Skylights look to cage Bears

The Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team has had its share of setbacks in what has been another very good season. In fact, the Skylights have had to bounce back from setbacks at the hands of Rocky Mountain College not once, but twice this season.

Now however, No. 16 Northern will try and rebound from its latest setback against the Battlin’ Bears, and the Skylights (22-7) will try and do it in the first round of the Frontier Conference Playoffs. Northern meets RMC (15-15) tonight at 7 inside the Armory Gymnasium, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s semifinal round.

The Skylights should come into tonight’s game hungry, too, after they let a big opportunity slip away in the form of an 80-67 loss to Montana Tech last Saturday night. In the regular season finale, the Orediggers torched a normally stingy Northern defense, which yields just 55 points per game, and tonight, MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat says his team must be much better.

“We need to defend in transition better, rebound better and just defend better all around,” Mouat said. “Those are things we didn’t do well enough against Montana Tech, and Tech deserves all the credit for that because they came in here and played great.”

Even though the loss to the Orediggers was a setback, as it dropped the Skylights from the No. 2 to the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, Northern still has plenty at stake going forward, as well as plenty of firepower to accomplish its goals.

The Skylights are led by Natalee Faupel, who is averaging 16 points and five rebounds per night, while Jacy Thompson pours in 15 points and shoots better than 38 percent from the 3-point-line. Cydney Auzenne has been a spark plug for the Skylights, averaging over 10 ppg, while Sierra Richards is anchoring the paint. MSU-N also got a big boost last weekend with the return of senior Rachelle Bennett from a knee injury, and she gives the Northern bench much-needed depth.

And MSU-N will need all hands on deck tonight because, while the Skylights won three straight games against nationally ranked rivals in the last two weeks, the Bears have given Northern fits all season. Rocky beat the Skylights 76-58 back on Dec. 3 in Billings, and again, 62-52 Feb. 13 in Billings. Northern did beat the Bears 61-53 in Havre in January, but with how well RMC played against the Skylights in all three games, Mouat knows his team has its hands full tonight.

“They’re a difficult matchup,” Mouat said. “They’ve played really well against us every time. Even when we beat them here. With Tenika Capouch playing so well on the inside, and Whitney Mitchell being able to score from all over, plus, they just have a bunch of really good perimeter scorers around them, they are just a handful to defend.”

Indeed. Mitchell and Capouch are a great 1-2 punch, as they combine to average 28 points per night. Hailee Farvstreet, Bridger Rice and Alecia Chamberlain are also capable scorers for an RMC team that finished fifth in the final Frontier standings, and one that averages 68 points per game.

“(Coach) Wes (Keller) always has them ready, he always has a great game plan,” Mouat said. “So we’re going to have to be on our toes, and be ready to defend for a full 40 minutes. On the other end, we’re going to have to execute our offense and score when we get good looks. It’s going to be a very tough game against Rocky, and we’re very glad it’s on our home floor.”

Unfortunately, the Skylights won’t get to stay in Havre should they advance tonight. The winner will travel to either top-seeded Lewis-Clark State or second-seeded Great Falls for the semifinals Saturday night. The other first-round game tonight pits Montana Tech against Carroll College in Helena. The Frontier championship game is slated for next Tuesday at the home of the highest remaining seed in the tournament.

Tonight’s Frontier Conference women's playoff game between the Skylights and Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears will tip at 7 inside the Armory Gymnasium.

Skylights Projected Starters

G Jacy Thompson, 5-6, So., 15 ppg

G Molly Kreycik, 5-7, Jr., 9 ppg

F Cydney Auzenne, 5-10, So., 10 ppg

F Natalee Faupel, 5-10, Jr., 16 ppg

F Sierra Richards, 6-0, Jr., 9 ppg