Skylights knock out the Warriors

If timing is everything, than the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team seems to have perfect timing right now.

After losing back-to-back road games last week, the No. 20 Skylights had fallen to 5-5 in the rugged Frontier Conference. But, on the road again, that all changed this past weekend.

Northern followed up a Thursday night pasting of Montana Tech with its biggest win of the season Saturday night in Lewiston, Idaho, as the Skylights turned away No. 12 Lewis-Clark State 62-54. The win by Northern snapped LCSC’s 11-game conference winning streak, avenged a 20-point loss to the Warriors last month in Havre, and handed them their first home loss of the 2015-16 campaign.

But, more importantly than all of that, the Skylights jumped right back into the heart of the Frontier title race as they improved to 7-5 and are now just one-game behind second-place Carroll College.

“This was a huge win for our program,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “LC is very, very good and had won 11 in a row, so we knew it was going to be a tough task. Our kids really brought a great effort at both ends. We got off to our best start in a long time which really helped.”

"I have to give Northern all the credit in the world." LCSC coach Brian Orr said. "One of the things we really wanted to do was come out with great intensity and we wanted our press to force some turnovers so we could get out to a lead. The worst thing you can do against Montana State-Northern is get behind. The absolute worst thing because they are a poised team. They want to come down and run their patient offense every single possession."

It was an impressive start to the game for both teams as the Warriors led 16-15 after the first period. But, the hot-shooting Skylights would hold the Warriors to just nine second-quarter points, and they took a 28-25 edge into halftime.

And the game would stay close from there, but Northern’s good shooting and staunch defense held up in one of the toughest places to win in all of NAIA women’s basketball. And in the final 20 minutes, Northern would get big shots, including two 3-pointers from Cydney Auzenne, some outstanding plays by Natalee Faupel as she got to the rim, and some great rebounds and defensive stops to hold the Warriors off.

“They (Warriors) stormed back and took the lead and it was a battle from there,” Mouat said of the game after the first period. “Our rebounding and defense came up big, but what really helped the most was the number of big shots we hit. We shot a great percentage and withstood. 22 turnovers. Cyd knocked down a huge one with 17 seconds left that out us up by six. It was just a great total team effort.”

MSU-Northern did shoot the ball well as it made 21-of-38 attempts for 55.3 percent, including 7-of-15 at the 3-point line. It's only the second time in league play this season that LC has allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better from the field and both have resulted in losses. But perhaps an even more impressive stat was the rebounding edge the Skylights had. The bigger Warriors don’t get out-rebounded often, but MSU-N won the battle of the boards, 32-23.

Offensively, Faupel scored 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Jacy Thompson added 12. Auzenne continued her fine play this season by scoring 11 points, making three triples and grabbing nine rebounds. Sierra Richards chipped in with seven points, including a three, while LCSC got 14 points from Brittany Tackett in the rare home loss.

Now, with the two road wins in tow, the Skylights will try to do it one more time before finally getting to come back to the Armory Gymnasium to close out the regular season. Northern travels to UM-Western this Thursday night, followed by a game at Rocky Mountain College on Saturday night. MSU-N then gets its final four Frontier games at home.

But for now, Mouat is just very proud of his Skylights (18-5) and what they accomplished Saturday night in Lewiston.

“I'm proud of this group,” he said. “They have come to work every day and this weekend we improved a lot.”

Tough night at LC

The Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team got off to a great start when the Lights played Lewis-Clark State last month in Havre. Unfortunately for the Lights, the second half didn’t go as well.

On Saturday night in Lewiston, Idaho, it was the same story for the Lights, who watched as the No. 5 Warriors owned the second half in a 68-51 Frontier Conference win. The loss dropped the Lights to 4-8 in league play and 15-9 overall, while the Warriors improved to a sparkling 22-2 on the season, including a 10-2 mark in conference play.

It was a back and forth opening 20 minutes that featured three ties and six lead chances with LCSC taking the largest lead of seven at the 13:13 mark. Northern fought back, sparked by a 3-pointer from Warren Edmondson, and the Lights trailed just 26-25 at half.

