MSU-Northern hoops head north

After an exciting four games in the Armory Gymnasium, it’s on to the road for both the Montana State University-Northern men’s and women’s basketball teams. And it’s going to be a long road.

Both the Lights and Skylights are in Lethbridge, Alberta, this weekend for a pair of games against CIS powers. Friday, the Northern women face Mount Royal University and the men take on the University of Alberta. Saturday, both the Skylights and Lights face the University of Lethbridge.

The Skylights, who are off to a 3-0 start, and beat Northwest Indian College and Warner-Pacific handily at home last weekend, are playing in Canada for the second time this young season. And while Northern was dominant on its season-opening trip to Edmonton earlier this month, veteran head coach Chris Mouat expects a much tougher trip north of the border this time around.

“We don’t have a lot on Mount Royal right now,” Mouat said. “But they’re usually very solid, and we won’t take them lightly for sure. Lethbridge, we know will be a tremendous challenge for us. We play them every year. Kim Veldman would be a player of the year candidate in the Frontier Conference. They (Pronghorns) played down here in the states last weekend, and played very tough. So we’re going to have to play really well.”

The Skylights have done just that so far. Northern is winning by an average of 27 points per game and is holding teams to an average of just 34 points per game. The Skylights are also averaging 35 defensive rebounds per outing. Individually, sophomore Natalee Faupel is scoring 16 points per game, while senior A’Jha Edwards averages a double-double at 10 points and 11 rebounds per night. Northern has also gotten to use its bench deep into games, including Taryn Norby and freshmen Brandy Lambourne and Makhayla Farmer, while fellow freshman Jacy Thompson is currently starting for the Skylights.

However, as well as things have gone so far, Mouat said the goal is to keep getting better, and in order to win two more games in Canada, the Skylights need to get better right away.

“I think we have to be better in both games this weekend,” Mouat said. “It will be different rules and we’re playing to very capable teams. So we need to have a sense of urgency in these two games.”

The Lights are on a similar path. Northern is off to a 4-0 start, and walloped both Northwest Indian College and Lethbridge last weekend at home.

MSU-N has started off the season shooting well, averaging 11 3-pointers per game. Northern was especially hot in last Friday’s win over the Pronghorns, where the Lights made 13 threes. Individually, MSU-N is balanced and showing depth. Nick Blount and Warren Edmonson both average 13 points per game, while Damien Robinson scores 11. After that, the Lights have six more players averaging between six and eight points per night.

However, like the women’s team, the Lights know it must play at an even higher level on the Canadian trip this weekend.

“Alberta is a team that has even more size than Lethbridge does,” said head coach Shawn Huse. “Including a guy who is 7-1. So that’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us defensively. Alberta is a strong CIS team and they will really test us.

“Lethbridge, we know what they have, and we expect the game in their gym to be much more difficult,” Huse added. “We’re playing with different rules, which means we have to play really smart basketball on both ends of the floor. Both of those games are going to be very tough, and we’re going to have to play very well, and very smart if we’re going to have success up there.”

Both the Lights and Skylights are playing away from home for an extended period of time as well. The MSU-N women don’t play another home game until Nov. 30, while the Lights don’t play in Havre again until Jan. 2.

Friday, the Skylights play Mount Royal at 2 p.m., while the Lights face Alberta at 8 p.m. Saturday, the Skylights take on Lethbridge at 3 p.m. and the Lights battle the Pronghorns immediately after.