2005-2006 Women’s Basketball Wrap Up

BILLINGS, MT – The first season in the Heartland Conference for the Montana State University-Billings women’s basketball team resulted in the team’s first Heartland Conference regular season championship.  The Lady Yellowjackets posted an 18-9 overall record in 2005-2006, and their 9-3 conference mark gave them a share of the Heartland regular season title.  MSU Billings and St. Edward’s were regular season co-champions.

The Yellowjackets’ season was ended earlier than expected when Oklahoma Panhandle State stunned the Lady Jackets in the first round of the Heartland Conference playoffs at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  MSU Billings had earned the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs and hosted the Aggies in the opening round on May 1.  After building a double-digit lead in the first half, the Yellowjackets had one of their worst halves of the season as OPSU rallied back for an 80-71 win.  The loss eliminated any chance for the Yellowjackets to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the eleventh time in the program’s history.

Despite the disappointment of the conference playoffs, the Yellowjackets experienced their share of successes in 2005-2006.  Along with the regular season conference co-championship, the Lady Jackets made a number of imprints in the school record books for both team and individual accomplishments.

The most impressive of the records set this season was the 14-game winning streak in the middle of the schedule.  After winning the season opener, the Yellowjackets lost four-straight games to start the season 1-4.  At that point the future didn’t look bright as the Lady Jackets faced a daunting road trip to Denver where they would meet Metro State and Regis, two teams that were receiving consideration in national polls at the time. 

The trip to Denver proved to be a springboard for the Yellowjackets’ season as they swept the two RMAC schools on their home courts.  Those were victories No. 1 and No. 2 in what would eventually grow to a school record winning streak.  Included in that streak were seven-straight Heartland Conference wins, four at home and three on the road. 

The Lady Jackets tied the school record of 11 consecutive wins with a 78-56 win at Lincoln University on January 21.  That was also the fourth-straight road win after sweeping three games in San Antonio the previous week.  MSU Billings returned home at the end of January with an opportunity to break the school record against St. Edward’s University, the Jackets’ top challenger for the conference crown.  MSUB pulled away for a 78-64 victory that gave them sole possession of first place in the league.

The Jackets extended their winning streak to 14 games with a two-game sweep of Lincoln University at Alterowitz Gym in early February.  That set them up for the home stretch of the conference schedule with a 7-1 record.  The only mark against them in the conference standings came at Oklahoma Panhandle State on November 28.

Of the Yellowjackets’ final seven games, four were on the road and three were at home.  They swept the three home games—including conference wins against Incarnate Word and St. Mary’s—but the road was not as kind.  MSUB dropped all four road games, two of them in overtime.  Two of those four road losses were conference games, dropping the Jackets into a tie with St. Edward’s for the conference regular season title.  The Yellowjackets won the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs, where they eventually fell to OPSU.

For the season, MSU Billings led the Heartland Conference in 10 different statistical categories: scoring offense, scoring margin, free throw percentage, field goal percentage defense, 3-pointers per game, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage defense, blocked shots, assists, and assist/turnover ratio.  The Jackets also had seven individual category leaders in the final conference statistical rankings.  Michelle Lieber was tops in the league for rebounding and field goal percentage; Lisa Jellum led the conference for assists, assist/turnover ratio, and free throw percentage; Alira Carpenter was the league leader for 3-point percentage while Jenny Langford led the Heartland for 3-pointers made per game; and Tanya Petersen was the top shot blocker in the conference.

Head coach Kevin Woodin, 39-16 in his two seasons at MSU Billings, handed out a number of individual team awards following the season.  Lieber was named the overall Team MVP.  The 6-foot-0 forward led the Yellowjackets in scoring (15.6 ppg), rebounding (10.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (67.1).  She was also selected as the Heartland Conference Co-Player of the Year.

Two Lady Jackets shared Offensive MVP honors.  Petersen averaged 12.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.  She finished her career as the only Lady Yellowjacket with over 1,200 points, 600 rebounds, 200 assists, and 100 blocked shots.  She was also named to the All-Heartland Conference first team.  Carpenter shared Offensive MVP honors with Petersen after averaging 11.7 points per game.  She made 45 three-pointers and was named the Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year.  Carpenter was also an All-Heartland honorable mention selection.

Woodin also handed out Co-Defensive MVP awards to Langford and Jennifer Skrifvars.  Both players were tenacious defenders on the perimeter, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opposition’s best guard.  Langford finished her career as the No. 2 all-time 3-point shooter at MSU Billings with 184 career threes and was named to the All-Heartland Conference honorable mention team.

The Lady Jackets’ Most Improved award went to freshman Jen Smith.  Smith appeared in all 27 games and saw increasing playing time as the season went on.  She averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds a game.

Jellum was named the team’s Most Inspirational Player.  One of two players to start all 27 games for the Jackets, Jellum averaged 6.7 points and a league-best 4.74 assists per game.  She also led the Heartland in assist/turnover ratio and finished her 128 assists this season rank seventh all-time at MSU Billings.  The Yellowjacket Award was given to senior guard Angie Lessard.  The award is given to the player who most exemplifies a Lady Yellowjacket student-athlete as voted on by her teammates.

Woodin also announced that Lieber and Skrifvars have been selected as team co-captains for 2006-2007.  The duo will be the only upperclassmen on the team after five seniors graduated this year. 

