January 10, 2008

Lady Jackets Hand Wildcats First Loss of Season
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BILLINGS, Mont. – Shantell Marquis tallied a career-high 20 points in Thursday’s 58-49 win over Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Central Washington University.  The Lady Yellowjackets improve to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in league play.  The Wildcats drop to 9-1 overall and are an even 1-1 in the GNAC.

The Wilcats, riding a nine-game winning streak, led the Jackets by six early in the half.  MSUB responded by handing CWU a 10-0 run capped off by a layup by Dani Henderson (Reed Point) and a traditional three-point play by Marquis (Cascade).  Trailing most of the half, the Wildcats pulled within one possession on a jumper by Katie Trew.  The Jackets’ Jen Smith (Belgrade) drained the trey with four seconds on the clock to preserve the 29-24 lead heading into the locker room.

"I felt very fortunate to be ahead at halftime," said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  "Central Washington's defense was very good plus we missed several shots that we would normally make. Shantell played an excellent first half for us.  She was very aggressive and we needed her to score."

Kristina Klapperich of CWU netted a two-point shot and immediately hit what everyone thought was a three-pointer to tie the game.  After review of the shot using instant replay, the basket was called a two putting the Wildcats down by one.  At the 12:53 mark Klapperich scored giving Central Washington their first lead of the game since the opening minutes.  Leading by seven after a perimeter bucket by Elyse Maras, the Jackets surged in the final 5:38 of the contest going on an 18-2 run to close out the game.

"At halftime I talked to the team about loosening up as they tightened near the end of the half," added Woodin.  "I felt that we would start making our shots, but the slump continued.  A lot of was Central's defense.  I was very proud of our players for not panicking when they were down by seven.  We finally started to make some open shots and we created offense through our defense.  Kayla (Ryan) played well off the bench and had a couple of big baskets for us.  Despite not shooting well for most of the game, I though Alira played well down the stretch.  Between Alira, Dani, and Shantell we made several critical free throws in sealing the win."

The Jackets’ Marquis led all scorers netting 20 points off 7-of-13 shooting from the floor.  Shooting a perfect 2-of-2 from three-point land, Marquis also handed out game highs with eight rebounds, four assists, and five steals.  Alira Carpenter (Lewistown) chipped in 16 points, while Henderson added 11 points and seven boards.

MSUB shot 32 percent from the field and connected on 4-of-18 attempts from beyond the arc for 28 percent.  The team shot an efficient 13-of-16 from the charity stripe for 81 percent.  The Lady Yellowjackets capitalized on CWU’s turnovers, scoring 20 points off 20 turnovers.  The Wildcats outrebounded MSUB 46-38 in the contest.

Maras led the Wildcats’ offensive attack netting a dozen points off 3-of-6 shooting from the floor.  Maras was 2-of-3 from the perimeter and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.  Hanna Hull tallied 10 points and grabbed six boards.

The Wildcats shot 31 percent from the field and were 4-of-17 from three-point range for 24 percent.  Connecting on 11-of-14 from the free throw line, Central Washington shot 79 percent.  The Wildcats’ bench combined for 23 of the team’s total points.

The Yellowjackets are set to host Western Washington University on Saturday, January 12 at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  Tip off is set for 5 p.m. preceding the men’s game.  Live stats, live video streaming and internet broadcast can be foundy on the Yellowjackets web site.