Skylights win at Western; Lights fall to Dawgs

The Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team has had its back to the wall several times this season. But never more than Saturday night in Dillon.

Northern, having lost its Frontier Conference opener to Rocky Mountain College last Thursday night, found itself trailing UM-Western by four points with under three minutes to play, and in danger of starting 0-2 in league play. But, the resilient Skylights responded, coming back to beat the Bulldogs 52-48 Saturday night. The win improved No. 6 MSU-N to 1-1 in league play and 8-1 overall.

“It was a gut check for us,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said of the win in Dillon. “It wasn’t pretty, we were tired, and Western played really well and did a lot of good things against us. So, I’m just really proud of our kids for just finding a way. They simply found a way to get it done.”

Northern played extremely well on the defensive end, holding the Bulldogs to just 35 percent shooting and one 3-pointer all night. And that helped MSU-N stay in front. The Skylights led 15-8 after 10 minutes and took a 27-24 lead into halftime. Northern also led 39-32 at the end of three quarters, and several times, extended the lead beyond 10 points. But, a tough shooting night, and a talented Western team meant the Skylights found themselves struggling to close the game out. And that’s when Northern’s defense turned up the heat.

“We just didn’t shoot it well enough to ever extend our lead,” Mouat said. “Credit Western for doing some really good things defensively against us. But we just didn’t make enough big shots, and all of a sudden, we’re down four with 2.5 minutes to go.

“But, I thought our defense really came up with some huge stops down the stretch,” he added. “And in the end, we made just enough shots to come back and win the game. So again, I’m just really proud of our kids for finding a way down the stretch.”

MSU-N did struggle offensively, shooting just 35 percent from the floor and making a mere two triples. Those two trey’s came from Jacy Thompson, who scored 12 points, while Rachelle Bennett scored 14 points and Sierra Richards added eight points and six rebounds. Western, which fell to 0-2 in league play, got a game-high 17 points from Brandy Bookout.

And while Mouat admitted the win wasn’t a pretty win, it was still a much-needed one considering what happened to the Skylights in their opening loss at Rocky Mountain College.

“Our effort, our rebounding and our defense was 10 times better than it was on Thursday night,” Mouat said. “Our defense was outstanding all night against a really explosive Western team. So, this was a big win for us. It was really good to see our kids bounce back and win a game like this.”

The Skylights will return to non-conference play Dec. 14 when they host Northern New Mexico at the Armory Gymnasium. Frontier play resumes Jan. 7 when Northern hosts UGF.

Dawgs turn away Lights

Things didn’t go nearly as well for the MSU-N men in Dillon. Coming off an impressive overtime win at RMC last Thursday night, the Lights were hoping to make it a sweep against No. 23 Western. But, the Bulldogs had other plans.

Western pretty much led from start to finish in a 72-57 Frontier win Saturday night. The loss dropped the Lights to 1-1 in league play and 8-2 overall.

The first half was one of big runs. Western started the game on a 16-4 spurt, but the Lights closed the game with a 14-6 run, and trailed just 39-34 at halftime.

However, in the second half, Northern went cold. The Lights shot just 30 percent from the floor and went 4-of-20 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes, and Western ran away with the game.

“Credit Western for knocking down their shots and free throws, and finding a way to gain the edge on us,” said MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse. “I thought we executed well, moved the ball, were extremely unselfish, but just couldn't knock down our shots consistently. It was probably our worst shooting night of the season, which was tough for us to swallow as that is definitely one of our key strengths normally.”

On a tough offensive night for the Lights, only freshman Justin Dunsmore reached double figures with 11 points off the bench. Trevail Lee and Tyler Chandler added nine each, while David Straughter and K.J. Rech each scored eight. Demetrius Balark paced for Dawgs in double figures with 21 points, while Dexter Williams Jr. scored 13 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Northern is now on break until the Lights play a pair of road games at Alberta-Augustana Dec. 29-28. The Lights resume Frontier play Jan. 7 against UGF.

”We just need to keep plugging away, learn from it, be happy about a split on the conference road weekend, and gradually get ready for the back side of our schedule,” Huse said.

