in the Heartland for scoring at 15.6 ppg.  She averaged a double-double for the season, leading the league in rebounding at 10.2 per game.  Lieber had 14 double-doubles in 27 games, including eight in a row to finish the season.  She had her biggest game of the year in the conference playoffs with 31 points and 19 rebounds, both career highs.   In addition to ranking first in the conference for rebounding and second for scoring, Lieber was also first in the league for field goal percentage, second for offensive rebounds, and third for blocked shots.

Senior forward Tanya Petersen (Billings, MT) was also selected to the All-Heartland Conference first team.  She was second on the team and eleventh in the conference for scoring at 12.0 ppg.  She also led the league in blocked shots with 50.  One of the Jackets’ most versatile players, Petersen ranked in the top 15 of the Heartland Conference for scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, assists, free throw percentage, 3-point field goals made, blocked shots, offensive rebounds, and defensive rebounds.  She became the only player in Yellowjacket history with over 1,200 career points, 600 career rebounds, 200 career assists, and 100 career blocked shots.

While the two Yellowjacket post players took home first team honors, the three Yellowjacket starting guards were named to the all-conference honorable mention team.  Seniors Lisa Jellum (Gillette, WY) and Jenny Langford (Reedpoint, MT) along with Carpenter (Lewistown, MT) each earned honorable mention recognition. 

Jellum led the conference in assists and assist/turnover ratio.  Her 128 assists and 4.74 assists per game average both rank in the top 10 in school history for a single season.  Jellum was also the second-best free throw shooter in the conference and ranked in the top 15 for 3-pointers made.

Langford led the Heartland in 3-pointers made per game and ranked third for 3-point percentage.  She made 50 threes in 24 games to finish her career with 184 three-pointers, second-most in school history.  Langford also ranked in the top 15 in the conference for scoring and assists.

Carpenter was the Jackets’ third-leading scorer in her first season of collegiate basketball, averaging 11.7 ppg.  Along with earning freshman of the year honors, Carpenter was one of just two freshmen on any of the All-Heartland teams.  Carpenter ranked in the top 15 in the conference for scoring, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and 3-pointers made.