Lady Jackets Post 82-74 Win Over Rangers (12/04/05)
Box Score

DENVER, CO – The Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team posted their second win in as many games during the team’s road trip to Denver.  The Jackets downed the Rangers Sunday at the Ranger Dome after posting an 87-62 win on Friday against the Roadrunners at Metro State.  The win improves the Jackets to 3-4 and drops the 25th-ranked Rangers to 5-2.

“This was a great weekend for us,” said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  “We needed this kind of a confidence builder after having a tough go of it in Texas and Oklahoma.  The coaches reevaluated what needed improvement, and the girls did just what we asked. Regis got us back on our heels a bit in the second half, but Jenny Langford's threes helped us keep the necessary pace and Shannon Harvey came through big today."

Three-pointers were the defining mark in today’s game.  The Yellowjackets shot 63 percent from behind the arc in the second half giving them a 47 percent game average to the 25 percent put up by the Rangers.  The Jackets also posted a smoking 90 percent shooting average from line Sunday going 26-of-29.

The Rangers led the Jackets until the 12:27 mark of the first half when the Jackets pulled ahead never looking back and went to the locker room with a 38-26 lead.  The Rangers came back with a vengeance putting up a 14-4 run against the Jackets early in the second half.  However, 42-40 was the closest the Rangers would get.  The Lady Jackets put it into gear using an 18-8 run and a Michelle Lieber layup with 9:07 remaining to take a 60-48 lead.  Langford then put down her third three of the day at 1:56 to seal the deal for the Jackets.

Leading the Yellowjackets in scoring was Shannon Harvey (Jr. Billings, MT) netting 18 points.  Harvey went 4-for-6 from behind the arc and 4-for-4 from the line.  Lisa Jellum (Sr., Gillette, WY) had five assists to go along with her four points.  Lieber (Jr., Gillette, WY) had a double-double on the day scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards.  Langford (Reed Point, MT) added 17 points and three 3-pointers.  Leading the Jacket freshman was Alira Carpenter (Lewistown, MT) who put down nine points.

The Rangers were led by Lindsay Viall with 17 points.  Denise Lopez went 10-12 from the line and posted 16 points for the Rangers.

“We have a tough five-game home stand coming up, but it will only benefit us for the remainder of the season,” said Woodin.  “St. Martin’s will be a good test for us before our home conference opener against Western New Mexico on January 4.”

The Jackets will hold their annual Alumni game Friday, December 9 at Alterowitz Gymnasium before hosting St. Martin’s on December 16.  Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. for both games.