St. Mary's Edges Lady Jackets (2/12/07)
Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, TX - St. Mary's survived a last-second 3-point attempt to knock off the Montana State-Billings women's basketball team Monday night 51-48.  The loss was the second in a row for the Yellowjackets, who dropped to 18-8 overall.  The Rattlers improved to 9-14 with the non-conference win.

“We’re not shooting very well,” said Yellowjacket coach Kevin Woodin.  “They were covering pretty well, but we had open looks.  We must shoot better from the 3-point line, but I’m not really that concerned.  I’m confident that we will.  I think it’s a combination of factors.  We are physically tired right now.  It will be nice to get home and get rested.”

The Jackets and Rattlers met last Thursday in a conference game in San Antonio, with the Yellowjackets holding on for a 59-57 win.  That win, followed by a loss at Incarnate Word on Saturday, moved MSUB to 6-3 in the league.  The Jackets have clinched a spot in the Heartland Conference Tournament that will be held in Denton, TX, on March 2 and 3.

After five lead changes and two ties in the first half, St. Mary’s led the entire second half.  A second-straight night of dismal 3-point shooting by the Yellowjackets produced just 19 first half points, although MSUB led as late as the 7:45 mark of the first half.  The Rattlers needed all of their 28-19 halftime lead to hang on for the win.

After trailing by as many as seven in the second half, the Jackets cut the deficit to 44-41 with 7:04 to play on a Laura Beach (Baker, MT) 3-point play in the paint.  One-of-two free throws from Shantell Marquis (Cascade, MT) on the next possession pulled the Jackets to within two. 

The Rattlers’ Becca Herbst answered with a big 3-pointer with 5:32 to play, but the Yellowjackets whittled the lead down to one with 1:55 to play when Jennifer Skrifvars (Brea, CA) connected on a pair of free throws.  The MSUB defense held for three-straight possessions, but the Jackets couldn’t convert on the other end.  Marquis missed a 3-point attempt with three seconds left.  Charlena Rodez rebounded for the Rattlers and was fouled with 0.6 seconds remaining.  She hit both free throws to seal the win.

Michelle Lieber (Gillette, WY) didn’t play for the third-straight game because of injury.  She could return as early as Saturday.  Marquis finished with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the year.  Alira Carpenter (Lewistown, MT) had 14 points although she was 0-of-9 from behind the arc.  In the last two games the Yellowjackets were a combined 2-of-32 from 3-point range.

“When you take Michelle out of the lineup, people are going to guard the perimeter closer,” said Woodin.  “When you are used to having somebody for three years as the No. 1 option inside, it’s going to take a little time to get used to.  On the other side, it’s giving other players a lot of minutes right now.  I think that will help later in the season.  We miss her on both ends of the floor, but especially on the defensive end.”

Starting in Lieber’s place, Jen Smith (Belgrade, MT) had six points to go with six rebounds.  Skrifvars and Dani Henderson (Reed Point, MT) each added four points.  The Rattlers out-rebounded the Yellowjackets 40-33 and scored 13 second chance points.

St. Mary’s was led by Rodez’s 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.  Natalie Gamez scored 11 points off the bench.  Ashton Benford owned the paint, pulling down 15 rebounds to go with eight points.

“I was really pleased with our effort tonight,” added Woodin.  “We got beat bad a couple days ago at Incarnate Word.  We’re beat up and people have nagging injuries, but we played hard.  I was really proud of our effort.”

The Yellowjackets return home for their final home game Saturday night against Texas-Permian Basin.  MSUB defeated the Falcons 88-62 in Odessa, TX, on January 15.  Tip off will be 5:30 p.m.  Saturday will be senior night for Lieber and Skrifvars.