Skylights shoot down Eagles

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights aren’t going to be perfect in October. And probably not in November either. But if their second, and unfortunately last game of the Duck Inn Classic is any indication, perfection is exactly what the Skylights are striving for, because even in the season’s infancy, they are looking pretty darn good.

On Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium, Northern improved to 2-0 on the young season — doing it by blowing out The King’s University, 89-24. MSU-N was supposed to have a chance to get to 3-0 by tonight, but its game with Northwest Indian College was called off because the school failed to show up for the tournament.

Still, after two games, MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat likes what he sees from his new-look Skylights.

“I was happy to see tonight we didn’t have much of a letup,” Mouat said. “We came right back tonight and the physical effort was there again. I thought we were especially good defensively, and we rebounded the ball really well. Offensively, we did a great job of sharing the ball.”

The Skylights were, once again, really good offensively, and the Eagles could do little to stop it. Behind quick baskets from Sierra Richards, a bunch of fast break layups and a 3-pointer from Jacy Thompson, the Skylights rattled off a 19-0 run in the first quarter and led 27-9 after 10 minutes.

From there, the MSU-N defense took hold of the game, as the Skylights held the Eagles scoreless in the second quarter. And triples by Peyton Filius and Tina Doughty helped extend MSU-N’s lead to a commanding 41-9 at intermission.

For the second night in a row, the 3-point shot, and in particular, Filius, was the catalyst. The red-shirt freshman from Havre bombed in five treys, including two in the third quarter to help the Skylights to another big run, and put the Eagles away. For good measure, Filius hit two more bombs in the fourth stanza, while Thompson and Katie Fetterer got into the barrage as well. In all, Northern hit 11 triples and shot better than 45 percent from the field against the overwhelmed Eagles. Filius would finish with a game-high 15 points.

“I thought we really moved the ball well,” Mouat said. “Our guards were making the right passes, and getting us into some good stuff. Offensively, I thought we were pretty sharp in stretches tonight, and that was nice to see for how early it is.”

Northern was balanced, too. Junior Jessica Anderson was one of five Skylights in double figures with 14 points. Senior Rachelle Bennett added 13 points, while Thompson and Natalee Faupel each scored 10. Richards came close to her second double-double with eight points and 10 boards, while the MSU-N defense held the Eagles to a miserable 19 percent from the field, and forced 23 turnovers.

In all, for the second night in a row, every Northern player saw significant minutes, and contributed in the box score. And, with games at home so early in the season, that’s exactly what Mouat was looking for — and. so far, he likes what he sees.

“A lot of kids got a lot of minutes, and with different lineups too,” Mouat said. “We are trying to figure out roles for all of these kids right now, and we were able to do that with these last two games. They learned a lot about each other, and we learned a lot about our players in these two games … and we were able to get two wins.

“This is a process right now, and these two games were the first step,” he continued. “And I feel good about that first step. We aren’t perfect, not even close to it right now. But again, there were a ton of positives tonight, and that’s what we were hoping to see.”

The Skylights won’t be back to regular season action until an Oct. 23 home game against Mount Royal University. In the meantime, Northern (2-0) will head to Glasgow next Saturday for a practice scrimmage with Miles Community College.

Note: The Duck Inn Classic continues with games today between UGF and Concordia and Rocky Mountain College and The King's University. The tournament concludes Saturday night with a game between The King's and UGF.

Skylights 89, The King's 24

MSU-Northern 27 14 27 21 – 89

King's University 9 0 10 5 – 24

MSU-N – Sierra Richards 4-7 0-0 10, Jacy Thompson 4-8 0-0 10, Natalee Faupel 5-8 0-0 10, Rachelle Bennett 4-8 4-4 13, Molly Kreycik 1-6 2-2 4, Katie Fetterer 1-7 0-0 3, Brandy Lambourne 1-3 0-0 3, Peyton Filius 5-9 0-0 15, Makhayla Farmer 1-4 0-0 2, Tina Doughty 3-7 0-0 7, Jessica Anderson 7-13 0-0 14. Totals: 38-80 6-7 89.

KU – Natasha Breitkruetz 1-5 0-4 2, Amy Whitesell 4-15 0-0 10, Jillian Vander Vinne 2-3 0-0 4, Sarah Bomhof 1-4 0-0 2, Jessica Glanz 1-1 1-2 3, Michelle Martyniak 0-5 1-2 1, Rachel Bootsma 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 10-52 2-9 24.

3-pointers: MSU-N 11-27 (Thompson 2, Bennett 1, Fetterer 1, Lambourne 1, Filius 5, Doughty 1), KU 2-12 (Whitesell 2). Rebounds: MSU-N 54 (Richards 10), KU 30 (Martyniak 5). Fouls: MSU-N 8, KU 7. Fouled out: None.