Skylights tip Tech, fall to LC State

For the first time in a month, and for only the second time all season, the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team was in search of a bounce-back win. And while it wasn’t easy, that’s exactly what the Skylights got Friday night.

In a game that saw scrappy Montana Tech rally late, the No. 8 Skylights held on for a 71-66 win inside the Armory Gymnasium. And while Tech did manage a furious second-half comeback, the Skylights rode the 51 combined points by Natalee Faupel and Jacy Thompson to a big win.

“We know our conference is really good,” said junior point guard Molly Kreycik. “Every night, anybody can beat anybody. So we don’t overlook anyone, and I thought we were really focused tonight, focused on just getting this first win of the weekend.”

After a sluggish start, which saw the Skylights and Orediggers tied at 10-10 after 10 minutes, Northern’s focused defense, and Faupel’s athleticism, started to take over. The Butte native out-scored Tech 9-4 to start the second quarter, while Thompson scored the last six points of the half, helping MSU-N go into the break with a 30-22 lead.

“We wanted to be a aggressive to the rim,” Kreycik said of the MSU-N offense. “Tech is like us, they are a little smaller, so we wanted to attack the basket, and get them into foul trouble. We got off to a great start, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Faupel would continue to get to the rim in the third quarter, but she also nailed one of MSU-N’s four 3-pointers in the stanza, a stanza that started with Kreycik burying the first of her two bombs in the period. Faupel added one of her own at the 3:54 mark to put the Skylights up 13, and Thompson canned her own trey with 1:03 left, sending MSU-N into the final period with a 58-38 lead.

But, Northern wasn’t in blowout mode for long.

The Orediggers started using a full-court press, and it helped rattle the Skylights offensively. On the other end, Rachel Ferris and Callee Remsen starting scoring inside, eventually fouling out Northern post players Sierra Richards and Jessica Anderson. And when Ferris put back a bucket with 1:32 left, the Orediggers had trimmed the Skylight lead all the way down to 64-57.

In that same stretch, the Skylights found themselves mired in a 5-minute drought without a field goal, before Thompson finally scored a layup with 1:08 to play. Tech still didn’t go away, and the Diggers got the lead all the way down to 70-66 with eight second left after Remsen scored and Tech made one foul shot. But, Tech ran out of time, and a Peyton Filius free throw with :07 left iced the win for Northern.

“Give Tech all the credit in the world for never quitting on this game, and for making a heck of a run at us,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “Carley (VanDyke) is doing such a great job with that team, and they play so hard, and the fact that they never stop playing hard, they gave themselves a chance down the stretch.

“On the flip side,” he continued. “We need to play better under pressure. We need to be much better when we have the opportunity to finish a game. I don’t think we did a very good job of handling their pressure tonight.”

Fortunately, Northern had stockpiled a big enough lead that Tech just wasn’t able to get over the hump. And that lead was due in large part to the efforts of Faupel, who scored 30 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a 15-of-17 performance from the free-throw-line, as well as Thompson, who added 21 points, two triples and a 9-of-11 night from the charity stripe. Richards also chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds, while Kreycik finished with seven points and two of MSU-N’s five treys. The Skylights also shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and out-rebounded the Diggers 39-36.

“Natalee and Jacy were huge tonight,” Mouat said. “They both had a heck of game, and they carried us offensively at times.

“I was pretty pleased with our execution too,” he continued. “I thought we were really good in the second half, and I really liked that we won on the boards. So we did some nice things tonight, but there are also things, mistakes that we made, that we just have to get better at.”

Warriors too tall

The Skylights were hoping to fix some of the things Mouat mentioned, but, at the same time, build on the win over Tech. But, Saturday night, the No. 20 Lewis-Clark State Warriors had other ideas.

Back inside the Armory, the Warriors used a blistering second half to pull away from the Skylights in a 71-51 victory, knocking Northern to 3-3 in the Frontier Conference.

LCSC came in as one of the hottest teams in the Frontier, and the Warriors showed why, as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead in less than two minutes.

However, MSU-N was its resilient self, and the Skylights pushed a 9-2 run, on the heels of buckets from Natalee Faupel and Jacy Thompson, to end the first period and lead 15-13 after 10 minutes.

However, LC seized control in the second quarter, as Brooke Litalien and Caylyn Orlandi combined for 16 points, while the Skylights went over five minutes without a field goal. In all, LC ripped off a 16-2 run before Thompson ended the half by drilling a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Still, the Warriors were ahead 32-24, and they would build on that lead in the third period, as Nahtanee Spencer and Kaylea Knox nailed triples that sent the Warriors to the fourth quarter leading 52-37.

“Give our kids credit, because the game could have gotten away from us right away,” said MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat. “But we battled back from being down 7-0 and led in the second quarter. I was proud of our kids for that.

“But, once they got the lead, we just couldn’t stop them from keeping it,” he added. “When they got rolling, we couldn’t do enough to stop it. Either we made a mistake that was costly, or they would hit a big shot.”

And that was the story of the final stanza.

