January 24, 2008

Lady Jackets Give No. 3 Seattle Pacific Scare
   Box Score
   MSUB Season Stats

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Montana State Billings women’s basketball team fell 78-74 against No. 3-ranked Seattle Pacific Thursday night in Seattle.  The Lady Yellowjackets are 7-8 overall and 4-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while the Falcons remain unbeaten improving to 16-0 overall and 7-0 in the league.

After the Falcons pulled out to a seven-point lead over the visiting Lady Jackets, Alira Carpenter (Lewistown) unleashed eight points in a four-minute span to push MSUB into the lead by one.  The lead was short-lived as the Falcons Maddie Maloney and Jackie Hollands hit back-to-back three-pointers to bring the Jackets back in check.  SPU built their lead back to nine with 6:08 to play in the half, but a collective Yellowjacket effort capped off by a Kayla McPherson (Glendive) three at the end of the half saw MSUB head to the locker room trailing by four.

“We struggled on the boards but felt fortunate to be down by four at the half against such a strong team,” said head coach Kevin Woodin.  “We didn’t panic in the second half and defended them very well.  We took the lead on a couple of occasion, but the game came down to the final two minutes where the Falcons executed better than we did.”

Dani Henderson (Reed Point) scored six of her 11 second half points right out of the gate drilling two 3-pointers.  Shantell Marquis (Cascade) followed with a layup to tie the game at 44 apiece.  The Lady Jackets continued to push the nationally-ranked Falcons as the two teams faced six ties in the second half.  SPU was able to clinch the conference win dropping in four free throws down the line as time expired.

“Hopefully the next time we are in this situation we will come out on top,” added Woodin.  “It was a great game and we look forward to the challenge of playing against a very good NNU team on Saturday.”

Three Yellowjackets scored in double figures and were led by Carpenter’s 20 points.  Carpenter was 8-of-15 from the field and connected on 4-of-6 from long range.  Marquis added 18 points shooting 8-of-13 from the field.  Henderson came up big for the Jackets scoring 15 points.  The sophomore posted a career-high three 3-pointers and seven assists, while matching her career-best with four steals.  Jen Smith (Belgrade) led MSUB in rebounding pulling down seven boards.

Draining 9-of-17 buckets from behind the arc, the Jackets shot a blistering 53 percent from the perimeter.  The team was 31-of-64 from the field and made a season-high 15 steals.  The Jackets were outrebounded 40-26.

Seattle Pacific’s Holland and Kelsey Hill combined for 45 of the team’s 78 total points.  Hollands netted 23 points and had five steals, while Hill added 22 points off 10-of-12 shooting from the floor.

SPU shot 29-of-58 from the field for an even 50 percent and drilled 10 three-pointers off 26 attempts for 39 percent.  The team was 10-of-14 from the charity stripe and recorded 16 steals.

The Jackets head to Nampa, Idaho to face GNAC opponent Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, January 26.  Tip off is slated for 4 p.m. PST.  The Lady Jackets return to Alterowitz on January 31 to host Western Oregon University.  Game time is 7 p.m.