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**For
Immediate Release**
Lady Aggies Stifle MSU-Billings, 67-56
by Scott Puryear of Aggie Sports on 11/29/05
Goodwell, OK – The Oklahoma Panhandle State University
women’s basketball team was very stingy with a good Montana
State–Billings team on Monday night. OPSU led during
38 of the game’s 40 minutes, scored when they had to,
and played extremely tough defense in their 67-56 victory.
The Lady Aggies came out fast and jumped to an 11-6 lead after
four minutes and kept rolling. OPSU kept the pressure on during
the entire first half and forced the Yellowjackets into numerous
turnovers.
Michelle Kennedy’s bucket gave
OPSU a 26-17 lead with six minutes to play in the opening
half. With every Yellowjacket effort at a rally, the Lady
Aggies responded and a Sarah Furgeson three point bomb gave
them a 33-22 point lead with 2:30 left. At the intermission,
OPSU was up 37-26.
Both teams started a bit slowly in the second half and OPSU
still led by the 11 point margin (41-30) with 16:30 left in
the game. The Lady Aggies continued to play some very tight
defense, especially Taneisha Rogers and Nina Kuleff.
OPSU looked like they were ready to put MSU-B away for good,
but the Yellowjackets put together a nice run to close the
gap to 45-40 with 11:11 to play. Another Furgeson three point
rocket, followed by a Diana Garduno deuce put OPSU back up
50-40 with ten minutes to play. However, the Yellowjackets
are a good team and refused to quit, and at the 6:25 mark,
the OPSU lead was back down to five (54-49).
Things got very rough under the boards on both ends of the
court in the final six minutes, and the Lady Aggies were ready
for all of it. They utilized strong teamwork and good conditioning
and closed things out for the 67-56 win.
After the game, OPSU coach Jerry Olson
said he liked what he saw from the Lady Aggie defense (which
forced 25 turnovers). “Sara
(Furgeson) and T (Rogers) really came up big for us down the
stretch tonight,” Olson added. He was also especially
complimentary of April Gahagan.
Four Lady Aggies scored in double figures,
led by Furgeson’s
17. Kuleff had 13, Brandi Lewis had a dozen, and Rogers dropped
in 11. Kuleff led both teams with 14 rebounds, Ferguson had
a game high six assists, and Rogers had a game high five steals.
It was a very big win for the Lady Aggies (now 3-2 on the
season).
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