Skylights look for rebound win at UM-Western

It’s been a roller coaster two weeks for the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team. And the ride isn’t over.

The No. 19 Skylights (8-4, 18-6) set out on their final road trip of the regular season, starting with tonight’s Frontier Conference game at UM-Western. MSU-N finishes its road slate with a game at No. 3 Westminster College Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Both games will be tough, just like Northern’s split with Montana Tech and Lewis-Clark State were last weekend. But tonight’s game in Dillon is especially big. The Bulldogs (7-5, 13-9), who the Skylights handled 66-43 last month in Havre, have won five straight and have crept to within a game of MSU-N for third place in the Frontier standings.

“They (Bulldogs) are one of the hottest teams in the league right now,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “They are playing really well, but more importantly, they are just playing really hard. They are getting to all the loose balls, the rebounds, the hustle plays and when you have good players, like Western does, that makes a big difference.”

The Bulldogs do have good players, led by senior Sammi Bignell (5-10), who averages 17 points and seven rebounds per game. Western’s supporting cast is good, too, with players like Roxy Thurman and Jenna Banks, but Bignell makes the UM-W offense go. And it’s an offense which will present plenty of challenges for MSU-N’s NAIA leading defense. The Skylights allow just 54 points per game, while offensively, they are led by A’Jha Edwards 12 points and 11 rebounds per night, as well as 10 points per game from Rachelle Bennett and nine from Taylor Cummings.

“They (Bulldogs) have consistently gotten better throughout the season,” Mouat said. “They run a lot of offense. They run a lot of different stuff so they are tough to prepare for and this will be a different team than the one we saw at home.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for us going down there,” he added. “We’ve been good on the road all season long, but this will be a very difficult road trip.”

The road trip will wrap up with a visit to Westminster on Saturday night. The Griffins (12-0, 18-2) are in full control of the league and could clinch a share of the title with a win over Northern Saturday night. They also beat MSU-N 60-46 last month in Havre.

Tonight’s game between the Skylights and Bulldogs tips off at 5:30 in Dillon. Saturday night’s game at Westminster also tips off at 5:30 p.m. Northern will finish the regular season with home games against Dickinson State next Thursday and Rocky next Friday.