Lady Griz rough up Skylights

The game wasn’t going to count toward Montana State University-Northern Skylights’ overall record. But, it didn’t make the final outcome any easier for the Skylights to swallow.

On Tuesday night, the fifth-ranked NAIA Skylights stepped way up in competition, taking on the famed University of Montana Lady Griz, in a game that most certainly wasn’t an exhibition for UM. And, inside Dahlberg in Missoula, the Lady Griz were relentless, beating the Skylights 80-32.

“They (Griz) played great,” said Northern head coach Chris Mouat. “We got off to a really good start. We played well to that first media timeout. So I was proud of the girls for coming out ready to go in a tough environment. But after that, they just steamrolled us. They killed us on the offensive glass, they turned us over, and they physically intimidated us, and we didn’t answer back.”

The Skylights did start off just fine, but, the Lady Griz, coming off a rare, season-opening home loss back on Sunday night, didn’t wait around to take control of the game.

Led by a 17-for-32 shooting performance, Montana built a 37-22 halftime lead. Junior post Alycia Sims had 10 points and Mekayla Isaak eight for the Griz. Sims and Kayleigh Valley each have five rebounds and the Griz had almost twice as many rebounds (19-10).

Down 15 points in most games wouldn’t scare the Skylights, who already have come from behind to win two games this season. But, playing an angry Lady Griz squad on their home floor, the game was pretty much out of reach at intermission.

In the second stanza, the Griz outscored the Skylights 43-10, including holding Northern to just two points in the fourth quarter. While Northern shot a respectable 41 percent in the first half, the Skylights dipped to just 27 percent in the final 20 minutes, and shot just 14 percent from the 3-point-line. Northern also committed 18 turnovers to seven for the Lady Griz, and the Skylights were out-rebounded 43-20.

Montana also put five players in double figures, with Rachel Staudacher scoring 14 points off the bench, Isaak and Sims each scored 12, Sierra Anderson had 11 and Kayleigh Valley scored 10 points. Sims and Valley just missed double-doubles, each finishing with nine rebounds.

“They (Griz) just played great, and we didn’t play well at all; it’s pretty simple,” Mouat said. “It’s disappointing too because we had a great crowd and we’re very appreciative of that Northern support. But we didn’t give them a very good showing and that’s disappointing.”

Jacy Thompson was the only Skylight to reach double figures, as she scored 10 points and made MSU-N’s only two threes of the night. She also had a team-high four rebounds, while Jessica Anderson added eight points and Rachelle Bennett, returning from injury, added six.

While it was a difficult night for the Skylights (5-0), the game won’t hinder their goals going forward. But, Northern must now turn around and play 10th-ranked Wayland Baptist Friday afternoon at a tournament in Great Falls, so Mouat says his team must learn from Tuesday’s game, and get better.

“There are a million things to take and learn from this game,” Mouat said. “We need to do that, and move forward and we need to do it quickly.”

Montana 80, Skylights 32

Northern 10 12 8 2 – 32

Montana 20 17 28 15 – 80

MSU-N – Jessica Anderson 3-6 2-2 8, Sierra Richards 1-3 0-0 2, Jacy Thompson 4-13 0-0 10, Natalee Faupel 1-5 2-6 4, Molly Kreycik 1-5 0-0 2, Kate Fetterer 0-0 0-0 0, Brandy Lambourne 0-0 0-0 0, Rachelle Bennett 1-4 4-4 6, Peyton Filius 0-3 0-0 0, Tina Doughty 0-0 0-0 0, Makhayla Farmer 0-0 0-0 0, Cydney Auzenne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-40 8-12 32.

UM – Kayleigh Valley 5-8 0-0 10, Alycia Sims 4-10 4-4 12, Mekayla Isaak 6-10 0-0 12, Haley Vining 2-6 0-0 6, McCalle Feller 4-8 0-0 9, Maddie Keast 0-2 0-0 0, Sierra Anderson 4-9 2-2 11, Rachel Staudacher 6-9 1-1 14, Hannah Doran 1-2 0-0 2, Jace Henderson 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 34-67 7-7 80.

3-pointers: MSU-N 2-14 (Thompson 2), UM 5-14 (Vining 2, Feller 1, Anderson 1, Staudacher 1); Rebounds: MSU-N 20 (Thompson 4, Richards 4), UM 43 (Valley 9, Sims 9); Fouls: MSU-N 7, UM 14; Fouled out: None.