Lady Jackets Claw Past Wildcats (12/20/05)
Box Score             Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team proved Tuesday night that it can win a physical defensive struggle just as well as it can win a high-scoring shootout.  Four Yellowjacket starters scored in double figures to lead MSU Billings to a 65-55 South Central Region win over visiting Abilene Christian.  The win was the fourth straight for the Jackets, who moved over .500 on the season at 5-4.  The Wildcats, who are picked to win their division in the Lone Star Conference, lost their third straight to fall to 4-6.

“I thought they really played great defense in the second half,” Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin said of the Wildcats.  “They made it hard for us in our half court offense.  Their defense was outstanding.  Michelle Lieber did a great job on Jamie Boles-Lord throughout the game, and Tanya Petersen made a couple big shots when we needed it down the stretch.  It was a lot different game than on Friday.  We didn’t shoot as well, but it’s nice to find a way to win when we don’t shoot well.”

The Yellowjackets rang up 99 points and a school-record 17 3-pointers against St. Martin’s on Friday.  St. Martin’s then hung a double-digit loss on Abilene Christian on Sunday.  But coach Shawna Lavender had the Wildcats ready for Tuesday’s regional match-up.  Abilene held the Yellowjackets to just five 3-pointers in the game and a 39 percent field goal percentage.

Despite only trailing once in the game, the Yellowjackets had to battle for every point.  Abilene’s only lead came at 22-21 at the 8:13 mark of the first half.  MSU Billings led just 28-27 with 3:54 remaining before scoring the final 10 points of the half to take a 38-27 lead into the locker room.  Lieber (Jr., Gillette, WY) made a layup at the buzzer for two of her 14 points.

An Alira Carpenter (Fr., Lewistown, MT) 3-pointer to open the second half gave the Jackets’ their largest lead of the game at 41-27.  While neither team’s offense was particularly sharp in the second half, the Wildcats managed to trim the deficit to three points by the 7:05 mark.  Alex Guiton’s 3-pointer drew Abilene within 47-44.

Between 6:50 and 1:30, Yellowjacket post players Lieber and Petersen (Sr., Billings, MT) each scored four points to give MSU Billings some breathing room.  A 3-pointer from Jenny Langford (Sr., Reedpoint, MT) and four points from Carpenter salted the game away down the stretch.

“You have to give our players credit,” said Woodin.  “When they got it down to three we didn’t tighten up.  We had a couple baskets to get it back, and then we had a couple nice stops down the stretch.”

Carpenter finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting.  Petersen posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  She was 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-3 from the line.

Lieber also had nine rebounds to go with her hard-earned 14 points.  She was 6-of-9 from the field to boost her conference-leading field goal percentage to 66.2 percent.  Along with narrowly missing a double-double, Lieber held the Wildcats’ Boles-Lord to just four points on 1-of-7 shooting.  Boles-Lord was the preseason MVP in the Lone Star Conference and entered Tuesday’s game averaging 12 points a game.

Langford added 11 points and four assists.  All three of her field goals were from 3-point range.  Guard Lisa Jellum (Sr., Gillette, WY) added four points and three assists.  Yellowjacket starters accounted for 95 percent of the team’s points as the Wildcats outscored the Jackets 16-3 off the bench.

Abilene Christian was led by 11 points each from Ashley King and Kierstan Barbee.  Freshman Kristee Davidson helped keep the Wildcats in the game with eight first half points, six coming off steals in the backcourt.  Audrey Maxwell added seven points and five boards.

The Yellowjackets now have over two weeks off before their next game.  They will host Western New Mexico on January 4 in the Jackets’ Heartland Conference home opener.  MSU Billings has three games in four days to start 2006, hosting Oklahoma Panhandle on January 6 and 7.