Skylights ink transfer post player

When the 2014-15 basketball season came to an end at the NAIA national tournament for the Montana State University-Northern Skylights, so too did the careers of three post players, including 6-5 All-American A'Jha Edwards.

Now, Northern head coach Chris Mouat is starting to build in the post for Northern's future and the beginning comes with the signing of junior college transfer Jessica Anderson. Mouat announced the signing of Anderson (6-4) to an NAIA national letter of intent last week. She comes to MSU-N from Utah State-Eastern where she helped the Golden Eagles to an 18-9 record last season.

"Jessica is a huge addition to our program," Mouat said. "She can finish around the rim, she can play with her back to the basket, and she is a very capable shooter from the perimeter (including from the 3-point line). She brings immediate depth to the post position which is a major focus for us given what we are losing to graduation. We are really looking forward to her progress in a Skylight uniform."

Anderson started her career at NCAA Division II Dixie State then transferred to Utah State-Eastern following her freshman season. As a true freshman at Dixie State, she saw action in 25 games, averaging 2.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. She also shot 50 percent from the field. At Utah State-Eastern this season, she averaged 7.6 points and 6 rebounds per game. She shot 73 percent from the free-throw-line and 47 percent from the field.

"Jessica only played about 18 minutes per game at Utah State-Eastern so her numbers are a bit deceiving," Mouat said. "Their style is really up-tempo and they play a ton of kids and they had a lot of success. We've been fortunate to have other post players from Utah State-Eastern come to Northern and do great things, so we have a good track record working with coach Paur and his players. I think Jessica will be a perfect fit in our system and will benefit a great deal from our style of play."

MSU-Northern is coming off of a 29-6 season that saw them advance to the Elite 8 at the NAIA national tournament.