Jackets Win No. 600 in Dramatic Fashion

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BILLINGS, Mont. – Talk about getting a milestone win in dramatic fashion. Montana State Billings came from behind to beat Metro State 65-61, Saturday afternoon. It was the 600th career win for MSUB. The Jackets hit the road, Dec. 15, taking on Hawaii Pacific. The game is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.

Metro State scored on a layup by Jasmine Cervantes 50 seconds into the contest. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kayla McPherson gave the Yellowjackets a 7-2 lead with 17:11 left in the half as Metro State had to use a timeout to stop the bleeding.

“We got off to a great start,” said head coach Kevin Woodin. “Kayla two triples really sparked us in the early going.”

A 3-pointer and a steal and layup by Alira Carpenter pushed the Yellowjacket lead to 14-6 with 15 minutes left in the half. Carpenter knocked down her second trey to give the ‘Jackets a 10-point advantage, 17-7 with 13:28 left.

Two quick buckets by Metro State brought the Roadrunners within 17-11, but Carpenter again was deadly from downtown with her third trey of the game for a 20-11 lead. Metro State cut the deficit to 20-16 with two nice buckets inside. However, Carpenter again ended the mini run with a nice 3-pointer in transition to swell the lead back to 23-16. It was her fourth long ball of the first half.

The Roadrunners wouldn’t go away quietly as MSUB would build a 10-point advantage and Metro would cut it back to between six and eight points each time. Two inside buckets by Rae Bean cut the Yellowjacket lead to 29-26 with less than four minutes to play in the half.

A 3-pointer by Kiley Gill, the first made trey of the half for the Roadrunners, cut the deficit to 31-29 with just under two minutes left. The Roadrunners were 0 of 4 from downtown prior to that make, while the ‘Jackets were 6 of 9.

Jasmine Cervantes hit a buzzer beater that gave the Roadrunners a 35-34 lead at halftime. It was the first MSU lead since the 19:50 mark.

In a half that saw 25 turnovers combined, the Yellowjackets shot just 33 percent from the field on 9 of 27, but were an impressive 6 of 10 from downtown and 10 of 16 from the charity stripe.

The Roadrunners were 13 of 28 from the field for 46.4 percent. MSU was just 1 of 5 from beyond the arc, but was 8 of 10 from the line.

“We struggled on the offensive end,” said coach Woodin. “With Shantell Marquis in some trouble, our transition offense was off. I have to give Metro a lot of credit. They played some really good defense and controlled the tempo pretty good.”

The second half began with each team trading buckets as Metro State held a 41-38 lead with 17:25 left. A 3-pointer by Jen Smith gave the Jackets the lead back for the first time since the first half at 43-41. Marquis got into the act from long range as well, giving MSUB a 46-41 lead with under 16 minutes left.

Five straight points by the Roadrunners tied the game at 46 on the heels of a midrange jump shot from Cervantes with 13:20 left. A hoop-and-harm foul on Carpenter gave her the old fashion three point play and her 21st point of the game as the Jackets extended the lead to 49-46 with 12:45 left.

The scoring slowed down for both teams over the next eight minutes as MSUB held to a 59-57 lead with four minutes to play. A triple by Sharaya Selsor off an offensive rebound gave the lead back to the Roadrunners at 60-59 with 3:40 left. It was just the third trey of the game for Metro State.

Down 61-60 with two minutes to play, Carpenter came off a screen and knocked down another triple, her fifth of the game and first of the second half for a 63-61 lead. The Jackets got the alternate possession moments later to regain the ball with under a minute to go.

“Alira is a tremendous player,” said coach Woodin. “She wants the ball in critical situations and she delivered tonight.”

A key offensive rebound as the shot clock was winding down kept the ball in the hands of the Jackets with 33.6 seconds left. A third offensive rebound and a foul put the Yellowjackets on the line with a chance to ice the game. Kayla Ryan missed the first and made the second for a 64-61 lead.

Out of a timeout by Metro State, the Roadrunners had one last chance with 16 seconds left. Two off-balanced 3-pointers and a foul gave the Jackets two shots at the line. Mandy Jacobs made one of two at the line to finish off a 65-61 win.

“This was a great win for us,” said coach Woodin. “We defeated a quality opponent in a close game. That will pay dividends down the road for us. The entire second half was intense and I thought both teams really battled.”

For Montana State Billings (4-2), Carpenter finished with 29 points, three steals and hit five triples. It was her fourth game of the season with 29 points or more. Carpenter also moved past Deb Prevost (1975-78) into third place on the all-time scoring list with 1564 points.

Marquis had nine points, seven assists and two steals. Ryan came off the bench and had seven points, six rebounds and three steals to provide a spark for MSUB.

For Metro State (1-5), Rae Bean had 17 points and eight rebounds, Cervantes scored 12 points with three blocked shots and Selsor had 12 points and five assists.