Lady Jackets Roll On, Top Hilltoppers (1/28/06)
Box Score                  Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – The one-two inside punch of Michelle Lieber and Tanya Petersen combined to score 42 points Saturday night to lead the Montana State-Billings women to a 78-64 Heartland Conference win over St. Edward’s University at Alterowitz Gym.  The win was the twelfth-straight for the Lady Jackets, setting a new school record.

MSU Billings improved to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in the Heartland Conference.  The win gave the Lady Jackets a game and a half lead over St. Edward’s in the conference standings.  The Hilltoppers dropped to 8-10 overall and 4-2 in the league.

“There were two or three times I thought we had them on the ropes, but they kept battling back,” said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin of the Hilltoppers.  “They cut it to about 10 in the second half and had some momentum.  It was a physical game. I thought Tanya came up big on a couple possessions.”

Despite the physical play, the Yellowjackets led for all but about three and a half minutes of the game.  The Hilltoppers took an early 3-0 lead on a 3-point play in the paint by Tammy Bartosh.  The Yellowjackets tied the game 2:23 into the game on a pair of Lieber free throws and never trailed again. 

MSU Billings built its lead to double digits by the 11 minute mark of the first half and didn’t allow the Hilltoppers inside of 10 the rest of the way.  A Jenny Langford 3-pointer from the corner as time expired in the first half gave the Lady Jackets a 21-point advantage, 43-22.

The Yellowjackets’ lead ranged between 15 and 20 for most of the first ten minutes of the second half before the Hilltoppers climbed back into the game.  Sara Baca scored nine of the Hilltoppers’ 11 points in a span of about four and a half minutes midway through the second half to cut the Jackets’ lead to 10.  A jumper by Baca in the paint with 9:49 to play pulled St. Ed’s to within 60-50.

MSU Billings answered back and eventually built the lead back to 15.  The Yellowjackets made 8-of-10 free throws in the final 2:42 to pull away.  The Jackets shot 67.5 percent from the free throw line in the game.

Lieber finished with a career-high 25 points.  She hit 7-of-8 shots from the field and 11-of-18 from the free throw line.  Petersen posted a double-double on the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  The Yellowjackets out-rebounded the Hilltoppers 33-30.    

Langford scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds.  She had two of the Jackets’ seven 3-pointers.  Petersen also made two from behind the arc.  Freshman Alira Carpenter added 10 points and two assists for the Jackets.  Fellow freshman Jen Smith added four off the bench.  Shannon Harvey scored nine points, hitting 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Baca led the Hilltoppers with 17 points.  She was 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line.  Bartosh added 13 points and Leah Foster came of the bench to score a dozen.

The Yellowjackets will host Lincoln University (MO) next Friday at 6:00 p.m. in another Heartland Conference game.