LACEY, Wash. – A game-high 25 points from Dara Zack sparked Saint Martin's to a 63-55 victory over visiting Montana State Billings Thursday evening in a key Great Northwest Athletic Conference game. The Yellowjackets were led by 16 points from senior Kayla Ryan and 14 points from seniors Jenny Heringer and Beata Bak.
“It was a hard-fought contest tonight,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “We were a little lethargic in the first half, but not on purpose. I don't know if we were tired from the road trip or what, but I thought we played better as the game progressed.”
Bak tallied a double-double collecting a game-high 10 rebounds for the Jackets, who fell to 13-10 overall and 9-6 in conference play. SMU improved to 14-9 and pulled even with MSUB at 9-6 in conference play. MSUB entered the game tied for third with Seattle Pacific in the standings.
Senior Shantell Marquis added eight assists and four steals on the night, while Heringer was deadly from beyond the arc with four triples. MSUB shot 41.7 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from range and 71.4 percent from the line.
Zack was the only SMU player in double figures as she was 8 of 19 from the field, 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and 7 of 10 from the charity stripe. She tallied a team-high eight rebounds. Roni Joe Mielke was second with nine points.
The Saints shot just 36.4 percent from the field, but went 8 of 18 from beyond the arc for 44.4 percent and 15 of 18 from the line for 83.3 percent.
Two charity tosses by Bak gave MSUB an early 11-10 lead with 15:34 left in the half, but the Saints would counter with a 15-4 run over the next eight minutes for a 25-15 lead with 6:43 left. Bak pulled the Jackets within 31-26 on a layup with 2:01 left.
SMU led 33-26 at intermission.
The Jackets came roaring back in the second half with a 13-5 run through the first eight minutes of the half. The Jackets regained the lead at 39-38 on a layup by Ryan as SMU went ice cold managing just one field goal during that stretch.
From there, the Saints countered with a 12-6 run building the lead back to 52-45 courtesy of back-to-back layups by Zack with 6:46 left.
Heringer would have the answer, however, as she followed with back-to-back triples to bring the Yellowjackets back to within 54-51 with 4:45 left. Ryan added a jumper for a 54-53 deficit moments later, but Mielke responded at the other end for a 56-53 advantage.
“In the second half we came back from approximately 10 down and took the lead a couple of times by one point,” Woodin added. “It was a really close game with 2-3 minutes left.”
Ryan pulled the Jackets to within 56-55, but out of a media timeout with 1:26 left, Zack hit the dagger triple as the shot clock expired putting the Saints up 59-55.
“A key play was when we were one down late and Zack hit a triple from the top of the key as the shot clock was winding down,” Woodin said. “We played good defense on that possession and that was the critical basket. She (Zack) is an extremely good player and you have to give her credit.”
Zack tried to help keep the Jackets in the game as she missed two free throws moments later, but two Yellowjacket turnovers off attempted steals gave the ball back to the Saints up four. MSUB had to foul and Marelle Moerhle made good on four attempts for the 63-55 win.
The Yellowjackets were plagued by 23 turnovers, while SMU committed just 15 miscues. The Saints led 23-18 in points off turnovers, while the Jackets led 16-10 in points in the paint and 11-9 in second chance points.
Fouls also were a problem as the Jackets were called for 21 fouls, while SMU had just 13. Three Yellowjackets were in foul trouble for a majority of the game as Marquis, freshman Bobbi Knudsen and senior Mandy Jacobs all had either four or five fouls.
“Foul trouble was hard on us tonight as it really hurt a lot of our rotations,” Woodin said. “We are looking forward to Saturday as we are going to play a good Western Oregon team and we know every game in the GNAC is a great challenge.”
The Yellowjackets will look to salvage a split on the road trip as they travel to Western Oregon Saturday for a 2 p.m. Pacific Time start. MSUB then returns home to close out the regular season versus nationally ranked Western Washington and Simon Fraser next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, at 5:15 p.m. both days in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
