Lady Yellowjackets Cruise to First Round Victory at
West Region Tournament (March 14, 2003)
SEATTLE, WA - A dominating performance from the Lady
Yellowjacket seniors led MSU Billings to a 91-69 win
over Central Washington in the first round of the
NCAA West Regional Tournament. Senior guard Joan Langford scored a career-high 20 points as
MSU Billings advanced to the West Region semifinals
Saturday night to face the winner of tonight’s
Seattle Pacific/Chico State nightcap.
The Yellowjackets blitzed the Wildcats early and put
the game out of reach in the first ten minutes. The Wildcats forged a tenuous 4-3 lead before the Jackets exploded for a 42-11 run to take a commanding 45-15 lead, their largest
of the game. Sparked by
back-to-back three-pointers from Langford, the offensive outburst was fueled by white-hot shooting
from the outside. Langford and Co. buried 5-of-8
first half three-pointers and were 7-of-11 from
behind the arc in the game.
“We got a great start from our five seniors,” said
head coach Karyn Ridgeway. “They showed great composure
and great enthusiasm. Central is a very good team
and was playing very well at the end of the year.
Everything we shot in the first half was going in,
and I’m just real pleased with our seniors.”
Four of the five Yellowjacket seniors scored in
double figures led by Langford’s 20. Forward Natalie Visger notched another double-double,
her 12th of the season and 26th of her career, with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Center Jessie Henigman finished with 11 points, eight
rebounds and seven blocked shots, while guard Jessica Bachmann dropped in 14 points and handed
out five assists. Senior guard Amy Bantz added eight points and five rebounds.
The five Yellowjackets seniors, who all started the
game, combined to outscore the Wildcats 70-69. MSUB
received 21 points from its bench in the game, led
by sophomore center Robyn Milne’s 10. Milne also grabbed seven
rebounds. Freshman point guard Jenny Langford came off the bench to score five
points and hand out a game-high seven assists.
The key to the Yellowjackets’ most impressive
offensive outing of the year was Joan Langford’s
outside game. After struggling at times with her
shot this season because of chronic shoulder
injuries, the guard from Reedpoint, Mont., connected
on 4-of-5 from three-point range and 8-of-12 from
the field. With two of the region’s best frontcourt
players in Visger and Henigman, the Yellowjackets
have been just one shooting guard away from playing
very good basketball this season. Langford filled
that role perfectly Friday night as MSUB atoned for
last season’s disappointing first round exit from
the tournament.
The Lady Yellowjackets, one of the top defensive
teams in the country over the past several years,
had only scored over 90 points once in the last two
seasons. They defeated Western New Mexico 96-47 at
home last season.
While the offense was as good as it has been all
year, the Yellowjacket defense didn’t disappoint
either. In a game billed as a defensive slugfest,
the Jackets held up their end of the bargain by
holding the Wildcats to just 34 percent shooting
from the floor in the game. Included in that was a
28.6 percent effort from the field in the first
half. Only two CWU players netted double figures as
the Yellowjackets put on the clamps in the first
half and never let go. Lindsay Weiss led the
Wildcats with 15 points and Meggen Kautzky added 10.
The Yellowjackets’ semifinal game will be broadcast
live by the voice of the Yellowjackets, Pat Boland,
on News Radio AM 970 KBUL at 8:00 p.m. MST Saturday
night. Yellowjacket fans can also hear the game via
the internet at www.msubillings.edu/athletics.
Notes: Visger entered the game just 10 points shy of
the 1,200 mark for her career….she now has 1,207….Henigman’s
seven blocked shots give her 98 for the season and
269 for her career….she is now No. 15 all-time in
NCAA II history.
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