Lieber Wills Lady Jackets to Win and Title (2/24/07)
Box Score
Coach Woodin post game audio

AUSTIN, TX – Senior forward Michelle Lieber returned to the lineup Saturday night after a six-game absence and scored 32 points to lead Montana State-Billings to a 70-67 overtime win at St. Edward’s University.  The win gave the Yellowjackets the Heartland Conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s Heartland Conference Tournament.  MSUB improved to 20-9 overall and 7-3 in the Heartland.  St. Edward’s fell to 9-17, 6-4.

“Today we did something a little different,” said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  “We watched film of one of our games when we were playing well.  We focused on ourselves instead of the opponent.  Win or lose, we needed to play at a high level.  We talked about playing hard and giving our best.  Win or lose, the effort was there, and we needed to do that.”

The Hilltoppers broke from a 28-28 halftime tie to lead for much of the second half.  After trailing by as many as seven with six minutes left in regulation, the Jackets finally took the lead when Lieber (Gillette, WY) scored in the paint with 58 seconds left for a 57-56 lead.  The Jackets made a defensive stop when Jetton Meadors (Billings, MT) stole an inbound pass, and Lieber was fouled on the ensuing possession.  She hit one of two free throws to give the Jackets a 58-56 lead.

Out of a timeout, the Hilltoppers’ Sophia Holguin scored on a lay-up to tie the game at 58-58 with less than 10 seconds remaining.  The Yellowjackets were unable to get off a game-winning shot in regulation after Meadors turned the ball over with 3.4 seconds on the clock.  With no timeouts remaining, the Hilltoppers’ were left with a desperation shot that missed.

The Jackets led for four of the five overtime minutes but had to hold on in the waning seconds.  With the Yellowjackets leading 67-65, Lieber fouled out of the game with 54.1 seconds left.  The Yellowjackets almost lost the momentum following Lieber’s exit.  Shantell Marquis (Cascade, MT) turned the ball over on the next possession when she was called for an offensive foul.

The Jacket defense held on the next possession, and Meadors nabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled with 12.2 seconds left.  Meadors was true on both of her free throw attempts, giving the Jackets a 69-65 lead.  Trying not to foul, the Jackets gave up an easy lay-up to Whitney Regian with five seconds remaining, cutting the lead to 69-67.  Dani Henderson (Reed Point, MT) made one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left, and the Hilltoppers’ desperation shot fell short.

Lieber was 10-of-12 from the field and 12-of-15 from the free throw line for her career-high 32 points.  She pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for her tenth double-double of the season.  Playing 41 of the 45 minutes, Lieber also had two blocked shots and a steal.

“She was incredible,” Woodin said of Lieber.  “Sitting out that long, she was ready to explode.  It was important that she got to play tonight just to get back in the action.  She wasn’t rusty by any means.  Obviously having Michelle back provided an emotional lift.  We’re a better team with her.  Without her, it’s hard for us to win when we’re not shooting well.  With her we can win any type of game.  It’s not the points she gets; it’s all the other things she does.”

Lieber was the only Yellowjacket to score in double figures.  Alira Carpenter (Lewistown, MT) had nine points.  Kayla McPherson (Glendive, MT) scored eight points off the bench.  Henderson finished with seven points, and Meadors and Marquis each scored six.

The Hilltoppers were led by Holguin’s 16 points.  Regian added 15 points and five assists.  Sara Head scored a dozen points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Yellowjackets and Hilltoppers will both play in next week’s Heartland Conference Tournament which will be held at University of North Texas in Denton, TX.  The Yellowjackets will be the top seed and the Hilltoppers will be the No. 2 seed.

An Incarnate Word win at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday tied UIW with the Hilltoppers at 6-4.  St. Edward’s defeated Incarnate Word twice this season to earn the No. 2 seed.  Incarnate Word will be the No. 3 seed, and St. Mary’s will be No. 4.

As the No. 1 seed, the Yellowjackets will face fourth-seeded St. Mary’s at noon CST on Friday.  St. Edward’s will face No. 3 seed Incarnate Word at 2:30 p.m.  The winners will meet Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CST for the conference championship and automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. 

All Yellowjacket games will be streamed on the MSU Billings athletics website.  Because of a programming conflict, Friday’s game will not be aired live on AM 970 in Billings.  If the Yellowjackets reach Saturday’s championship game, it will be broadcast on both AM 970 and on the Yellowjacket Athletics website.  Live video of all tournament games will be streamed at www.summitticket.com.

“One of our goals was to get there,” Woodin said of the conference tournament.  “Obviously it’s nice to be the top seed, but it’s not as important as a year ago since it’s at a neutral site.  It’s going to take two good games to win it.  All four teams are evenly matched and there have been a lot of close games among those opponents.  I like our chances.  We’re finally getting healthy.  We’ve been through a lot of adversity, and we’re finally overcoming that.”