(Editor's note: MSUB Athletics release)
PORTLAND, Ore. – Being rewarded for hitting the biggest shot of her basketball career on Saturday, Montana State University Billings junior guard Addison Gardner was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
Gardner connected on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime, giving the Yellowjackets a dramatic 82-81 win over Lewis-Clark State College on the road.
“I am really happy for Addison,” said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. “Addison was open on the far side, moved to catch the ball better, and let it fly. It went right in and that was really neat. She was very emotional afterwards, and she later told me that was the first buzzer-beater of her life. Nothing but props to her.”
The game-winning shot pushed Gardner to a career-high 17 points in the contest, and it was her fifth make of the night from the arc. The junior from Great Falls played 39 minutes, rarely leaving the floor in the overtime affair. She also had six rebounds and an assist to help lead the ‘Jackets to victory.
Gardner’s heroics came after a 14-point performance the prior evening, when she made 4 of 9 threes against the Warriors. Overall in MSUB’s three games on the week Gardner scored 34 points to help the team claim a pair of road victories including Wednesday’s 70-68 triumph at Rocky Mountain College.
“She has stuck around and didn’t play a whole lot her first two years, but she is making the most of this opportunity,” Woodin said. “She worked hard in the offseason, and she is really consistent for us from the 3-point line. She is also improving other parts of her offensive game, and she is just a competitor.”
This is Gardner’s first-career GNAC Player of the Week award and the first for the Yellowjacket women’s basketball team and athletic department for the 2020-21 academic year. MSUB’s last GNAC Player of the Week was Jeanann Lemelin, who earned the honor on Jan. 27, 2020 last season.
The Yellowjacket women (2-1) are next in action on Wednesday evening with a home game against Rocky Mountain College. The first game of a doubleheader with the men’s teams will tip off at 5 p.m.
