Lady Jackets Win HLC Opener (12/30/06)
Box Score
Game Photos
Coach Woodin post game comments

BILLINGS, MT –  Behind a school-record seven 3-pointers from Alira Carpenter, the MSUB Lady Jackets defeated Oklahoma Panhandle State 84-60 in the Heartland Conference opener for both teams.  The win improves the Jackets to 8-3 overall and 1-0 in league play while the loss drops the Lady Aggies to 2-10 and 0-1 in the conference.

The Jackets dominated the Aggies wire to wire, jumping out to a quick six point lead on Carpenter’s  (Lewistown, MT) first of seven three-pointers at the 16:58 mark.  At 15:14 Kayla McPherson (Glendive, MT) hit her first three, giving the Jackets the double-digit lead which they would eventually build to as many as 30.  In the final two minutes of the half, both the Aggies and Jackets traded buckets from behind the arc with Carpenter hitting two threes in the last 1:23 to carry the 51-22 lead into the locker room.

“Our offense is becoming much more effective as we are getting an inside-outside presence, but we need to improve our angles,” said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  “We have a lot of young players, but we are continuing to get better and we are hitting shots consistently.”

The team of Carpenter and Michelle Lieber (Gillette, WY) in the paint caught the Aggies chasing the ball in all directions.  Coupling that with Shantell Marquis’s (Cascade, MT) five points off three steals and a perfect 5-of-5 from the line made the Jackets a tough team to stop.  Down by as many as 35, the Aggies whittled away at the Jackets lead and a late slew of points from Alisha Sladek brought Panhandle within 22.  The Jackets’ hot-shooting offense and 27 points off 25 Aggie turnovers was plenty for the Lady Jackets to pick up their sixth consecutive win this season.

“I didn’t know what to expect in tonight’s game following our long trip home from Hawaii with all the travel delays, but at the same time the Aggies also had a very long ride in getting to Billings,” added Woodin.  “They (Aggies) played a nice game in the second half and made some great shots.”

Capenter shot 7-of-12 from the field, 7-of-11 from three-point range, and was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers with 26 points.  She became the fourth player in school history to make seven 3-pointers in a game.  Shannon Harvey last accomplished the feat in 2004.  Amy Winslow first set the record at seven in 1997.  Jenni Winter did it in 1998.

Lieber was nearly perfect on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and was 9-of-10 from the line for 19 points.  Marquis matched her career-high 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.  Marquis had three steals and handed out a career-high seven assists.  Laura Beach (Baker, MT) blocked a career-high two shots.

“I thought we pushed the ball well in transition tonight, and Shantell did a great job with her speed attacking the Aggies.  When we get a couple of our players hitting at the same time, we are pretty effective offensively.”

As a team, the Lady Jackets were 25-of-52 from the field and 11-of-26 from behind the arc for 42 percent.  Missing just four shots from the line, the Jackets were 23-of-27.  The Yellowjackets were out rebounded 43-30 by Oklahoma Panhandle.

The Aggies’ Alisha Sladek led the team with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and was 4-of-6 from long range.  Sladek also grabbed eight boards.  Sedra Watkins was the only other Aggie to score in double figures with 11.

The Aggies were 22-of-60 from the field and just 7-of-29 from three-point range for 24 percent.  They also shot a cool 60 percent from the line.

“We need all our players to be strong and be ready to step in and play a good game.  Overall I think our team played well, and we hope we can carry the momentum down the stretch,” added Woodin.

The Lady Jackets take on Texas A&M – International (3-5) to start the New Year on Thursday, January 4, at 5:30 p.m. followed by a game against Heartland Conference rival St. Edward’s University (1-8) January 6 and 7.  Tip off for both games is 5:30 p.m.