Skylights Roll Blue Raiders

It has been a magical season for the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team and thanks to a dominant defensive effort and an even more dominant performance by A’Jha Edwards, the Skylights season will live on for at least another game.

With their eyes set squarely on making a deep run in the NAIA national tournament, the Skylights took a positive first step towards reaching that goal with a 60-42 win over Lindsey Wilson Wednesday in Independence, Missouri in opening-round action.

After falling in an early 15-10 hole, Northern did what it does best: play tough defense and feed the ball to Edwards. Both worked like a charm and the Skylights ended the first half on a 20-3 run that put them ahead 30-18 at the intermission.

In the second half, things got away from the Blue Raiders quickly as a 3-pointer by Natalee Faupel and a three-point play by Edwards helped extend the lead to 40-22. From there, the Skylights never looked back as they rolled to the 18-point win.

Edwards, the two-time All American and Frontier Conference player of the year, was her usual excellent self and scored a game-high 25 points, while also collecting 16 rebounds in the win. Faupel added 12 points. Chanel Roberts was the only Blue Raider to finish in double figures with 16 points.

With the win, the Skylights improved to 28-5 on the season and will be back in action at the NAIA tournament on Friday at 2:15 p.m., in the round of 16.