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BILLINGS, Mont. – With 2.6 seconds remaining, Montana State Billings senior Mandy Jacobs dribbled around two defenders and hit an off-balance three-pointer for a thrilling 62-61 win over visiting Saint Martin's University Saturday evening in Alterowitz Gymnasium. With the win, the Yellowjackets improved to 9-8 overall and 5-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. SMU fell to 10-7 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
“It was a great win for us,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “We played a quality Saint Martin's team and it was a great game as both teams played very hard. It was close the entire way.”
Two free throws by SMU's Dara Zack with 10 seconds left broke the ninth tie of the game and gave the visiting Saints a 61-59 lead. The Jackets brought the ball up court and senior Shantell Marquis passed to Jacobs right in front of the Yellowjacket bench. Jacobs then dribbled around two defenders and put up the triple for the game winner.
“Mandy has put in a lot of time over the years, but it was just her time to make a difficult shot,” Woodin said.
The Jackets were led by 19 points from senior Kayla Ryan. Prior to the game, Ryan was honored with a signed commemorative basketball by the team honoring her 1,000 career points she scored on Thursday. Ryan went 8 of 10 from the field, 3 of 4 from the line and six rebounds Saturday evening. She was the only Yellowjacket in double figures. Senior Beata Bak tallied eight points and tallied seven rebounds. Jacobs tallied six points in the game on two triples.
SMU was led by a game-high 20 points from Marelle Moehrle as she was 7 of 10 from the field and an impressive 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. Zack tallied 16 points on 6 of 9 from the field. Kellie Snyder led the game with nine rebounds.
“I was very impressed by Moerhle,” Woodin said. “I didn't know she had that type of range and you have to give her credit, 6 of 8 from beyond the arc is tremendous.”
As a team, it was a tale of two halves for the Jackets as they struggled shooting in the first half (7 of 29 for 24.1 percent), but responded with a huge second half (16 of 26 for 61.5 percent). MSUB shot 41.8 percent from the field on 23 of 55. The Jackets also struggled from beyond the arc in the first half (1-9), but responded with a 6 for 11 effort in the second half.
The Saints shot 40 percent in the first half and dipped to 37.5 percent in the second for 38.9 percent for the game (21 of 54). SMU went 7 of 22 from beyond the arc (31.8%).
The first half was a low scoring affair as SMU held a 24-19 lead at intermission. The Saints led 10-6 early, but the Jackets came back and the half was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way. A layup by Kayla Ryan with 6:29 left in the half broke a 15-15 tie and it was the last made field goal for the Jackets in the half. SMU closed the half on a 9-2 run highlighted by five points from Snyder.
“Both teams played great defense in the first half,” Woodin said. “It was low scoring and I told the team at halftime I liked the shots we were taking and we had to stick with them. Even though we were down five, we were in a good position.”
The Jackets came out of the gates in the second half on fire as they knocked down their first three triples as they were just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half. Freshman Bobbi Knudsen, Marquis and Jacobs all hit triples in the first two minutes of the half as MSUB took a 28-25 lead courtesy of a 9-1 run.
“It was nice to start off well in the second half, hitting our first three threes which let some of the pressure off of our shooters and open up our inside play with Beata (Bak) and Kayla (Ryan) who had solid games for us, especially in the second half,” Woodin added.
From there, neither team would garner much of a lead throughout. A triple by junior Kalli Stanhope with 11:32 left gave the Jackets a 41-40 lead after Moerhle had put the Saints up four moments earlier. Stanhope then hit her second triple with 7:41 left to give MSUB a 50-43 lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as SMU marched back capped by another triple from Moerhle for a 52-50 SMU lead with 5:32 left. Moerhle then hit pay dirt again from long range for a 57-55 lead with 4:04 left.
Heringer hit a jumper with 1:08 left to tie the game at 57. SMU scored on its next possession, but Ryan had the answer with 32 seconds left with a big shot in the paint.
SMU then regained the lead as Zack was fouled and made two free throws prior to the game-winning triple by Jacobs.
The Yellowjackets head to Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks next week before returning home to host Seattle Pacific, Feb. 5 at 5:15 p.m. in Alterowitz Gymnasium for Hall of Fame Weekend.
