Skylights stay perfect

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights certainly know how to win on the road. After all, they’ve been playing on the road for most of the season thus far.

And Northern had to put that road experience to good use last Thursday night, as the No. 21 Skylights pulled out a hard-fought win over NCAA DIII Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

The 73-63 win over Willamette was the first of a three-game road sweep for MSU-N on the weekend. Northern also took care of Multnomah Bible College Friday night in Portland, Oregon, and Walla Walla University Saturday night in Walla Walla, Washington.

And while the latter two games were blowouts, Thursday night’s game against Willamette was anything but. The Skylights fell behind early on, but did come right back and take the lead. From there, Northern never trailed again, but the game was tight the whole way. Northern led by just two points late, but good free-throw shooting and good defense allowed the Skylights to gain an edge and leave with a big road win.

“Thursday was a very tough game against a well coached and very prepared team,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “They got off to a quick, early lead, and we had to rally quickly. We got the lead back and never did trail in about the last 30 minutes. They cut it to two a couple of different times, but we responded with baskets and key stops. Down the stretch we executed very well and defended. Willamette shot the ball well from three and had us on our heels a few times. They played a great game. It was a quality win for our team, for sure.”

A’Jha Edwards and Natalee Faupel came up big for the Skylights, each scoring 19 points in the win. Edwards also had a double-double with 10 rebounds, while Taylor Cummings was outstanding as well, scoring 13 points and going 9-of-10 from the foul line.

After Thursday night’s battle, the Skylights cruised in their next two games.

Against Multnomah, Northern made 10 3-pointers and raced out to a 37-16 lead at intermission. For the first of two nights, MSU-N was able to play its entire roster in what ended up being an 80-29 victory.

Edwards scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed seven boards, while Molly Kreycik nailed three triples and scored 11. Taryn Norby came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points, while senior Taybra Teeters added nine.

Northern also rolled right through Walla Walla Saturday night. In an 89-34 victory, the Skylights’ defense held the Wolves to just 13 points in the second half. MSU-N led 45-21 at intermission.

Edwards had her second double-double of the trip, scoring 21 points and pulling down 10 boards, but every Skylight got into the act. Megan Feldman scored 10 points, while Cydney Auzenne came in and scored a career-high 10. Freshman Jacy Thompson also had a big night, hitting five three’s and scoring 21 points.

“Friday and Saturday, we saw two teams without a lot of size and were able to really get going inside,” Mouat said. “We shared the ball very well and everyone played and contributed.

“Our effort in all three games was very good,” he continued. “We also found a lot of things we need to work on moving forward. It was a nice way to head into the break.”

Northern improved to an impressive 14-0 with the three road wins this weekend, and the Skylights should move up considerably when the new NAIA Coaches Poll is released later this week.

MSU-N is now off until the Skylights travel to Florida for their final two non-conference games Dec. 30-31. The Skylights will then return home to open Frontier Conference play Jan. 9 against Montana Tech.

Skylights 73, Willamette 63

MSU-N – Jacy Thompson 2-3 0-0 6, Natalee Faupel 8-11 2-4 19, Taylor Cummings 2-5 9-10 13, Megan Feldman 3-5 2-4 8, A'Jha Edwards 9-14 1-1 19, Molly Kreycik 0-0 0-0 0, Makhayla Farmer 0-1 0-0 0, Taybra Teeters 4-6 0-0 8, Brandy Lambourne 0-0 0-0 0, Taryn Norby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-45 14-19.

Halftime: Northern 35-20. 3-pointers: 3-4 (Thompson 2, Faupel 1). Rebounds: 21 (Edwards 10). Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

Skylights 80, Multnomah 29

MSU-N – Taybra Teeters 4-5 0-0 9, Taylor Cummings 3-5 0-0 8, Jacy Thompson 2-5 0-0 6, Megan Feldman 3-4 0-0 6, Natalee Faupel 1-5 1-1 3, A'Jha Edwards 9-9 3-6 21, Taryn Norby 4-8 5-6 15, Molly Kreycik 4-9 0-0 11, Cydney Auzenne 0-0 1-3 1, Brandy Lambourne 0-1 0-0 0, Makhayla Farmer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-51 10-16 80.

Halftime: Northern 37-16. 3-pointers: 10-24 (Teeters 1, Cummings 2, Thompson 2, Norby 2, Kreycik 3). Rebounds: 31 (Edwards 7, Kreycik 7). Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

Skylights 89, Walla Walla 34

MSU-N – Megan Feldman 5-6 0-0 10, Taybra Teeters 1-4 0-0 2, Jacy Thompson 8-14 0-0 21, Natalee Faupel 1-6 2-2 5, Taylor Cummings 2-8 0-0 5, Brandy Lambourne 1-3 0-0 2, Taryn Norby 0-3 4-4 4, Molly Kreycik 1-4 0-0 3, A'Jha Edwards 9-12 5-5 21, Makhayla Farmer 3-6 0-0 6, Cydney Auzenne 3-6 4-4 10. Totals: 33-72 15-15 89.

Halftime: Northern 45-21. 3-pointers: 8-28 (Thompson 5, Faupel 1, Cummings 1, Kreycik 1). Rebounds: 57 (Edwards 11). Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.