Skylights, Lights turn away Blue Hawks

The Dickinson State Blue Hawks have been a long-standing thorn in the side of both Montana State University-Northern basketball teams. And, in their most recent trip to the Armory Gymnasium, the Blue Hawks made things exciting again.

But in the end, the Northern men and women made it a clean sweep Saturday afternoon at the Armory Gymnasium, as the Skylights beat DSU in a thriller, while the Lights pulled away from the Blue Hawks late, as both Northern teams remained undefeated on the season.

The sixth-ranked Northern women knew they would be in for a fight Saturday as unbeaten DSU marched into the Armory playing well. And a fight as is exactly what the Skylights got — and gave — in a wild, 69-67 win.

Northern was tied with DSU with just seconds left in regulation when junior Natalee Faupel drove the lane and scored with just two seconds remaining, lifting MSU-N to the win, and a 5-0 start to the season.

“Everything about this one felt like a conference game today,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “And it could have gone either way. Dickinson is really good. They were ready. They came in and punched us in the mouth right away. They had us on our heels, and we needed to respond. And I thought, when we had to most, we did that.”

The Blue Hawks were on fire early, leading 20-13 after 10 minutes. Northern rallied behind the strong play of Sierra Richards, Jessica Anderson and Makhayla Farmer in the post, and the Skylights trailed 35-30 at intermission. Still, the Blue Hawks were dominating on the boards and in the post, and MSU-N would need a lift in the second half.

“They destroyed us on the boards,” Mouat said of DSU’s 37-20 edge in the rebounding department. “That was a big story. They got too many second chances in the first half. So we needed to step up and match their intensity in the second half.”

The Skylights did, getting some key stops, and out-scoring the Blue Hawks 22-17 in the third quarter. Then, Jacy Thompson also made some critical 3-pointers in the second stanza to help Northern claw back into the game. Free throws by Molly Kreycik with 40 seconds left added to the comeback, and Northern escaped with a spectacular win.

“We were in a fight,” Mouat said. “We knew how good Dickinson is, and they played like it today. They are so tough inside. But I thought we did a great job of stepping up in the second half. I thought every player who played tonight did a great job of doing something to help us come back and win that game. Our depth was big for us.”

Northern was also balanced. Thompson finished with 19 points, while Faupel hit for 18 and the game winner. Richards added 11 and five rebounds. Anderson added 10 points and Kreycik chipped in with a critical five. DSU got a game-high 23 points from Leslie Beaudoin, while Janiqua Thomas scored 20.

The win was a big one for the Skylights going forward, as they now get ready to head to the mighty University of Montana Lady Griz, then play back-to-back games against tough NAIA opponents in Great Falls.

“This game was a test of our grit,” Mouat said. “It felt like whoever had the ball last was going to win it. It was a great, intense basketball game, and I’m really proud of the kids for finding a way to win it.”

Lights 76, DSU 65

In the men’s game, the Blue Hawks were equally pesky. However, by way of the 3-pointer, the Lights were able to pull away late in the second half for a 76-65 win, which gets the Lights off to a 5-0 start this season.

“Our guys had to really fight tonight, on both ends of the floor,” Huse said. “They (Blue Hawks) had us in the size category. They are a big, athletic team, they played some very good defense on us. They really pressured us. So it was a really good test for our guys, and I thought we did a great job of hanging in there early and putting it away late.”

Early on, the Lights did have to hang in, but 3-pointers from Justin Dunsmore and Warren Edmonson helped push Northern to a 34-28 halftime lead. Edmonson and Dylan Tatarka hit back-to-back three’s to start the second stanza and Northern was up by nine point.

DSU responded though and tied the game at 50-50 with just under 10 minutes to go. And once again, the Lights found themselves back in a dogfight.

“I thought we did some things, made some mistakes that allowed them to come back on us,” Huse said. “But then our guys did a good job of not getting down. They came right back, got some stops and made some big shots to help us get a comfortable lead again. And I was really proud of the way we finished from there.”

Northern’s comfortable lead came via a 14-1 run. It was sparked by a K.J. Rech triple, while Trevail Lee made three bombs and five free throws in the final six minutes to help the Lights put the game away for good.

Lee finished with four threes and a game-high 19 points, but the Lights were again balanced. Edmonson added 14 with three 3-pointers, while the Lights made 16 triples in all. Tyler Chandler also hit three from beyond the arc to score 11 points, while Rech added 10 points and five rebounds.

“I thought we got a lot of good contributions,” Huse said. “It was another really good team win against a team (DSU) that’s going to make a lot of noise in their conference this season.”

The Lights now head to Las Vegas for games against Benedictine Friday and Arizona Christian Saturday. Northern doesn’t play at home again until Jan. 2-3.

Skylights 69, Blue Hawks 67

Dickinson State 20 15 17 15 – 67

Northern 13 17 22 17 – 69

DSU – Megan Klein 5-7 1-2 13, Janniqua Thomas 8-18 4-6 20, Lorna Shepherd 0-3 4-6 4, Taylor Hennigsgard 2-4 1-2 6, Leslie Beaudoin 9-12 4-5 23, Asdhley Bentz 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 25-52 14- 21 67.

MSU-N – Sierra Richards 5-8 1-2 11, Jessica Anderson 5-6 0-0 10, Jacy Thompson 7-10 2-4 19, Natalee Faupel 6-14 6-7 18, Molly Kreycik 2-8 2-2 7, Kate Fetterer 0-0 0-0 0, Brandy Lambourne 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Filius 0-3 0-0 0, Makhayla Farmer 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 27-53 11-16 69.

3-pointers: DSU 3-7 (Henningsgard 1, Beaudoin 1, Bentz 1), MSU-N 4-15 (Thompson 3, Kreycik 1). Rebounds: DSU 37 (Klein 13), MSU-N 20 (Richards 5). Fouls: DSU 19, MSU-N 17. Fouled out: None.

Lights 76, Blue Hawks 65

DSU – Mykla Brown 2-7 0-0 4, Gilbert Shogreen Jr. 7-10 0-0 14, Brandon Ruffin 3-10 1-2 7, Curtis Redd 4-7 0-0 9, Julian Vazquez 2-6 2-2 6, Billy Engel 0-2 2-2 2, Jacob Gondrezik 3-7 2-2 10, Stephon Dafney 3-6 0-0 7, Thomas Cowen 2-3 2-4 6. Totals: 26-58 10-15 65.

MSU-N – David Straughter 0-4 0-0 0, KJ Rech 3-7 1-2 10, Trevail Lee 4-9 7-8 19, Warren Edmonson 4-13 3-4 14, Dylan Tatarka 2-4 0-0 5, Badhasa Margarsan 1-1 4-4 7, Kevin Oberweiser 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Dunsmore 1-3 0-0 3, Brett Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Chandler 3-8 2-2 11, Nikola Ivanovic 0-0 0-0 0, William Walker 2-3 3-4 7, Ryan Reeves 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-53 20-24 76.

Halftime: Northern 34-28. 3-pointers: DSU 3-14 (Gondrezik 2, Dafney 1), MSU-N 16-34 (Lee 4, Edmonson 3Tatarka 1, Margarsa 1Chandler 3). Rebounds: DSU 22 (Brown 5), MSU-N 29 (Rech 5). Fouls: DSU 21, MSU-N 21. Fouled out: Rech, Brown.