Heartland Conference Team Rankings
Scoring Offense – 1^st (72.6)
Scoring Defense – 2^nd (64.0)
Scoring Margin – 1^st (+8.6)
Free Throw Percentage – 1^st (74.4)
Field Goal Percentage – 2^nd (42.7)
Field Goal Percentage Defense – 1^st (37.2)
3-Point Field Goals Per Game – 1^st (8.3)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – 1^st (35.8)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense – 1^st (28.8)
Rebounding Margin – 2^nd (+4.4)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game – 2^nd (13.22)
Blocked Shots Per Game – 1^st (3.22)
Assists Per Game – 1^st (16.74)
Assist/Turnover Ratio – 1^st (0.98)

Heartland Conference Individual Rankings (Top 10)
Scoring – Michelle Lieber, 2^nd (15.6)
Rebounding – Michelle Lieber, 1^st (10.2); Tanya Petersen, 4^th (8.2)
Field Goal Percentage – Michelle Lieber, 1^st (67.1); Tanya Petersen, 7^th (45.3)
Assists Per Game – Lisa Jellum, 1^st (4.74); Jenny Langford, 4^th (2.67); Tanya Petersen, 5^th (2.56)
Free Throw Percentage – Lisa Jellum, 2^nd (84.9)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – Alira Carpenter, 1^st (36.6); Jenny Langford, 2^nd (35.5); Shannon Harvey, 3^rd (35.3)
3-Point Field Goals Per Game – Jenny Langford, 1^st (2.08); Shannon Harvey, 3^rd (2.00); Alira Carpenter, 6^th (1.67)
Blocked Shots Per Game – Tanya Petersen, 1^st (1.85); Michelle Lieber, 3^rd (0.93)
Assist/Turnover Ratio – Lisa Jellum, 1^st (1.49)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game – Michelle Lieber, 2^nd (4.00)

Heartland Conference Individual Awards
First Team – Michelle Lieber, Tanya Petersen
Honorable Mention – Lisa Jellum, Jenny Langford, Alira Carpenter
Player of the Year – Michelle Lieber
Freshman of the Year – Alira Carpenter

NCAA National Team Rankings
Scoring Offense – 44^th (72.6)
Scoring Margin – 49^th (+8.6)
Field Goal Percentage Defense – 44^th (37.2)
Free Throw Percentage – 24^th (74.4)
3-Point Field Goals Per Game – 5^th (8.3)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – 34^th (35.8)

NCAA National Individual Rankings
Rebounds Per Game – Michelle Lieber, 17^th (10.2)
Assists Per Game – Lisa Jellum, 47^th (4.7)
Blocked Shots Per Game – Tanya Petersen, 38^th (1.9)
Field Goal Percentage – Michelle Lieber, 2^nd (67.1)

School Records, Team Single Game
Points – 12^th (99 vs. St. Martin’s)
Field Goal Percentage – 6^th (62.1% vs. Metro State)
3-Point Field Goals – 1^st (17 vs. St. Martin’s); 5^th (13 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State; 13 vs. Western New Mexico); 9^th (12 vs. Lincoln)
Free Throw Percentage – 5^th (93.3%, 14/15, vs. Incarnate Word)
Assists – 2^nd (30 vs. St. Martin’s); 4^th (29 vs. Metro State)

School Records, Team Season
Points Per Game – 4^th (72.6)
Consecutive Victories – 1^st (14)
3-Point Field Goals Made – 1^st (224)
Free Throws Made – 4^th (419)
Free Throw Percentage – 1^st (74.4%)
Assists Per Game – 8^th (16.7)
Blocked Shots – 7^th (87)

School Records, Individual Single Game
Points – Michelle Lieber, 19^th (31 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle)
Field Goals – Michelle Lieber, 5^th (14 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle)
Field Goal Percentage – Michelle Lieber, 2^nd (11/12 vs. Metro State); Michelle Lieber, 5^th (14/16 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle)
3-Point Field Goals – Kayla McPherson, 4^th (6 vs. Western N.M.); Shannon Harvey, 4^th (6 vs. Eastern N.M.)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – Kayla McPherson, 4^th (6/7 vs. Western N.M.); Jenny Langford, 8^th (4/5 vs. Fort Lewis)
Free Throws Made – Michelle Lieber, 10^th (11 vs. St. Edward’s)
Free Throw Percentage – Lisa Jellum, 3^rd (10/10 vs. Incarnate Word)
Rebounds – Michelle Lieber, 10^th (19 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State)
Blocked Shots – Tanya Petersen, 8^th (6 vs. St. Mary’s)

School Records, Individual Season
Field Goal Percentage – Michelle Lieber, 1^st (67.1)
3-Point Field Goals – Shannon Harvey, 7^th (54); Jenny Langford, 10^th (50)
Free Throw Percentage – Lisa Jellum, 2^nd (84.9)
Rebounds – Michelle Lieber, 7^th (275)
Rebounds Per Game – Michelle Lieber, 7^th (10.2)
Assists – Lisa Jellum, 7^th (128)
Assists Per Game – Lisa Jellum, 9^th (4.7)
Blocks – Tanya Petersen, 7^th (50)

School Records, Individual Career
Points – Tanya Petersen, 10^th (1,264); Jenny Langford, 21^st (842); Michelle Lieber, 29^th (669)
Points Per Game – Michelle Lieber, 9^th (12.2); Tanya Petersen, 12^th (11.6)
Field Goals – Tanya Petersen, 10^th (481)
Field Goal Percentage – Michelle Lieber, 1^st (65.6); Tanya Petersen, 12^th (48.1)
Free Throw Percentage – Lisa Jellum, 1^st (84.5); Jenny Langford, 3^rd (80.5)
3-Point Field Goals – Jenny Langford, 2^nd (184); Shannon Harvey, 6^th (124)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – Shannon Harvey, 6^th (36.6); Jenny Langford, 9^th (35.9)
Rebounds – Tanya Petersen, 8^th (649)
Rebounds Per Game – Michelle Lieber, 4^th (9.1)
Blocked Shots – Tanya Petersen, 3^rd (117)
Assists – Jenny Langford, 7^th (291)