Cold Shooting Stops Lady Jackets’ Win Streak (Jan. 10, 2004) 
Box Score

SILVER CITY, NM – Just one day after its second best shooting game of the season, MSU Billings struggled to find the range in a 59-53 loss at Western New Mexico on Saturday.  The loss ends the Lady Yellowjackets’ three game winning streak, dropping them to 8-7 for the year.  Western New Mexico improved its overall record to 8-8 and its home court record to 6-1.

The Yellowjackets shot just 38-percent from the field and 29-percent from 3-point range.  Tanya Petersen scored a game-high 21 on 8-of-14 shooting.  The 21 points matched her career high.  Robyn Milne finished with a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Jenny Langford added 11 points.  Petersen, Milne and Langford were a combined 17-of-37 from the field (46-percent), while the rest of the Yellowjackets were just 3-of-16 (19-percent), scoring nine points. 

MSU Billings appeared to take control of the game early, building a 12-5 lead in the first 4:10.  The Yellowjackets made their first four shots of the game and five of their first eight, but didn’t score another field goal for over nine minutes.  The only points in that span came on a pair on Lisa Jellum free throws as Western New Mexico rallied for a 20-14 lead.

Petersen ended the drought with two baskets, the first coming at 6:38, to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 20-16.  She followed with a three-point play at 5:37 to trim the lead to one, 20-19.  A Langford 3-pointer with 2:24 in the half was key helping the Yellowjackets tie the game, 28-28, by halftime.

The Yellowjackets took the advantage midway through the second half, building their lead to as many as five.  Including five ties, MSU Billings never trailed between 17:05 and 3:53 of the second half.  Two free throws from Ivanna Stojkovic at 3:53 gave Western New Mexico its first lead in over thirteen minutes.  Stojkovic finished with 17 points and was 5-of-5 from the line.  In the game, the Mustangs outscored the Yellowjackets 18-9 at the free throw line.

Petersen followed Stojkovic’s free throws with four straight points to return the lead to the Yellowjackets with 2:57 to play.  After Elyza Schafer’s fourth 3-pointer of the game put WNMU on top by one with 2:33 remaining, Milne hit the back end of two free throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 2:09 on the clock. 

Neither team hit another field goal in the game, and the Yellowjackets were unable to score again, turning the ball over three times in the final 52 seconds and missing two field goal attempts.  The Mustangs, meanwhile, used six free throws from Irene Falk in the final 1:54 to pull away for the victory.  Falk scored 13 points in the game, hitting 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.

Along with her 21 points, Petersen also added eight rebounds.  Milne blocked two shots and grabbed four steals on the defensive end.  Jellum and Alisa Lordemann were the only other Yellowjackets to find the scoring column, finishing with four and five points respectively.  Jennifer Skrifvars handed out a team-high four assists.

The Yellowjackets return home to host Green Mountain College from Vermont on January 16 and 17 at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  Both games tip off at 6:00 p.m.  The last time MSU Billings played at home was December 1, when it defeated Rocky Mountain College.  Eight of the Jackets’ final twelve games will be at home, including their final six.