February 7, 2008

Cold Shooting Dooms Lady Jackets at Western Washington, 68-59
   Box Score
   MSUB Season Stats

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Cold shooting doomed the Lady Jackets Thursday evening at Western Washington as the Vikings won a 68-59 decision.  With the loss, the Yellowjackets fell to 8-11 overall and 5-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  WWU improved to 6-16 overall and 3-7 in conference play.

Junior Alira Carpenter led the Yellowjackets with a game-high 23 points on 8 of 21 from the field.  She made three 3-points and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the line.  Junior Jen Smith and sophomore Dani Henderson had 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively. 

The Vikings were led by 19 points from Claire Pallansch and 14 from Amanda Dunbar.  Krista Lersch had 10 rebounds off the bench.

The first half began as both teams went back-and-forth with four ties in the first eight minutes.  A 3-pointer by Carpenter and a jumper put the Yellowjackets up 17-14 with 11:38 to play in the half.  Carpenter added two free throws and junior Kayla McPherson had a bucket in the paint giving MSUB a seven-point lead with 9:43 left.

WWU came right back as Dunbar hit a trey cutting the deficit to four and went on to erase the deficit. 

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Marelle Moehrle gave WWU a six-point cushion with 4:04 left.  The Vikings held the lead at halftime at 33-29. 

In a half that saw eight ties,  both teams struggled from the field as MSUB was 10 of 34 from the field for 29.4 percent, 3 of 11 from beyond the arc and 6 of 9 from the line.  The Vikings were 13 of 37 from the field, 3 of 11 from beyond the arc as well and 4 of 8 from the line.

WWU built the lead to as many as 11 points to open the second half , using a 13-6 run.  The Vikings increased the lead to as many as 15 points on several occasions, but the Yellowjackets wouldn’t go away quietly.  MSUB used a 9-0 run in the final three minutes to cut the deficit to 63-59 with 1:33 left.  Two free throws from Gabby Wade pushed the lead to six as WWU went on for a 68-59 victory.

For the game, MSUB shot 29.4 percent and shot an identical 10 of 34 in the second half as it did in the first.  The Jackets were just 4 of 19 from beyond the arc and were 15 of 21 from the line.  WWU was 24 of 64 from the field, 4 of 15 from beyond the arc and 16 of 29 from the line.