Lady Jackets Come from Behind to Down Carroll (January 10, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – It took over half of the second half, but the MSU Billings Lady Yellowjackets erased a deficit that lasted over twelve minutes to defeat Carroll College 63-52 Friday night.  Jessica Bachmann’s team-high 15 points paced the Jackets, who improved to 12-3 on the year.  Carroll fell to 7-9.

Carroll captured the lead with just 1:16 left in the first half on a pair of Charla Ray free throws.  The Saints then built a 30-26 lead on Tara Zoanni’s 3-pointer.  MSU Billings was unable to score on its final possession of the half and Carroll went to the break with a four-point lead.  Ray and Zoanni each netted 10 points in the half. 

The Saints continued to play stingy defense to open the second half, building their largest lead of the game at 35-28 on a put-back by Zoanni.  The Yellowjackets slowly whittled Carroll’s lead down until five straight points from Bachmann gave the Jackets their first lead in over 12 minutes. 

Bachmann hit one of her two 3-pointers with 9:12 left in the game to draw the Jackets to within 39-40.  She then hit a 15-foot jumper from the right wing with 8:46 left to give MSUB a 41-40 lead.  The Lady Jackets never trailed again in the game.

Senior forward Natalie Visger notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.  No other Yellowjacket broke into double figures, but MSUB held the Saints to 29% shooting from the field in the second half.  The Yellowjackets are No. 25 in the nation for field goal percentage defense.

Centers Jessie Henigman and Robyn Milne combined for seven blocked shots in the game.  Henigman’s four increased her year’s total to 50, just 16 short of the school single season record.  She is ranked No. 6 in the nation for blocked shots per game.

Zoanni led the Saints with 16 points.  Carly Van Dyke added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Ray didn’t score in the second half to finish with 10 points.

The Yellowjackets now have ten days off before hosting Montana Tech on January 20.