Skylights travel to UGF, Carroll

It seems like just yesterday that the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team opened a six-game home stand with two intense rivalry games against UGF and Carroll College.

But that home stand is now over, and it’s already time for the Skylights to rematch with the Argos and Fighting Saints.

Tonight the No. 15 Skylights (5-3, 16-3) begin a six-game road stretch with a visit to No. 25 UGF (5-3, 14-6). The Skylights will also trip to Helena on Saturday night for another showdown with No. 10 Carroll (6-3, 16-3). Both games tip off at 5:30 p.m.

And both games are extremely critical to the Skylights’ chances of staying in the Frontier Conference title chase. Northern is currently tied with UGF for third place, and the Skylights already hold a 73-53 win over the Argos earlier this month, while both MSU-N and the Argos sit a half game behind second-place Carroll in the league standings, but each are also just one game up on fifth-place Rocky Mountain College.

"Carroll and Great Falls are both quality teams,” said MSU-N head coach Chris Moaut. “They are running good stuff on offense and doing a nice job on the defensive end. And both teams have a ton of good players and always have a good plan. We will have to be at our best and continue to move forward at both ends of the floor."

The Skylights are a quality team too, and they’re coming off their first conference sweep of the season. Northern continues to lead the Frontier and is fourth in the NAIA in scoring defense at 51 points per game, while offensively, both Natalee Faupel and Jacy Thompson are averaging 16 points per night. MSU-N has also been getting a big boost as of late from Sierra Richards and Cydney Auzenne, which has helped to offset the injury troubles the Skylights have been going through so far in conference play.

However, as good as the Skylights can be, and have been, especially in their win over UGF in Havre, they know they’ll have to be especially good over the course of the next two nights.

The Argos are an explosive offensive machine, led by guards Erin Legel and Nneka Nnadi, as well as 6-4 center Whitney George. Nnadi and Legel are two of the leading scorers in the Frontier, while George averages a double-double in conference play.

And things won’t get any easier in Helena either. Earlier this month, Carroll edged Northern in a defensive struggle, 55-49, but while the Saints are right behind Northern in scoring defense, they also have plenty of offensive firepower, led by point guard Katie Estey and center Cassidy Hashley. Carroll is also deep and talented, as the Skylights saw when freshman Sarah Chalich came off the bench to make three clutch 3-pointers in Havre.

"UGF is a very explosive team who can hurt you at all five positions,” Mouat said. “They are playing well, and have some of the best players in our league. Erin Legel and Nneka Nnadi really score a ton for them, but Whitney George has been outstanding for them lately. She was just shy of a triple double recently, and she is changing the game with her shot-blocking ability. Steph McDonagh is a tough matchup because of her strength, and Morgan Grier has proven to be one of the better spot-up 3-point shooters in the league. They have a ton of weapons and are playing with a lot of confidence. They have also gotten a lot of contributions off of the bench in recent games.  They present a huge challenge for us starting off this six-game road swing.

"Carroll is outstanding defensively, and they are as good as anyone on the boards,” Mouat said. “They simply don't give up many second shots. So, we'll need to do a better job in getting good shots than we did in the first game, and we'll have to find a way to get some second shots. Offensively, they have great balance. They have guards who can really hurt you from the perimeter and to the rim, and their posts are really tough. We struggled with some of the things they did defensively in the first game and will have to be prepared for a variety of things from them. We can't afford to give up the number of second shots we did the first time around and we'll have to defend much better at the rim."

But again, as good as both opponents are, and as tough as it is to win on the road in the Frontier, the Skylights are a veteran group, and they’ll better hard. Especially considering how key both games are as the Frontier reaches the halfway mark this weekend.

Tonight’s game between Northern and UGF tips at 5:30 p.m. inside the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls. Saturday night’s battle between the Skylights and Saints gets underway at 5:30 p.m. in the Carroll P.E. Center in Helena. Northern is right back on the road next week, with games at Montana Tech Thursday and Lewis-Clark State next Saturday.