Yellowjackets Overcome Sluggish Start for a 77-48 Victory

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BILLINGS, Mont. – It was a tale of two halves for the Montana State Billings women’s basketball team as it overcame a sluggish first half en route to a 77-48 victory over visiting Central Washington Saturday evening.  With the victory, MSUB improves to 14-10 and a 6-7 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Central Washington falls to 5-18 and 2-10 in conference play.

Alira Carpenter led the way for MSUB with 25 points as she had a record setting night, breaking the all-time record for made field goals in a career breaking Tera Silvius’ mark of 680.  Carpenter was 9 of 19 from the field and 5 of 11 from downtown.  Shantell Marquis tallied 13 points while Kayla Ryan and Mandy Jacobs each had 10 rebounds. Carpenter now has 683 career field goals.

Central Washington was led by 14 points from Stephanie Wenke and 13 points from Sophie Russell.  Nicole Jordan had 15 rebounds to lead the way.

An outlet pass by Carpenter to a wide-open Marquis gave the Yellowjackets a 17-8 lead with 7:32 left in the first half.  Both teams really struggled from the field from the outset as MSUB began 8 of 23 from the field, while Central Washington was just 3 of 13. 

A field goal by Jordan at the 5:54 mark was the first field goal for the Wildcats since the 12:14 mark. Jordan followed that up with another field goal moments later to make the score 19-13 in favor of the Yellowjackets.  Jordan then made the old fashion three-point play to cut the deficit to 19-17 as the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run.

MSUB began the half making 5 of its first 10 field goals, but made just 4 of 19 since for a 31 percent average.  CWU wasn’t much better at a 31.6 percent clip on 6 of 19. 

One free throw by Melissa Porter ended the 8-0 run by the Wildcats at the 2:43 mark. 

A 3-pointer by Carpenter ended a 7:29 field goal drought by the Yellowjackets as they held a 25-19 lead at intermission.  Since the 7:19 mark, CWU outscored MSUB 10-6 as MSUB had just one field goal in its final 10 field goals.

For the half, Carpenter led the way for MSUB with 12 points on 4 of 11 from the field and 2 of 6 from beyond the arc.  Marquis had six points as well for MSUB as it shot just 28 percent on 10 of 35 from the field.  The Yellowjackets also were just 2 of 16 from downtown and 3 of 6 from the charity stripe.

Central Washington was led by six points from Wenke on 3 of 7.  The Wildcats were 7 of 21 from the field and 5 of 7 from the line.  CWU was 0 for 3 from deep as well.

“I thought we were tentative in the first half,” head coach Kevin Woodin said.  “We had several good looks but could not get the ball in the basket.  Central Washington was very effective in controlling the tempo.  Defensively, I was pleased with how we played.”

MSUB came out of the gates in the second half on fire going on a 12-4 run to start the half highlighted by a 3-pointer from Jetton Meadors and layups by Marquis and Carpenter for a 37-23 lead. 

Carpenter set the school record for made field goals in a career with a triple at 14:30 mark passing former Yellowjacket Tera Silvius’ record of 680. 

Moments later a 3-pointer by Quinn Halverson pushed the Yellowjacket lead to 50-30, followed by a put back by Jacobs for a 52-32 lead with just over 10 minutes left. 

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Carpenter and Marquis swelled the Yellowjacket lead to 60-37 with 7:07 to play.  The Yellowjackets really shot better in the second half as they were 12 of 23 from the field for 52 percent, 6 of 9 from deep and 5 of 6 from the line with 6:50 left.

CWU still struggled in the second half making 6 of its first 19 shots and was just 1 of 5 from downtown as well.  The Wildcats also were 5 of 8 from the line, too.

The Yellowjackets went on for the 77-48 victory.

“I liked our intensity and our execution in the second half,” Woodin added.  “We protected the ball well and finally started to shoot better. Our bench played a critical role tonight.  This was an important win for us and we are looking forward to next week.”

MSUB will play its final home game Thursday, Feb. 26 versus Saint Martin’s on Senior Night as four seniors will be playing their final home game.