And while the Lights were right where they needed to be at halftime, the second half was a completely different story. LCSC limited the Lights to just three points in the first six minutes of the second half, allowing the offense to open up an 11-point, 39-28 lead. The Lights cut the margin back to seven, but Wiley took over, scoring the next five points to push the lead back to 11. The Lights cut the lead to nine twice more, but the Warriors were too much, converting several layups down the stretch to ice the 17-point win.

Shooting was again Northern’s undoing as the Lights shot just 34 percent from the field, while going just 4-of-22 from beyond the arc. Northern’s defense did hold LCSC to 20 points below its season average, but offensively, the Lights couldn’t get going in the second half.

Edmondson paced the Lights with 13 points, while Trevail Lee added 11. LCSC got 15 points and 14 rebounds from Wiley, while the Warriors out-rebounded Northern 43-26.

And things don’t get any easier for the Lights as they must travel to UM-Western this Thursday night, before going to play at Rocky Mountain College Saturday night. After that, Northern will play its final four Frontier games of the regular season in the friendly confines of the Armory Gymnasium.

Skylights 62, LC State 54

Northern 15 13 13 21 - 62

Lewis-Clark State 16 9 11 18 – 54

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 4-8 3-4 12, Natalee Faupel 7-12 6-7 22, Peyton Filius 0-0 0-0 0, Molly Kreycik 2-4 2-2 6, Tina Doughty 2-2 0-0 4, Cydney Auzenne 4-6 0-0 11, Sierra Richards 2-5 2-6 7, Makhayla Farmer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-38 13-19 62.

LCSC - Natahnee Spencer 2-8 1-2 6, Kaylea Knox 1-6 0-0 3, Megan Risinger 0-4 3-4 3, Caelyn Orlandi 5-13 0-0 11, Hannah Byerly 3-7 0-0 6, Hailey Turner 1-3 2-2 4, Brittany Tackett 5-8 4-5 14, Brooke Litalien 2-4 0-0 5, Jossilyn Blackman 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 20-54 10-14 54.

3-pointers: MSU-N 7-15 (Thompson 1-4, Faupel 2-5, Kreycik 0-1, Auzenne 3-4, Richards 1-1), LCSC 4-23 (Spencer 1-6, Knox 1-5, Risinger 0-2, Orlandi 1-8, Litalien 1-2). Rebounds: MSU-N 32 (Auzenne 9), LCSC 23 (Tackett 6). Fouls; MSU-N 12, LCSC 17. Fouled out: Richards, Litalien.

LC State 68, Lights 51

MSU-N - Trevail Lee 3-11 3-4 10, K.J. Rech 2-9 2-2 6, Kevin Oberweiser 0-0 0-0 0, Nikola Ivanovic 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Tatarka 1-4 0-0 3, Warren Edmondson 4-10 3-4 13, Ryan Reeves 5-5 0-0 10, William Walker 1-2 0-0 2, Tyler Chandler 0-4 2-2 2, Justin Dunsmore 0-1 0-0 0, David Straughter 2-3 1-1 5, Badhasa Margarsa 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 11-13 51.

LCSC - Trea Thomas 3-6 0-0 8, Rich Tesmer 3-8 0-0 6, Zavon Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Cammie Lewis 4-5 4-4 14, Isaiah Omamogho 1-4 2-2 5, Ty Higbie 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Emerson 4-11 1-1 9, Derrick White 0-0 0-0 0, Youssoupha Kane 2-4 1-2 5, Jacob Wiley 5-10 5-7 15, David Shedrick 0-0 0-0 0, Doug McDaniel 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 25-57 13-16 68.

Halftime: LCSC 26-25. 3-pointers: MSU-N 4-22 (Lee 1-7, Rech 0-1, Tatarka 1-3, Edmondson 2-4, Chandler 0-4, Margarsa 0-3), LCSC 5-10 (Thomas 2-3, Tesmer 0-1, Lewis 2-2, Omamogho 1-1, Emerson 0-1, McDaniel 0-2). Rebounds: MSU-N 26 (Reeves 10), LCSC 43 (Wiley 14). Fouls: MSU-N 13, LCSC 17. Fouled out: none.