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BILLINGS, Mont. – A night after being tested for the first time and dropping a game for the first time this season, the Montana State Billings women's basketball team (3-2) stumbled again, dropping the final game of the 2011 Yellowjacket Women's Basketball Classic Sponsored by Billings Hotel and Convention Center against Minnesota State Moorhead (2-1) 78-71 Saturday evening inside Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
“Tonight was another tough loss for us, and I felt it was a bit harder because we did a lot of things much better,” said head coach Kevin Woodin. “We protected the ball a lot better, but while shooting we just couldn't get much to fall. Minnesota Moorhead played a lot better than yesterday today, and their post players were the big difference for them tonight as they were extremely difficult to guard.”
 
The Yellowjackets shot a little better from the field than they did Friday night against Minot State University, but were only able to hit on 32.3% (20-62) of their shots from the field while the Dragons knocked down 46.2% (30-65) of their shots including 7-14 from beyond the three-point arc.
 
MSUB won the turnover battle as they forced the Dragons to turn the ball over 14 times compared to relinquishing the ball eight times of their own.
 
Three players on each squad recorded double-digit points with Bobbi Knudsen leading the 'Jackets with 20 points. Brooke Tolman's 15 points all came off three point shots while Kalli Stanhope had 13 points and dished out a team-high four assists, including two to Tolman on a beautiful look at the top of the key late in the second half.
 
Freshman Janiel Olson had a team-high 11 boards with nine coming on defense to go along with seven points.
 
For the Dragons, Angie Jetvig had a double-double performance as she had 22 points and 14 rebounds, 11 coming off the defensive glass. Megan Strese had 16 points and eight rebounds and Morgan Zabel was the final member of the Moorhead roster to score double-digit points with 14.
 
Moorhead controlled the early going, opening the game with five points before MSUB could manage to score their first points off a Knudsen jumper.
 
Freshman Monica Grimsrud would give the Yellowjackets their first lead of the game at the 12:22 mark with a layup from the right side of the lane, leading MSUB to establish a lead of as many as seven at one point. But Moorhead was able to pull within two by the half.
 
The score was tied three times in the first stanza but most importantly, Woodin's squad did not send the Dragons to the charity stripe once in the opening half of play.
 
As in the first half, Moorhead opened the second half of the game by striking first, and the two programs would go tit-for-tat from there, trading points and the lead multiple times before Brittany Mayclin hit a jumper with 3:49 remaining in regulation to give Moorhead the lead for good.
 
The Dragons would stretch their lead out to eight a few minutes later, and would never relinquish the lead from their despite full-court pressure from the Yellowjackets. The Dragons finally found their way to the free throw line in the second half, hitting 11-13 from the stripe, and continued to be hot from the field.
 
“Despite the two losses this week I feel like we made some really good strides as a team this weekend even if our record doesn't show it,” stated Woodin. “It was particularly good for our youngsters to find out what it takes to be competitive at this level.”
 
Up next for the Yellowjackets will  be their first true road test of the season as MSUB opens their Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate away from the friendly confines of Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
MSUB will first travel to Western Washington University on Thursday, Dec. 1 where a perennially strong team will be waiting for them before the Yellowjackets turn north to travel to Simon Fraser on Saturday, Dec. 3.

All-Tournament Team Announced for Yellowjacket Classic

Just hours after completing the 2011 Yellowjacket Women's Basketball Classic Sponsored by Billings Hotel and Convention Center, the All-Tournament Team was announced along with a tournament Most Valuable Player.
 
The team features as least one player from each of the participating teams, two coming from Minot State University which was the only team to go 2-0 over the weekend.
 
For Minot, Katie Hardy and Carly Boag each earned spots on the all-tournament squad with Hardy earning the MVP distinction. Hardy had 31 points between the two games, including 24 in a 62-56 win Saturday afternoon over Montana State Northern, and 14 rebounds. Boag had 26 points and 17 total rebounds.
 
For Northern, Laramie Schwenke earned a spot on the team as she had a tournament-high 41 total points between her two games to go along with six assists and nine rebounds.
 
Moorhead's Angie Jetvig had 39 points and 21 rebounds and recorded a double-double against Montana State Billings Saturday night to earn the fourth spot.
 
Bobbi Knudsen was the final member of the All-Tournament Team as she had 33 total points, 10 rebounds and seven assists between MSUB's two outings.