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Lady Jackets Dominate St. Edward’s
(1/7/07)
Box
Score
Game
Photos
Kevin Woodin post game comments
BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings Lady Jacket basketball
team stifled rival St. Edward’s Sunday night, silencing the
Hilltoppers 78-61. With their ninth consecutive win,
MSUB improves their season record to 11-3 and drops St. Edward’s
to 2-11.
The Lady Jackets came out of
the gate with their usual sharp shooting, but no one could have
guessed how dominate their defense would play. After gaining
the early lead in the first half, the Jackets held the
Hilltoppers in check for 9:03 of which they played scoreless
basketball. During that span the lead grew to as big as 31,
courtesy of a
Jennifer Skrifvars's (Brea, CA) buzzer-beating three pointer,
putting MSUB ahead 43-12 at halftime.
“I liked the way we played in
the first half,” said head coach Kevin Woodin. “It didn’t seem
to matter who we had in the game, they didn’t let down. I think
that’s attributed to the leadership of our seniors. I’m proud
of them.”
The Hilltoppers entered the
second half determined give MSUB a run, notching 19 points in
just seven minutes. However the Lady Jacket lead was too much
to overcome and MSUB held off St. Edward’s behind sophomore
Alira Carpenter’s (Lewistown, MT) 19 points on 7-of-14
shooting. Carpenter has been a model of consistency for the
Jackets lately, averaging 20.5 points per game during the
four-game home stand.
Four
other Yellowjackets scored in double figures in the contest.
The Lady Jackets’ Skrifvars came off the bench to post a
career-best 13 points in just 15 minutes. She didn’t miss a
shot, finishing a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, as well as
knocking down both of her free throw attempts. The senior
co-captain also netted a career-high two 3-pointers.
Michelle Lieber’s (Gillette, WY) 10-of-13 shooting from the
line resulted in 14 points, while sophomore
Kayla McPherson (Glendive, MT) also dropped in 14 points.
Sophomore
Jen
Smith (Belgrade, MT) added 11 points, going 3-of-4 from the
field.
“Our depth is the reason we’re
doing as well as we are right now,” added Woodin. “Right now we
don’t have a true starting five and we feel that we have eight
or nine players who can score in double-figures. Hopefully we
can get better. We want to be our best play down the stretch.”
With the victory, Lady Jacket
head coach Kevin Woodin celebrated his 50th career
win for Montana State-Billings in just his third season. During
his Yellowjacket tenure, Woodin has compiled a 50-19 record and
is coming off a conference co-championship in 2006.
“It’s nice to hear,” said
Woodin upon hearing of his 50th win. “It’s just because we’ve
had great players and good staff. We’ve got a long ways to go
this year and I was very pleased with the way we played so far.”
The Lady Jackets begin a
three-game road trip on Friday, taking on Oklahoma Panhandle
State on January 12 and 13. The team will then travel to
Odessa, Texas to square off against the University of
Texas-Permian Basin on Monday, January 15. All games can be
heard on AM 970 KBUL. |
