Lady
Yellowjackets Fly Past Western New Mexico (February 22, 2003)
BILLINGS, MT – The MSU Billings
Lady Yellowjackets survived the first of two crucial
games Saturday, defeating West Region foe Western
New Mexico 75-63. Senior Natalie Visger led the Yellowjackets with 18
points, nine rebounds and six assists. MSUB
improved to 17-6 and more importantly 12-3 in the
West Region. Western New Mexico, winners of four in
a row and five of their last six entering the
weekend, fell to 11-12. It was the Yellowjackets’
school-record 29th consecutive home
victory.
The Mustangs came out running
early and built a 12-9 lead on Ivana Stojkovic’s
basket with 12:44 left in the first half. Nichole
Ruegsegger and Irene Falk combined for the Mustangs’
first ten points, but scored just five more points
between them for the rest of the game. Stojkovic
finished with a game-high 25 points and 16 rebounds.
Amy Bantz’s jumper with 11:47 remaining in the
half tied the game at 12 and the Mustangs never led
again in the game. A basket by Robyn Milne gave MSUB a two point lead at
10:53. Milne recorded a double-double with 14
points and 11 rebounds. A Stojkovic basket at 10:34
tied the game for the fourth and final time.
Despite ice cold shooting from
three-point range in the opening half (2-for-15),
the Yellowjackets built a 36-27 lead at the break.
Milne scored 11 first-half points as the
Yellowjackets were able to feed the ball into her
from the high post after she had sealed the 6-foot-3
Stojkovic from the lane. Tanya Petersen fed Milne from the top of the key
for two baskets in the
half.
The Yellowjackets built their
lead to as much as 19 in the second half. A Bantz
jumper at 6:28 gave them a 65-45 advantage. The
Mustangs were able to cut that lead to 13 on five
different occasions over the final three and a half
minutes, but couldn’t get any closer until
Stojkovic’s basket in the lane with three seconds
remaining provided the final 12-point margin.
The same teams will face off
again Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. It will be the
final home game of the season and for the Jackets’
five seniors. It will also be critically important
for the Yellowjackets’ regional ranking. If they
manage another win, they will finish the season with
a 13-3 West Region mark. That should be good enough
to keep them at least in their current No. 4
position in the West Region poll. They will close
out the season next week with two out-of-region
games at a tournament in South Carolina.
Jessica Bachmann finished with 14 points and
seven points for the Yellowjackets. Jessie Henigman added eight points and blocked
five shots to shore up the Yellowjackets’ interior
defense. That gives her 79 blocked shots for the
season and 250 for her career. Bantz and Joan Langford each had
six points and Petersen added four points and four
assists. |
