November 2, 2007

Bears Hand Lady Jackets Exhibition Loss
   Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. – Rocky Mountain College opened the 2007-2008 campaign posting a 70-58 win Friday over the Montana State Billings women’s basketball team.  The game was exhibition for the Lady Jackets and does not count in the overall record.  The Bears are 2-2 on the season.

In a low-scoring affair through much of the first half, the Lady Jackets held a six-point lead with under five minutes to play in the half.  Rocky knotted the game on Shaylynn Conroy’s first free throw attempt with 28 seconds on the clock.  A three-pointer by teammate Keri Siewert with seven ticks remaining gave the Lady Bears a four-point advantage heading into the locker room.

MSU Billings saw their last lead of the night following a three-pointer by Alira Carpenter (Lewistown) at the 18:53 mark.  Rocky built their lead to as many as 18 late in the second half as the Lady Jackets surged going on a 6-0 run to close the game.

“With it being the first game of the season we knew there were going to be jitters,” said Lady Jacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  “We were hoping to settle down in the game but we never quite were able to.  I have to give Rocky credit.  They shot the ball well and we struggled defending them, particularly from the three point line.”

The Jackets’ shooting was cool all around going just 3-for-14 from long range for 21 percent.  MSU Billings was 20-for-58 from the field and were a chilly 54 percent from the charity stripe in the game shooting 15-for-28.  MSUB turned the ball over 23 times, but matched that tally in points scoring 23 points off Rocky’s 26 turnovers.

Three Yellowjackets scored in double figures and were led by Dani Henderson’s (Reed Point) 15 points.  Henderson led all players at the free throw line going 7-for-11.  Carpenter and Jen Smith (Belgrade) each added 10 points.  Kayla Ryan (Big Timber) had a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Bears’ Gretchen Wall posted a game-high 18 points going 5-for-9 from the field, 3-for-4 from the perimeter, and 5-for-6 from the line.  Keri Siewert notched 16 points using solid shooting from the field and long range.  Liz Lewis and Josie Evans added 11 and 10 points respectively.

As a team, the Bears were 21-for-54 from the field for 39 percent and shot  43 percent from three-point range going 9-for-21.  Rocky was near perfect at the line hitting 19-for-22 for 86 percent.

“Anytime you lose it is disappointing,” added Woodin.  “Rocky just outplayed us tonight.  We need to come up with more consistency on both ends of the court.  We have three difficult exhibition games to get things worked out before the regular season starts.  Our biggest challenge is that we have a quick turnaround time before the season gets rolling.  Rocky will undoubtedly come into Alterowitz with confidence on Tuesday, so we will need to play better and be prepared.”

The Lady Jackets play host to Rocky Mountain College Tuesday, Nov. 6 for an exhibition game set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. at Alterowitz Gym.  The game will be video streamed with live stats and free internet radio available.  All can be accessed by clicking on the link provided below.

Click HERE for the link to all yellowjacket broadcast infromation.