Lady Jackets Come Back to Snare Rattlers (2/8/07)
Box Score
Coach Woodin post game audio

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Overcoming a sluggish start offensively, the Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team used a solid second half to defeat St. Mary’s University Thursday night 59-57.  Alira Carpenter (Lewistown, MT) hit all five of her 3-point attempts in the game en route to a game-high 23 points.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Yellowjackets, who improved to 18-6 overall.  More importantly, MSUB maintained its hold on first place in the Heartland Conference, improving to 6-2.  St. Mary’s dropped to 7-14 overall and 3-4 in the league.  All six teams in the Heartland are still mathematically alive for one of the four conference playoff spots.  The Lady Jackets control their own destiny in terms of the conference playoffs, but they’ll have to earn the top seed on the road as they do not have another conference home game.

Neither team’s offense was effective in the first half, but St. Mary’s led for about 19 minutes of the half.  The Yellowjackets didn’t score their tenth point until Kayla McPherson (Glendive, MT) connected on a 3-pointer with 11:17 remaining in the opening stanza.  MSUB was mired at 16 points with less than a 1:30 left in half.  After the Jackets were able to cut the Rattlers’ lead to one in the final 15 seconds of the half, STMU’s Natalie Gamez drained a long 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 24-20 Rattler lead at halftime.

The Yellowjackets quickly tied the game with Carpenter and Jen Smith (Belgrade, MT) each scoring in the first two minutes of the second half.  A Carpenter 3-pointer with 18:07 remaining gave the Jackets their first lead in over 20 minutes of playing time, and they never trailed again.  There were three ties in the final seven minutes.

“I’m really proud of are players,” said Yellowjacket coach Kevin Woodin.  “We got down early, but I still liked what we were doing. We were playing really scrappy.  We haven’t started a second half good in a long time.  That was the best start to the second half we’ve had in a while.  It was a great team win.”

The Rattlers tied the game for the final time with 4:06 to play when Dawn Killian’s lay-up knotted the score at 46 apiece.  McPherson lifted the Jackets with back-to-back 3-pointers.  The Jackets seemed to have the game in hand at that point, but the Rattlers crawled back within striking distance on a Killian 3-pointer with 21 seconds left.  Leading 58-57, Jetton Meadors (Billings, MT) made one of two free throws to give St. Mary’s one last chance at tying the game or winning with a 3-pointer.  Killian missed a close range shot as time expired.

“We were able to get some better movement offensively,” Woodin said of the Jackets’ second half.  “We started to set some screens and get some looks for Carpenter, and McPherson was very good.  Those threes were huge down the stretch.  Give St. Mary’s credit.  That game could have gone either way.  I just can’t say enough about our players.  That was a huge win for us.”

Carpenter was 8-of-15 from the field for her 23 points.  She also handed out four assists and picked up two steals.  With her five 3-pointers, Carpenter broke the MSU Billings single-season record set by Jenni Winter in 1998-1999.  Carpenter has made 76 threes this season.

McPherson was also perfect from behind the arc, knocking down 4-of-4 and finishing the night with 16 points.  Jennifer Skrifvars (Brea, CA) dished out four assists without a turnover.  Dani Henderson (Reed Point, MT) added seven points and seven rebounds.

The Yellowjackets shot 42 percent from the field, but connected on 10-of-17 from long range, nearly a 59 percent clip.  Their struggles at the free throw line continued, making just 7-of-14.  For the second time in the last two weeks, the Jackets pulled out a win in a close game without senior captain Michelle Lieber (Gillette, WY).  The reigning Heartland Conference player of the year was sidelined by injury.  Lieber missed the January 28 game against Incarnate Word, a one-point MSUB win.

The Rattlers were led by Killian’s 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Juanita Merchant added 11 points and six boards.  Both Killian and Merchant made three 3-pointers.  Gamez and Becca Herbst each netted nine points.

The Yellowjackets will have Friday off before an important showdown with Incarnate Word on Saturday in San Antonio.  The Cardinals are in second place in the Heartland at 4-3 after defeating Lincoln University Thursday night.  The Yellowjackets held off the Cardinals twice at the end of January in Billings, winning the two games by a combined nine points.