Petersen Picked as Heartland POTW (2/21/06)

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings women’s basketball player Tanya Petersen (Sr., Billings, MT) was chosen as the Heartland Conference player of the week for the week of February 13-19.  The honor is Petersen’s second of the year and the sixth for the Lady Jackets.

The 6-foot forward averaged a double-double of 12.7 points and 10 rebounds to help lead the Yellowjackets to three wins in four days.  The win secured a first round conference playoff game at home for the Jackets.  For the week Petersen scored 38 points and pulled down 30 rebounds.  She also blocked 11 shots and handed out 10 assists. 

In Wednesday’s conference win over Incarnate Word, Petersen scored eight points, blocked four shots and grabbed 11 boards.  In Friday’s conference win over St. Mary’s she netted 13 points with 10 rebounds.  The Jackets completed the weekend sweep on Saturday as Petersen scored a game-high 17 points.  She added nine rebounds and six blocked shots to her career resume.  With her totals from last week, Petersen became the only player in school history with over 1,200 points, 600 rebounds, and 100 blocked shots.

Petersen leads the Heartland Conference standings in blocked shots with 1.83 per game.  She also ranks fourth in rebounding, (8.5), sixth in field goal percent (47.4), and tenth in scoring (12.3).

The Lady Jackets (18-6, 9-2) will play their final two regular season games against Western New Mexico University (4-19, 2-8) in Silver City February 24 and 25.  Friday’s contest will be a conference counter with Saturday’s game played as an in-region match-up.  The Jackets will return to Alterowitz Gymnasium on Wednesday, March 1 for the first game in the Heartland Conference playoffs.  Purchase your tickets in advance by calling the Yellowjacket Athletic department at 657-2369.