Frontier Notebook: Crazy Frontier reaches halfway mark

Halfway home. The Frontier Conference men’s and women’s basketball season is half over, and the Frontier titles are officially up for grabs.

Of course, on the men’s side, it would take hours and hours of math and speculation to try and determine just how things will shake out come late February.

This past weekend saw some thrilling men’s games, like Montana State-Northern beating No. 24 UGF in Havre Friday night, before the Argos turned right around and knocked off No. 18 UM-Western Saturday night in Great Falls.

So, after five weeks of conference play, the men are no closer to figuring anything out than when they started. The second half of the Frontier season begins with five teams all tied for first place at 5-3. Northern, Rocky Mountain College, UGF, Western and Westminster are all locked up atop the league. To make matters even more chaotic, Lewis-Clark State and Montana Tech are both 4-4, and though the Warriors and Orediggers are technically tied for sixth place, they are both just one game out of first.

Over the next four weeks, things are supposed to get sorted out, but don’t bet on it. The way all of the Frontier has beaten up on each other so far, there’s a real possibility the regular season title could be just as confusing as where the league stands now.

The women’s side is a tad more cut and dry, though Carroll College has re-joined the fight. Last Saturday night, Westminster handed LCSC its first loss of the season with a 70-68 win in Salt Lake City. Now the Griffins stand as the only unbeaten team in the league while LCSC is one game back, and the MSU-Northern Skylights sit two games out of first at 6-2.

For much of the first half, it looked like the league was a three-team race, but the Saints have stormed back into contention. After a 1-4 start to league play, Carroll has won three straight and the Saints’ schedule could allow them to keep pace the rest of the way. Dickinson State, UM-Western and Montana Tech all stand at 3-5 and are not out of the top half of the race just yet.

But as tight and confusing as the league standings might be right now, an important piece of information to remember is, only six teams make the league playoffs now, so the fight is definitely on.

Halfway Stars

There’s a lot of basketball left to be played, but it’s never too early to start looking at who might claim the Frontier Conference’s top postseason honors.

The Women’s Player of the Year Award will likely come down to UGF sophomore Erin Legel and UM-Western’s Sammi Bignell. Legel leads the league in scoring at 18 points per game and assists at just over seven per. She also shoots better than 37 percent from the 3-point-line and is in the Frontier’s Top 10 in steals. Bignell was the Preseason Frontier Player of the Year, and for much of the season she hasn’t disappointed. She averages 16 points and seven rebounds per game for the Bulldogs. Other contenders for the award include UGF’s Lindsey Abramson and MSU-Northern’s A’Jha Edwards, both of whom average a double-double. Westminster’s Alli Blake and LC State’s Brittaney Niebergall should also be in the discussion.

Northern’s Edwards, who’s coming off a 23-point, 15-rebound effort against UGF is the frontrunner for Newcomer of the Year as well. Edwards has eight double-doubles this season and is among the NAIA’s best as it pertains to rebounding and field goal percentage. Dickinson State’s TaRicka Linzey is also a candidate for the honor. Northern may also have the Freshman of the Year in Butte High’s Natalee Faupel. She’s averaging nine points and six rebounds per contest, but in league play, she’s scoring at better than 13 points per night. LCSC’s Caelyn Orlandi and UGF’s Nneka Nnadi are also in the conversation, while Rocky’s Jayde Lefevre would have been a strong candidate had she not suffered a season-ending injury.

As for Women’s Coach of the Year, there’s no question Northern head coach Chris Mouat is the top pick right now. The Skylights are nationally ranked and have hung tough in the Frontier title race at the halfway point. They’re also the best defensive team in the NAIA by a long stretch and are a top shooting team as well. LCSC’s Brian Orr could be considered as well, as the Warriors are 20-2 on the season after going 9-21 a year ago.

The Men’s Player of the Year Award is already probably a two-man race. Reigning Player of the Year Marcel Towns of UGF has gotten even better this season than he was a year ago, while LCSC’s E.J. Farris has taken the league by storm, averaging 20 points per game so far. Dark horse picks include Montana Tech’s Adam Greger and RMC’s Joel Barndt, Western’s Jake Owsley, MSU-N’s Alfie Miller or Corbin Pearson and Westminster’s Tallon Robertson.

