Lady Jackets Notch First Road Win (12/9/06) 
Box Score
Coach Woodin post game audio

LACEY, WA – The Montana State-Billings Lady Jacket basketball team picked up their first road win of the 2006 season on Saturday as they downed the St. Martin’s Saints 84-68.  The win lifts the Jackets to 4-3 overall and drops the Saints to 4-5.  With the win, the Jackets also tally their first consecutive wins of the year.      

Both teams struggled early, beginning the game with four straight turnovers.  The Jackets regained control and worked their way to a 41-28 lead at the end of the first half.  Sophomores Alira Carpenter (Lewistown, MT) and Jetton Meadors (Billings, MT) led MSUB in the early going, combining for 17 of the Yellowjackets' first half points.   

Pulling away by as much as twenty, the Yellowjackets never looked back and finished the game having not trailed once during the contest.  Jen Smith (Belgrade, MT) paced MSUB in the second half, with 11 of her game total and career-high 15 points coming after halftime.  Despite issues with turning the ball over and fouls, MSUB slowly widened their lead and finished off the Saints with a second straight 80-point game.  

The Yellowjackets also made the most of their second half opportunities and successfully converted on their transition possessions.  The team shot an impressive 51 percent from the field and cashed in at the line, making 25-of-32. The Jackets were also very balanced offensively, with five players reaching double-digits.     

“The team is really coming along,” said head coach Kevin Woodin. “We are very young, but people are starting to make plays.  The only thing we need to do is make them more consistently.  I like where we are at right now.  I think we’re improving mentally and offensively we are starting to score more, and it’s going to keep getting better.”  

Michelle Lieber (Gillette, WY) finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and hit all six of her free throws. Carpenter and Meadors also ended the contest with 14 points.  Meador’s 4-of-6 shooting was done completely behind the three-point arc.  She also handed out 5 assists and grabbed five rebounds. Shantell Marquis’s (Cascade, MT) 12 points and 5 assists were both career bests. 

Dani Henderson (Reed Point, MT) grabbed 11 boards in the game and shot 7-of-8 from the line.  Henderson, who began the game a perfect 12-12 from the line, converted on her first three free-throw attempts, but finally missed on her fourth with just under a minute to go in the first half.  The miss was the first of her collegiate career.  

The Saints, a future conference opponent for MSUB, have dealt with a tough early schedule which had them at 4-4 before squaring off with the Yellowjackets.  A stingy Jackets defense put an abrupt end to St. Martin’s 3-game streak of scoring at least 70 points. They were led by Whitney Golob, who remarkably recorded a double-double without hitting a field goal.  She finished 11-of-12 from the line and brought down a team-high 12 rebounds.  Amber Harmon added 11 points and 5 assists for the Saints. 

The Jackets will be facing the University of Mary on December 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium before traveling to Honolulu, HI for the annual Hoop’N Surf Classic.