‘Jackets Sink Marauders, 70-53

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BILLINGS, Mont. – Callie Kautzmann led the Montana State Billings women’s basketball team to its second consecutive victory to open the 2009-10 season, scoring 26 points and five boards in a 70-53 victory over the University of Mary Wednesday evening at home.

“This was a great win for our team,” said head coach Kevin Woodin. “It’s good to play a quality opponent early in the season. Mary is very physical and hurt us on the offensive glass in the opening half, but I felt we did a better job of rebounding after halftime. Mary just wouldn’t go away as they’re a very well coached team. I thought we got great bench play from several players and Callie Kautzman played a great second half on the offensive end.”

The Yellowjackets also got double-digit efforts from McNamee and Kalli Stanhope, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Shantell Marquis had a team-high six assists and six steals, while Kayla Ryan swiped eight boards off the glass.

Leading 11-8, MSUB got a three-pointer from McNamee at the 13:26 mark to spark an 11-0 run over the next 3:12 to extend its lead to 14. The Yellowjackets eventually stretched the lead to 20, 34-14, after Kautzmann took an open drive down the paint for a lay-up with 2:23 remaining in the half.

The Marauders would cut the lead to 13, 36-23, after Laura Peterson hit a jumper before the teams headed to the locker room. MSUB hit 13-of-33 (39.4%) from the field and was an impressive 6-of-12 from downtown. The Yellowjackets committed 10 turnovers in the first half while creating 15 Mary turnovers, scoring 16 points from.

With 13:17 remaining in the second half, MSUB found itself holding its largest lead of the game at 24, 53-29. A scoring drought that last five minutes allowed the Marauders to cut the lead down to 10 and get back into the game. 

Down the stretch, the Yellowjackets got a trio of buckets from McNamee, Kautzmann and Mandy Jacobs to keep the game out of reach for Mary, and coasted to a 17 point victory. MSUB was able to out-shoot Mary in the second half, shooting 40.0 percent to the Marauders 33.3 percent.

Mary (0-1) was led Rachel Zillmer and Peterson who each scored nine points in the loss. They were 19-of-55 from the floor and just 9-of-21 from the charity stripe. Liz Sipma and Taylor Luke both added seven points for the Marauders.

MSUB (2-0), despite being out rebounded 43-41, outscored Mary 15-8 on second chance points. The Yellowjackets shot 39.7 percent (25-63) from the floor and were 8-of-20 from behind the arc. Defensively, MSUB forced 25 turnovers while committing 16 of their own.

The Yellowjackets finish a three game home stand this Saturday, Nov. 21, when they take on Chadron State starting at 2 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium. The game theme for Saturday afternoon is Billings BEEZ day, each child wearing a Beez Camp shirt is admitted FREE of charge along with one adult.