Skylights come home with wins in the desert

Two road games were all that stood between the Montana State University-Northern Skylights and getting to play in the friendly confines of the Armory Gymnasium for the next month.

And they were two, tough road tests. But they were also tests the No. 3 Skylights passed with flying colors as Northern swept games against Northern New Mexico and Arizona Christian over the past two nights at a tournament in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Skylights, who improved to 11-1 on the season, opened the visit to Phoenix with a rematch of their last game, a win over Northern New Mexico back on Dec. 14 in Havre. And just like the first time around against the Eagles, the rematch was a tough one that saw the Skylights prevail 57-35.

The Skylights led the Eagles just 9-8 after the first 10 minutes, but an 18-6 run in the second quarter gave MSU-N some much-needed breathing room. From there, Northern's tenacious defense continued to stymie the Eagles, as MSU-N held them to 21 percent shooting from the field and a 1-of-19 performance from the 3-point line. The Eagles made 10 3-pointers against the Skylights in Havre.

On the other side, Northern buried nine triples, including five from Jacy Thompson, who scored a game-high 18 points. Natalee Faupel finished the game with 10 points and four rebounds, while Rachelle Bennett chipped in with nine and Molly Kreycik scored eight.

Once the Eagles were out of the way, the Skylights turned their attention to NAIA rival Arizona Christian. And head coach Chris Mouat knew the game wouldn't be easy on the Firestorm' home floor. However, Northern again played great defense in a 49-33 win on Wednesday night.

The Skylights held the Firestorm to a mere 19 percent shooting for the game, while they also got off to a great start offensively. MSU-N busted out of the gates with a 19-6 first-quarter run, and the Skylights never looked back. The 3-pointers was a key as the Skylights held the Firestorm to an 0-of-12 clip from beyond the arc.

Offensively, Northern 15 points from Faupel and another 14 from Thompson. Faupel had a double-double with 11 boards, while sophomore Cydney Auzenne came off the bench to chip in eight points in a win which saw the Skylights also grab 44 rebounds.

Both wins were also especially big for Northern considering the Skylights get to play four straight week's worth of home games, starting with a Sunday matinee against the University of Lethbridge.

The Pronghorns are a perennial CIS power, the highest level of Candaian college basketball, but this season, they have struggled to an 0-6 overall record. Still, Lethbridge always plays Northern tough, and the fact that the Horns have played a bevy of Frontier Conference teams already this season means they will be a tough test for Northern before conference play resumes next weekend.

And when Frontier play does resume, the Skylights will get to play a lot of home games. Northern is home next Thursday to host rival UGF and then Carroll College Friday, while the Skylights host Montana Tech Jan. 15 and Lewis-Clark State Jan. 16, as well as Rocky Mountain College Jan. 22 and UM-Western Jan. 23.

Sunday's homecoming for Northern against Lethbridge will tip off at 4 p.m. and is preceded by the MSU-N men taking on Concordia-Edmonton at 2 p.m.