The Skylights opened with a 6-0 run, including back-to-back baskets by Sierra Richards. The Warriors though, came right back with a 12-2 run, including a trey by Knox, and eight points combined in the paint from Hayley Turner and Hannah Byerly. By the time the run was over, Northern was down 65-46 and the Warriors weren’t about to let the Skylights make any type of miraculous comeback.

“We had some life there at the end of the third, beginning of the fourth quarter,” Mouat said. “And I was proud of our kids for the great effort that got us there. But, every time we got there, we would either shoot ourselves in the foot with a mistake, or have a bad possession offensively. So, when you combine that with how good LC played, we just couldn’t get over the hump.

“And give all the credit to LC,” he continued. “They hit some big threes, their guards are so good. But, they also pretty much had their way with us in the post, and that makes it pretty tough.”

The Warriors (6-1, 15-3) did have their way offensively for much of the game. The Skylights came into the game leading the NAIA in scoring defense at 50 points per game, but LC shot 50 percent from the field, 6-of-11 from three and out-rebounded the Skylights 34-27.

LC also played great defense, holding MSU-N to just 33 percent shooting and a 3-of-15 performance from beyond the arc. Natalee Faupel did score 18 points, which put her into the 1,000-point club for her career, while Thompson added 13 and Richards nine, but, at the end of the day, it just wasn’t enough.

“They’re a really good team,” Mouat said. “And they showed that tonight. We’re going to have to make some adjustments next time we play them, because what we were doing tonight just wasn’t working.

“It’s always tough to lose on your home floor,” he continued. “But we know we just have to play much better. Our kids know it, and they will bounce back.”

The Skylights (14-3) will get two more chances to bounce back next weekend when they host Rocky Mountain College Friday night and UM-Western Saturday night in the Armory Gymnasium.

Skylights 71, Montana Tech 66

Montana Tech 10 12 16 28 - 66

Northern 10 20 28 13 – 71

MT - Callee Remsen 4-5 8-10 16, Shayla Mack 0-0 0-0 0, Kimi Heng 1-6 1-4 4, Martha Dembek 0-3 0-0 0, Rachel Farris 7-12 2-4 16, Hattie Thatcher 1-8 3-6 6, Caylee Bock 2-6 0-0 4, Sammy McGree 5-12 0-0 12, Kaylynn Coverdell 2-3 0-0 4, Kourtney Coverdell 1-5 2-2 4, Bailey Armbruster 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 16-26 66.

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 5-14 9-11 21, Katie Fertterer 0-1 0-0 0, Brandy Lambourne 0-2 0-0 0, Natalee Faupel 7-12 15-17 30, Peyton Filius 0-0 1-2 1, Molly Kreycik 2-3 1-2 7, Jessica Anderson 1-5 0-0 2, Tina Doughty 0-1 0-0 0, Cydney Auzenne 1-4 0-2 2, Sierra Richards 2-3 4-9 8. Totals 18-45 30-43 71.

3-pointers: MT 4-14 (Heng 1-3, Dembek 0-2, Thatcher 1-3, McGree 2-4, Coverdell 0-2), MSU-N 5-9 (Thompson 2-4, Fertterer 0-1, Faupel 1-1, Kreycik 2-3). Rebounds: MT 36 (Thatcher 10), MSU-N 39 (TEAM 8). Fouls: MT 34, MSU-N 21. Fouled out: Thatcher Coverdell Coverdell Richards Anderson.

LC State 71, Skylights 51

Lewis-Clark State 13 19 20 19 - 71

Northern 15 9 13 14 - 51

LCSC - Laurenna Plourd 0-0 2-2 2, Hannah Byerly 2-3 1-2 5, Brooke Litalien 4-6 0-0 11, Caelyn Orlandi 5-11 0-0 10, Megan Risinger 2-3 0-0 4, Natahnee Spencer 2-4 5-5 10, Jossilyn Blackman 1-3 0-0 2, Kaylea Knox 2-5 0-0 6, B Tackett 5-9 3-3 13, H Turner 4-10 0-0 8. Totals 27-54 11-12 71.

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 4-13 3-4 13, Katie Fertterer 0-0 0-0 0, Brandy Lambourne 0-0 0-0 0, Natalee Faupel 6-12 6-9 18, Peyton Filius 1-4 0-0 3, Molly Kreycik 0-5 0-0 0, Jessica Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Tina Doughty 0-0 0-0 0, Cydney Auzenne 2-8 4-6 8, Sierra Richards 4-7 1-1 9. Totals 17-51 14-20 51.

3-pointers: LCSC 6-11 (Litalien 3-5, Orlandi 0-1, Risinger 0-1, Spencer 1-1, Knox 2-3), MSU-N 3-15 (Thompson 2-8, Faupel 0-1, Filius 1-3, Kreycik 0-1, Auzenne 0-2). Rebounds: LCSC 34 (TEAM 7), MSU-N 27 (Faupel 6, Richards 6). Fouls: LCSC 22, MSU-N 16. Fouled out: Auzenne.