Lady
Jackets Lose Conference Opener (11/28/05)
Box
Score
GOODWELL, OK – Oklahoma Panhandle State
University welcomed the Montana State-Billings women’s basketball
team to the Heartland Conference by downing the Yellowjackets
67-56 Monday night. The game was the Heartland Conference opener
for both teams. The Yellowjackets will play the first two
conference counters of any Heartland team this season, and their
next conference game won’t come until January 4. The game at OPSU
was rescheduled from February 22 to accommodate the Lady Jackets’
trip to Amarillo for the West Texas A&M tournament last weekend.
With the loss the Yellowjackets dropped their
fourth-straight game to fall to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the
Heartland. The Aggies snapped a two-game losing streak to improve
to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. Panhandle State will
now sit atop the Heartland standings for at least the next 37 days
since that’s the length of time before the regular conference
schedule starts.
“You have to give Panhandle a lot of credit,”
said Yellowjacket head coach Kevin Woodin. “They were much more
aggressive than we were in the first half, and we continued to
turn the ball over too much. I don’t think playing three times in
four days was a factor. The first half was more of our downfall
than the second. In the second we made some pushes, but we just
couldn’t get over the hump.”
As it had in the previous three losses, the
offense proved to be the Yellowjackets’ Achilles’ heel again
Monday night. MSU Billings shot just 41.8 percent from the field
and 50 percent from the free throw line. The Jackets were just
2-of-14 from 3-point range. They also turned the ball over 25
times. For the season the Jackets are averaging 22 turnovers per
game.
The Yellowjackets were unable to rebound from
a slow start. The Aggies led by as many as 13 in the first half
en route to a 37-26 halftime advantage. OPSU built its lead to 15
in the second half before MSU Billings made a late rally. The
Jackets were able to cut the deficit to five on three occasions in
the second half, but the Aggies had an answer for each
Yellowjacket run.
Forward Michelle Lieber (Jr., Gillette, WY) scored a career-high 21
points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. She finished with her
first double-double of the year, pulling down 13 rebounds, also a
career high. She fouled out of the game with just under three
minutes to play.
Tanya Petersen (Sr., Billings, MT) also had a double-double,
her third of the season, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She was
7-of-16 from the field and also had two blocked shots. Lisa Jellum (Sr., Gillette, WY) added seven points. Alira Carpenter (Fr., Lewistown, MT) and Angie Lessard (Sr., Elizabeth, CO) each finished with four
points. Carpenter had a season-high four assists.
The Aggies had four players score in double
figures led by 17 points from Sarah Ferguson. Nina Kuleff had a
double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. She also blocked
four shots.
The road doesn’t get any easier for
MSU Billings in the near future. They will return to Billings
late Tuesday before flying to Denver on Thursday for a pair of
tough games. The Jackets play at Metro State on Friday night and
at Regis on Sunday afternoon. Metro State (3-1) was ranked 35th in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN preseason coaches’ poll.
Regis (5-1) was the 25th -ranked team in the
preseason. Both games can be heard on AM 970 KBUL in Billings and
on the web at www.msubillings.edu. Friday’s game at Metro State tips off at
7:00 p.m.; Saturday’s game at Regis starts at 2:00.
“The thing we have to focus on is protecting
the ball better and shooting from the line better,” said Woodin.
“If we can do those I think we’ll be fine. Michelle Lieber was
much more offensive minded tonight, and that will pay off later. Jennifer Skrifvars (Jr., Brea, CA) did a good job on the
defensive end, and Angie Lessard had a nice second half. The good
thing is it’s still very early in the season and we still have
time to get things turned around.” |
