Skylights face tough rematch at Blue Hawks

The Dickinson State women’s basketball team has some very impressive wins this season, and just one blemish on its record. That one blemish just happens to be a loss to the still unbeaten Montana State University-Northern Skylights.

And that’s why Northern head coach Chris Mouat believes Saturday’s rematch between the No. 6 Skylights (6-0) and Blue Hawks (6-1) will be one of Northern’s toughest games to date when they meet Saturday in Dickinson, North Dakota.

“They’re (Blue Hawks) really good, they’re playing great basketball right now,” Mouat said. “They just killed Minot State and beat Montana Tech, too. They are going to be ranked very high when the new polls come out. So, we’re walking into a buzzsaw on Saturday for sure.”

The Skylights already saw just how good the Blue Hawks were in a 69-67 win over DSU earlier this month at the Armory Gymnasium. In that game, Northern had to rally in the second half to pull off a huge home win, and now that the tables are turned, and DSU gets the Skylights on its home floor, things could get even more difficult for Northern.

Still, as talented as the Blue Hawks are, and as dominant as they’ve been so far this fall, the Skylights have proven to be pretty good, too. Northern goes to DSU fresh off its biggest win of the season, an overtime victory of No. 10 Wayland Baptist last Friday in Great Falls. In that game, sophomore Jacy Thompson came within one point of tying the MSU-N record for points in a game when she poured in 39 points in the Skylights’ thrilling win over the Queens.

And having Thompson as a dangerous scoring threat certainly makes MSU-N much more difficult to defend. That’s because, as good as the Blue Hawks are, they can’t just key on Northern junior Natalee Faupel, and her 15 points per game. No, the Skylights, with Thompson and Faupel, and the strong inside play of Sierra Richards, are becoming more and more balanced with every game.

And of course, as good as DSU is and as big as the Blue Hawks are in the post, they have to contend with a tenacious MSU-N defense, one that is again among the top scoring defenses in NAIA Division I.

Northern is also bringing to DSU a team that has been through the wringer as of late. The Skylights’ game with the Blue Hawks back on Nov. 7 was the start of a testing stretch for MSU-N, which saw the Skylights also play the famed University of Montana Lady Griz in Missoula, then rebound to beat Wayland Baptist two days later. So, even though the Blue Hawks have played their own brutal schedule, Northern has too, and that is just another reason why Saturday’s game will be so competitive.

It’s also the last chance for the Skylights to tune up before they open Frontier Conference play next weekend at Rocky Mountain College and UM-Western.

“The game against Wayland Baptist was huge for us,” Mouat said. “It was a huge win, and it was huge because it was very much like a Frontier Conference game. And that’s what we’re going to be facing when we go to Dickinson. They are very much like a Frontier team, and playing them on their home floor, it’s going to be a big challenge for us. They are very, very dangerous, they are very well-coached, and we’re going to have to play very well to have a chance against them.”

Saturday’s game between the Skylights and Blue Hawks will tip off at 5 p.m. in Dickinson, North Dakota The Skylights are also on the road next Thursday, visiting RMC, before moving on to face UM-Western next Saturday in Dillon. Northern will then return home to host Northern New Mexico Dec. 14.