Lady Jackets Hold Off Cardinals, 69-63 (2/15/06)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – The Lady Jackets got the job done earning their eighth conference win Wednesday against University of the Incarnate Word downing the Cardinals 69-63.  The win lifts the Jackets to 16-6 overall and 8-2 in the Heartland Conference.  The Cardinals drop to 7-18 and 4-6 in league play.

The only Cardinal lead of the game came at the 19:03 mark of the first half on a 3-pointer by Incarnate Word’s Erika Pink.  From that point forward the Yellowjackets led, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of play.  Strongly in command of the first half, the Yellowjackets led by 12 at the 6:38 mark with 12 of the team's 25 points coming in the paint.  The Jackets converted seven first half Cardinal turnovers into nine points giving the Lady Jackets the 34-24 lead at the half way point.

Late in the second half the Cardinals went on a 10-point run to get within one possession.  The Lady Jackets were sent to the charity stripe four times in the final two minutes.  Strong free throw shooting saw four different Lady Jackets shoot 8-of-8 to ice the game.

“The Cardinals were getting the offensive rebounds,” said Lady Jacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  “The difference in the game is that we were able to get enough hoops and free throws down the stretch to control the lead.  A win is a win; we’ll take it.”

As a team the Lady Jackets shot a cool 24 percent from 3-point range hitting 5-of-21.  The team went 24-of-57 from the field and a respectable 16-of-18 from the line.  Four Lady Jackets scored in double figures and were led by Michelle Lieber (Jr., Gillette, WY) who earned another double-double with 20 points and 11 boards.  Tanya Petersen (Sr. Billings, MT) narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.  Petersen handed out four assists and swatted four blocked shots.  Alira Carpenter (Fr., Lewistown, MT) and Lisa Jellum (Sr., Gillette, WY) each added 13 and 12 points respectively.  Shannon Harvey (Sr., Billings, MT) netted 10 points.

The Cardinals had two players score double-doubles.  They were led by Pink with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Robinson netted 14 points and grabbed 11 boards.  Julie Dahl added 11 points.  As a team, the Cardinals out-rebounded the Jackets 51 to 39 and nailed 5-of-18 from behind the arc.

The Lady Jackets will host St. Mary’s (TX) on February 17 in a Heartland Conference match-up.  The Jackets will then play a non-conference regional counter February 18 against the Rattlers.  Tip off for both games in 6:00 p.m.  Saturday’s game will see seniors Jenny Langford (Sr., Reed Point, MT), Angela Lessard (Sr., Elizabeth, CO), Petersen, Jellum, and Harvey play their final regular season game at Alterowitz Gymnasium.