Skylights thump Warriors, Lights fall

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights were in need of some positivity. In the last two weeks, Northern lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to Westminster College, and a rivalry road game at the University of Great Falls.

But, in a place that has rarely been a positive experience for MSU-N, the No. 10 Skylights turned things around in a big, big way. Thursday night in Lewiston, Idaho, Northern knocked off the No. 22 Lewis-Clark State Warriors 66-46, snapping a brief two-game losing streak. The win was also a rare victory for the Skylights in Lewiston, and it ensured something equally as rare — a season sweep of the Warriors. Northern also beat LC State by two points last month in Havre.

“Just very proud of our team right now,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “This was a gut-check game for us. We had to get back to being ourselves to have any chance in this game, and I thought we did that, especially defensively and on the boards. We played really well to that end. And we made shots tonight. This (LC State) is a tough place to win. But our kids came in and got it done together. This win means a lot for us moving forward.”

And in a game that had all the makings of a trap game for the Skylights, Northern responded with one of its most complete performances of the season. The Skylights shot a blistering 52 percent from the floor, and they clamped down on the defensive end. They held the high-powered Warriors to just 30 percent shooting and just 24 percent from beyond the arc. Northern also held a commanding edge, 38-29 on the boards, and defense and rebounding were two things Mouat said his team must do in order to escape Lewiston with a win.

LC State also was no match for Northern’s duo of Natalee Faupel and A’Jha Edwards. Faupel scored 16 points in the first half as the Skylights led 27-21. Then, together, she and Edwards took over the game. The Skylights ripped off two different 8-0 runs in the second half, while Faupel wound up with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, to go along with three 3-pointers and eight assists. On in the interior, Edwards scored 14 of her 22 points in the second stanza on her way to her 17th double-double of the season. She also grabbed 16 rebounds as the Skylights improved to 6-2 in the Frontier Conference and 21-3 overall. Taylor Cummings finished with seven points, while only Caelyn Orlandi got into double figures for LCSC, with 11 points.

Now that they're back in the win column, the Skylights will go for a clean road sweep when they visit Montana Tech Saturday night in Butte.

Warriors run over Lights

Also Thursday night, the Lewis-Clark State men proved to be too much of a tough matchup for the MSU-N Lights. In Lewiston, the Lights saw their three-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the host Warriors.

LC State jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead, and the Warriors would never trail on their way to a 79-52 win over the Lights. The loss meant a season sweep at the hands of the Warriors for the Lights, who also dipped to 3-5 in the Frontier Conference and 14-10 overall.

Falling behind by double digits midway through the first half, the Lights, who were without senior starter Nick Blount, could never recover on either end of the floor. The Warriors shot a blistering 52 percent from the field and got a game-high 22 points from Jacob Wiley, while the Lights went just 5-of-18 from the 3-point-line and shot just 33 percent on the night. Seniors Corbin Pearson and Pat Jensen led the way with 11 points each. Jensen has stepped up big for the Lights in recent games, and he hit a pair of 3-pointers Thursday night.

Northern will try and regroup when it visits Montana Tech Saturday night in Butte.

Skylights 66, LC State 46

MSU-N – Natalee Faupel 9-14 2-3 23, Brandy Lambourne 1-3 0-0 2, Taylor Cummings 3-5 0-0 7, Megan Feldman 2-7 0-0 4, Molly Kreycik 2-7 1-2 6, A'Jha Edwards 11-19 0-0 22, Makhayla Farmer 0-0 0-0 0, Taybra Teeters 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 29-56 3-5 66.

Halftime: Northern 25-17. 3-pointers MSU-N 5-11 (Faupel 3, Cummings 1, Kreycik 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 38 (Edwards 16); Fouls: MSU-N 13; Fouled out: None.

LC State 79, Lights 52

MSU-N – Trevail Lee 1-6, 0-0 3, Jermaine Graves 2-4 0-0 4, Corbin Pearson 5-10 0-2 11, Warren Edmonson 2-9 3-4 7, Dylan Tatarka 3-6 0-0 7, Brett Thompson 0-0 4-4 4, Damian Robinson 0-3 3-4 3, Pat Jensen 3-5 3-5 11, KJ Rech 0-5 2-2 2. Totals: 16-48 15-21 52.

Halftime: LC State 41-20. 3-pointers: MSU-N 5-18 (Lee 1, Pearson 1, Tatarka 1, Jensen 2); Rebounds: MSU-N 26 (Tatarka 6); Fouls: MSU-N 18; Fouled out: None.