Western 72, Lights 57

MSU-N - Trevail Lee 3-11 1-2 9, K.J. Rech 3-7 2-2 8, Kevin Oberweiser 0-1 0-0 0, Nikola Ivanovic 0-1 0-0 0, Brett Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Dylan Tatarka 2-6 0-1 5, Warren Edmondson 2-9 0-0 5, Ryan Reeves 0-1 0-0 0, William Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Chandler 3-8 0-0 9, Justin Dunsmore 4-12 0-0 11, David Straughter 4-12 0-0 8, Badhasa Margarsa 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 22-73 3-5 57

UM-W - Shyke Smalls 6-11 1-3 15, Demitrius Balark 8-16 4-5 21, Kurtis Parsons 3-4 2-2 9, Dexter Williams Jr. 6-9 1-4 13, Connor Woodill 0-3 2-2 2, Ibrahima Keita 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0, Quinn Smith 4-5 2-4 10, Ryan McCarty 1-2 0-0 2, Troy Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Willis 0-0 0-0 0, Kooper Kidgell 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Evans 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 12-20 72.

Halftime: Western 39-34. FG%: Montana State-Northern .301, University of Montana-Wes .528. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 10-44 (Lee 2-9, Rech 0-4, Oberweiser 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Tatarka 1-4, Edmondson 1-7, Chandler 3-8, Dunsmore 3-8, Margarsa 0-2), University of Montana-Wes 4-11 (Smalls 2-5, Balark 1-2, Parsons 1-2, Woodill 0-2). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 36 (Straughter 8), University of Montana-Wes 48 (Williams Jr. 16). Fouls Montana State-Northern 18, University of Montana-Wes 9. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: Montana State-Northern 15 (Straughter 3, Margarsa 3), University of Montana-Wes 9 (Balark 3). Steals: Montana State-Northern 6 (Lee 2, Edmondson 2), University of Montana-Wes 9 (Smalls 4). Blocked shots: Montana State-Northern 2 (Dunsmore 1, Straughter 1), University of Montana-Wes 3 (Sullivan 2). Turnovers: Montana State-Northern 13, University of Montana-Wes 16.

Skylights 52, Western 49

MSU - Rachelle Bennett 5-14 4-4 14, Cydney Auzenne 1-3 0-0 2, Molly Kreycik 2-8 0-0 4, Natalee Faupel 0-1 6-6 6, Brandy Lambourne 1-3 0-0 2, Jacy Thompson 3-10 4-6 12, Sierra Richards 4-6 0-4 8, Jessica Anderson 1-4 2-2 4. Totals 17-49 16-22 52

UM-W - Sierra Higheagle 0-4 0-0 0, Molly Klinker 4-13 2-2 11, Dani Baker 1-1 0-0 2, Aniese Palmore 2-10 0-0 4, Brandy Bookout 6-8 5-5 17, Sierra Bignell 0-1 0-0 0, McCall Hasquet 0-0 0-0 0, Britt Cooper 1-1 0-0 2, Callie Kanthack 3-10 1-2 7, Kaye Bignell 1-3 2-3 4, Darby Schye 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 18-52 11-14 48

FG%: Montana State-Northern .347, University of Montana-Wes .346. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 2-13 (Bennett 0-3, Auzenne 0-1, Kreycik 0-2, Lambourne 0-1, Thompson 2-6), University of Montana-Wes 1-11 (Higheagle 0-1, Klinker 1-4, Palmore 0-2, Bookout 0-2, Bignell 0-1, Kanthack 0-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 37 (Kreycik 9), University of Montana-Wes 38 (Klinker 14). Fouls Montana State-Northern 18, University of Montana-Wes 22. Fouled out: Bookout . Technical: none. Assists: Montana State-Northern 9 (Kreycik 3), University of Montana-Wes 3 (Palmore 1, Bignell 1, Schye 1). Steals: Montana State-Northern 5 (Kreycik 2, Thompson 2), University of Montana-Wes 5 (Klinker 2). Blocked shots: Montana State-Northern 2 (Kreycik 1, Thompson 1), University of Montana-Wes 4 (Higheagle 2). Turnovers: Montana State-Northern 10, University of Montana-Wes 14.