Skylights clip Blue Hawks

Montana State University-Northern head women’s basketball coach Chris Mouat knew his three-game stretch of Dickinson State at home, Wayland Baptist in Great Falls and a return trip to Dickinson State was going to be brutally difficult.

But, thanks to an absolutely gutsy performance by his Skylights Saturday night in Dickinson, North Dakota, the Skylights emerged from that brutal stretch with a still-perfect record. Northern’s latest win came via a 61-58 thriller over the mighty Blue Hawks on Saturday.

“I’m just really proud of our kids,” Mouat said. “That is a heck of a win for our program. It wasn’t a pretty game, and Dickinson is very, very talented. But, somehow, we found a way.”

Just like when No. 6 Northern beat the Blue Hawks by the slimmest of margins earlier this month in Havre, the Skylights had to find a way to dig deep in the fourth quarter again Saturday night. But, it didn’t start out that way.

MSU-N started the game strong. The Skylights jumped out to an early 15-8. The Blue Hawks brought the advantage to 17-12 by the end of the first quarter and had it down to 18-16 with 6 minutes left in the second. The Lights went into the locker room at halftime with a 32-26 lead.

But DSU responded with a huge third period. The Blue Hawks started the third quarter with a 7-0 run. After a midrange jumper and reverse layup from Klein and an and-one from junior guard Lorna Shepherd, DSU took its first lead since the first frame at 33-32. Klein made another left-handed layup and junior guard MacKayla Feeney netted a trey to extend DSU’s lead to 40-35, leading to a 46-42 advantage to start the fourth quarter.

And with DSU defending Northern’s two leading scorers, Natalee Faupel and Jacy Thompson, so well, in order to come back, the Skylights needed new heroes to rise up, and they did, in particular, sophomore point guard Brandy Lambourne.

The final 10 minutes is where Lambourne stepped. She connected on a 3-pointer, then pickpocketed DSU’s Taylor Henningsgard as she brought the ball down the court for a transition layup to give the Skylights a 56-50 lead with 5:03 remaining. Lambourne would get another crucial steal later in the period, while MSU-N also got a huge 3-pointer from Katie Fetterer in the comeback.

DSU would have chances down the stretch still, but Northern’s defense rose to the occasion time and time again. The Skylights forced a miss on a game-tying try with under a minute to go, and DSU had the ball for the final shot, and a chance to tie, but MSU-N’s stingy defense never really let the Blue Hawks get a quality look at a game-tying trey.

“We got key stops down the stretch,” Mouat said. “And we just made plays. We got really good production from the kids who are not typically our leading scorers. And those were Brandy, Rachelle (Bennett) and Sierra Richards. They all made huge plays for us, and Brandy really stepped up and ultimately saved us. She just played amazing and I’m really proud of her.”

Lambourne drilled a career-high four triples and scored 14 points for the Skylights. Bennett and Thompson each added 10 points, while Molly Kreycik had a strong game with nine points, and Richards added eight points and eight rebounds. Northern was also 9-of-19 from beyond the arc, but its rebounding and defense of DSU’s dangerous 3-point shooters was also critical.

“We didn’t win on the boards, but we were much better than the first time we played them,” Mouat said. “And that was big. I was really proud of how our kids fought to every loose ball and fought for every board. And we held them to only 13 attempts from three, so our perimeter defense was really good.”

And so was the win itself. DSU has lust just two games all season, and both are at the hands of Northern, which is now 7-0 on the season. The Blue Hawks also have three wins over NCAA Division II teams this season, so for the Skylights to sweep their rivals from North Dakota, that’s a huge confidence booster as Frontier Conference play begins later this week.

“This was a great win for us,” Mouat said. “We were playing a very good basketball team, in a hostile environment, in front of a huge crowd. So it’s really big. It was great prep for what we’re going to see in these conference games coming up, and I couldn’t be more proud of our kids for finding a way to get it done.”

The Skylights will open league play Thursday night at Rocky Mountain College. They also visit UM-Western Saturday night in Dillon.

Skylights 61, Dickinson State 58

MSU-N 17 15 10 19 - 61

DSU 12 14 20 12 - 58

MSU-N (7-0): Sierra Richards 3-12 2-2 8, Jacy Thompson 4-8 0-0 10, Natalee Faupel 2-5 1-2 5, Rachelle Bennett 3-9 3-3 10, Molly Kreycik 4-12 0-0 9, Katie Fertterer 1-3 0-0 1, Brandy Lambourne 5-7 0-0 14, Jessica Anderson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 23-59 6-7 61.

DSU (6-2): Megan Klein 8-13 1-1 17, Janniqua Thomas 11-16 23, MacKayla Feeney 1-8 0-0 3, Paitton Herbst 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Henningsgard 0-4 2-2 2, Lorna Shepherd 2-4 1-1 5, Leslie Beaudoin 0-2 2-2 2, Ashley Bentz 3-10 0-0 7, Rachael McDonough 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-59 7-7 59.

Total fouls: MSUN 11, DSU 10. 3-point goals: MSUN 9-19 (Thompson 2-4, Bennett 1-3, Kreycik 1-3, Fertterer 1-2, Lambourne 4-6), DSU 2-13 (Klein 0-1, Feeney 1-4, Herbst 0-1, Bentz 1-6, McDonough 0-1). Rebounds: MSUN 33 (Richards 7), DSU 38 (Thomas 9). Assists: MSUN 8 (Kreycik 3), DSU 14 (Henningsgard 4). Steals: MSUN 8 (three tied with 2), DSU 5 (five tied with 1). Blocks: MSUN 0, DSU 0. Turnovers: MSUN 13, DSU 14.