Lady Jackets Win Defensive Battle,
Move Closer to NCAA Tourney (Mar. 3, 2005)
Box Score

SILVER CITY, NM – The Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team took another step toward qualifying for the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, winning 55-44 at Western New Mexico.  The win was the Yellowjackets’ twentieth of the season as they improved to 20-6.  MSU Billings closes out the regular season on Saturday at Western New Mexico.  That game can be heard live on AM 970 KBUL beginning at 4:00 p.m.

MSU Billings was ranked seventh in the most recent NCAA West Region poll.  The top eight teams in the region will be invited to the NCAA Tournament.  A season-ending win at WNMU on Saturday will likely assure the Yellowjackets of their ninth NCAA Tourney berth since 1994 and their tenth overall trip to the big dance.  The NCAA Division II selection show will be shown live on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. MST on www.ncaasports.com.  

As it has all season, the Yellowjackets’ defense carried the game on Thursday.  They held the Mustangs to 26 percent shooting from the field on a night when the Jackets’ offense wasn’t hitting on all cylinders.  MSUB held the Mustangs to just 17-of-65 from the field and 1-of-8 from 3-point range.

“It was a tough game,” said Yellowjacket coach Kevin Woodin.  “I thought Western New Mexico played very hard.  They beat us to loose balls in first half.  We gutted it out and got big baskets when we needed them, and we played solid in the second half.  We’re happy with the win.  We missed a lot of shots we usually make.  I think we can play better Saturday, and we’ll probably have to in order to win.”

The Jackets started fast, building a 17-9 lead midway through the first half.  The Mustangs rallied with a late 9-1 run, tying the game at 25-25 in the final minute of the half.  Lisa Jellum (Jr., Gillette, WY) made one of two free throws to give MSUB a 26-25 advantage.  Michelle Lieber (So., Gillette, WY) rebounded Jellum’s second attempt and dished to Tanya Petersen (Jr., Billings, MT), who banked in a basket to go ahead 28-25. 

Shannon Harvey (So., Billings, MT) provided the first half offensive spark for the Yellowjackets, hitting 3-of-3 from beyond the arc for all nine of her points.  Petersen scored all five of her points in the first half and the Mustangs never caught the Jackets after Petersen’s basket to end the half.  Petersen also added a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Yellowjackets slowly pulled away in the final four minutes after Lieber’s 3-point play off an offensive rebound at 3:37 gave them a double-digit lead.  Lieber finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs.  Junior Jenny Langford (Reedpoint, MT) picked up the Jackets’ 3-point shooting in the second half, hitting two and scoring seven points.  She finished the night with 10 points.  The Jackets were 8-of-22 from behind the arc.

“Once we got that seven or eight point lead in the second half, I thought we did a good job of finishing,” added Woodin.  “I felt we looked tired.  I don’t know if it was altitude or just the game.  Our 3-pointers were important.  Shannon hit three in the first half, and Jenny hit some big threes late in the game.  She’s been doing that lately.  He makes big shots when we need them.”

Robyn Milne (Sr., Richey, MT) added seven points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots.  She is now one block shy of Jessie Henigman’s school record of 272.  Two blocks on Saturday would give Milne the school record for blocks and move her to No. 14 in NCAA II history for career blocked shots.  She also added eight rebounds to give her 928 for her career.  She is four rebounds short of Brandy Hamblin’s school record 932.

The Mustangs were led by Janel Joy and Crystal Smith who each scored 10 points.  Tamara Goodliffe added eight points, and Bernice Castro finished with six.