Carroll College’s Zach Taylor has the inside track on Freshman of the Year honors, though UM-Western’s Shyke Smalls is right there too. There are loads of candidates for Newcomer of the Year, though Farris, a junior transfer from Utah State leads that category as well. Others to consider are, RMC’s Tyree Anderson, DSU’s Tevin Russell, Montana Tech’s Travis Peevey or Antonio Snow and Northern’s Gabe Finley to name a few.

Men’s Coach of the Year honors is a complete crap shoot right now, but based on improvements and degree of difficulty, the leading candidates right now are Westminster’s Adam Hiatt and UGF’s Steve Silsby.

New Ratings

Following their 71-61 win over Great Falls last Friday night, the MSU-Northern Skylights stayed at No. 17 in this week’s NAIA Women’s Coaches Poll. Northern is still one of three Frontier teams ranked. Westminster remained at No. 3 and LC State dropped one spot to No. 14 following its close loss to the Griffins last week.

On the men’s side, Northern remained un-ranked, as the Frontier Power Rating went unchanged despite UM-Western losing to UGF and the Lights beating UGF last week. The Bulldogs slipped one spot to No. 18 and UGF dropped one spot to No. 25. RMC received votes.

NAIA Women's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Vanguard (Calif.) (9) 15-0 250

2 2 Freed-Hardeman (1) 19-0 242

3 3 Westminster (Utah) 14-2 230

4 4 MidAmerica Nazarene 17-1 228

5 5 Oklahoma Baptist 16-2 221

6 6 Georgetown (Ky.) 14-3 205

7 7 Oklahoma City 12-2 203

8 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) 18-2 193

9 9 The Master's (Calif.) 16-3 192

10 11 Our Lady of the Lake 15-2 174

11 10 Talladega (Ala.) 17-2 156

12 13 Wiley (Texas) 18-2 153

13 14 Lewis-Clark State 20-2 152

14 12 Westmont (Calif.) 11-6 148

15 15 Columbia (Mo.) 14-5 144

16 16 Bethel (Tenn.) 14-6 136

T17 21 Hope International (Calif.) 14-4 119

T17 17 MSU-Northern 16-4 119

19 18 John Brown (Ark.) 14-4 117

20 20 Baker (Kan.) 15-5 92

21 22 Cumberlands (Ky.) 13-6 88

22 19 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 15-4 83

23 25 Xavier (La.) 16-6 74

24 23 Mobile (Ala.) 14-4 70

25 RV LSU Shreveport (La.) 14-5 53

Others Receiving Votes: Central Methodist (Mo.) 42; Coastal Georgia 38; Lyon (Ark.) 37; Benedictine (Kan.) 26; Southern Poly (Ga.) 13; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 6; Concordia (Calif.) 5; Loyola (La.) 3.

NAIA Men's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

T1 2 Cal State San Marcos (4) 20-1 244

T1 3 Freed-Hardeman (5) 16-0 244

3 4 Pikeville (Ky.) (1) 16-2 234

4 1 SAGU (Texas) 16-2 230

5 8 William Carey (Miss.) 13-2 213

6 7 Columbia (Mo.) 18-2 204

7 6 Talladega (Ala.) 18-3 199

8 8 Concordia (Calif.) 16-4 197

9 15 Benedictine (Kan.) 15-4 196

10 5 Evangel (Mo.) 16-4 176

11 14 Emmanuel (Ga.) 18-2 165

12 23 Vanguard (Calif.) 17-2 161

13 16 Xavier (La.) 16-5 144

14 20 Rio Grande (Ohio) 14-6 135

15 11 Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 15-4 132

16 22 Mid-America Christian 11-5 119

17 RV LSU Shreveport (La.) 13-5 118

18 11 Georgetown (Ky.) 14-5 107

19 18 Montana Western 12-7 106

20 21 Philander Smith (Ark.) 15-5 103

21 10 Wiley (Texas) 14-4 90

22 17 St. Gregory's (Okla.) 15-4 81

23 19 Hope International (Calif.) 14-5 77

24 24 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 12-5 75

T25 24 Great Falls (Mont.) 14-7 63

T25 13 Arizona Christian 15-4 63

Others receiving votes: St. Catharine (Ky.) 30; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 24; Oklahoma City 22; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 14; St. Thomas (Texas) 11; Faulkner (Ala.) 9; Life (Ga.) 8.