Lady Jackets Drop Second Straight (2/11/06)
Box Score

AUSTIN, TX – St. Edward’s University led nearly wire to wire Saturday night to hand the Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team its second-straight loss, 62-52.  The Yellowjackets, who lost two games in a row for the first time since November, dropped to 15-6.  The Hilltoppers improved to 12-10.

Neither team started fast offensively a day after playing an overtime game against each other.  The Yellowjackets fell behind early, but clawed back for a 24-24 halftime tie.  The Yellowjackets only lead of the game came at 18-17 with 7:14 to play in the first half.  The Jackets had battled back from a 17-5 deficit.

The Hilltoppers opened the second half with a 13-2 run and never looked back.  The closest MSU Billings could get in the second half was 47-43 with about eight minutes remaining.  It turned out to be a tough shooting night for the Yellowjackets from the start.  They shot just 37 percent from the field in the first half and followed with a 33 percent effort in the second half.

The Hillsiders, who shot 51 percent from the field, were led by Sara Baca’s 21 points.  She was 8-of-12 from the floor, mostly in the paint.  Charron Sumler, another interior player, scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

The Yellowjackets were led by Shannon Harvey’s (Jr., Billings, MT) 17 points off the bench.  All 17 came in the second half, including five 3-pointers that helped the Jackets stay close.  Michelle Lieber (Jr., Gillette, WY) finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, scoring 11 points in the first half.  Lisa Jellum (Sr., Gillette, WY) added 10 points and four assists.

The Lady Yellowjackets return to Heartland Conference action on Wednesday, February 16, when they host University of the Incarnate Word at Alterowitz Gym.  That game against the Cardinals will be the first of three games in four days to close out the home portion of the regular season.  The Jackets host St. Mary’s University on February 18 and 19 in their final home games of the season.  Saturday’s game against the Rattlers will also be senior day for Petersen, Langford, Jellum, Lessard, and Harvey. 

MSU Billings wraps up the regular season with two games at Western New Mexico.  The Yellowjackets will also likely have a home Heartland Conference playoff game on March 1.  The top four teams in the conference qualify for the playoffs.  The No. 4 seed will play at the No. 1 seed and the No. 3 seed will play at the No. 2 seed on March 1.  The two winners will meet for the conference championship on March 4 at the home of the higher seed.  The winner of the conference playoffs receives the Heartland’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.