NAIA National Tournament: MSU-N hopes for more first-round magic

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights have been very successful in NAIA national tournament first-round games over the years. In fact, under head coach Chris Mouat, the Skylights have never lost in the first round.

So, with that in mind, the No. 16 Skylights (23-8) will try and extend that streak when they begin play at the 2016 national tournament, taking on No. 19 Benedictine (23-6) Wednesday morning in Independence, Missouri.

Northern, which finished third in the Frontier Conference, reached the NAIA Elite 8 a year ago, but that team was senior-heavy, and this Skylight team will face different challenges at the national tournament, including a strong Benedictine squad out of the Heart of America Conference.

“They are a very good basketball team,” Mouat said of the Ravens, who finished in the third place in their conference this season. “They’ll also be battle-tested. They come from a great league, who, like ours, is sending four teams to the national tournament.

“Another scary things is, they’ll have a great following,” he continued. “They are one of the closer teams to Independence, so they’ll have a good crowd there and that’s something we’ll have to deal with.”

But as good as the Ravens are, the Skylights are very good too. They rank third in the NAIA in scoring defense, and are coming off a final month of the regular season in which they certainly played their best basketball of the year.

Northern also has the Frontier Conference MVP in Natalee Faupel (16 ppg) and the Frontier Defensive MVP in Jacy Thompson (15 ppg), two players who started for the Skylights during last year’s great run in Independence. Molly Kreycik also saw plenty of time at the national tournament last season, while senior Rachelle Bennett, back from a knee injury, was a starter on the 2014 national tournament squad, a team which also won its first-round game. Add to that All-Conference standout Cydney Auzenne (11 ppg) and the inside presence of Sierra Richards (9 ppg), along with the bench foursome of Peyton Filius, Makhayla Farmer, Brandy Lambourne and Kate Fetterer, as well as senior Tina Doughty, and the Skylights have some depth to help make a new run at the national tournament.

“We’re a different team than last year, but we also have a bunch of kids with national tournament experience,” Mouat said. “And, throughout this season, this team has really found its own identity. We’re not searching for that anymore. They know who they are and what they’re capable of. This team has been successful on its own now, and they want to continue that at the national tournament.

“We also have a group who is used to playing on the road, in tough environments,” he continued. “We’ve won some big road games this year, against some quality teams. So I expect the kids to be very confident come game time.”

And Northern should be confident given what its accomplished this season. But, when Wednesday rolls around, the Skylights will still have a tough task in front of them, as the Ravens present plenty of challenges.

“Their entire team can shoot from the 3-point-line,” Mouat said. “They’ll be the best 3-point shooting team we’ve seen this season.

“They also have so many quality players,” Mouat added. “They are long and athletic, they are quick, and they get it done on both ends of the floor. They have plenty of experience too.”

On the season, the Ravens are shooting 48 percent from the floor, and 35 percent from beyond the arc. They also get it done on the defensive end, allowing just 54 points per game.

But, that stat doesn’t mean the Ravens are one-dimensional. They have talent at every position. They’re led by First-Team All-Conference performer Chayla Rutledge (5-11), who scores 14 points per game. Complimenting Rutledge is Jordan Kramer (5-10), a Second-Team All-Conference standout, who is the Raven’s deadliest shooter. Kramer has made 68 triples this season, and is one of three players averaging 10 points per night. Kristen Murphy (5-11) and LaRonda Thomas (5-7) also each score 10 per game, while Ali Taff (5-4) and Lexi Villegas (5-11) combine for another 12 per night.

So, with such a talented offensive opponent, and one which can defend equally as well, Northern must do something it has done well for much of the final stretch of the season — shoot the ball well.

“We’ll have to defend, and we’ll have to rebound,” Mouat said. “Those are musts every game. But we have to come out and shoot it well, and we have to get off to a good start. I think that’s really important, because when we don’t shoot it well, we ask our defensive to be perfect, and that’s tough to do at the national tournament. So making shots is going to be a big key.”

And if the Skylights make shots, while also playing their stifling brand of defense, they’ll be tough for even a talented team like the Ravens to handle. And, after that, who knows how far Northern could go. But, no matter what happens this week in Missouri, the Skylights are an excited and confident group, and they are no longer the new kid on the block, as this is now their third straight trip to the Big Dance.

“This is a new season, everybody is 0-0 again,” Faupel said. “And we know we just have to take this one game at a time. You can’t look ahead, and you can’t look back to what you did last year either. We’re going to try and win as many games as we can down there, but all we’re thinking about right now is winning the first one.

“We’ve had a great season,” she continued. “This team has really come together. Everybody has embraced their roles and the challenges and we’ve become a very close team. And we’re confident, too. We know we can play with anybody, and we want to show that this week at the national tournament.”

The Skylights will meet Benedictine Wednesday at 11 a.m. M.S.T. at the at the Silverstein Arena in Independence. The winner will play either Our Lady of Lakes or William Woods at 9:45 a.m. Friday. in the Sweet 16 of the tourney.

Skylights Projected Starters

G Jacy Thompson, 5-6, So., 14 ppg

G Molly Kreycik, 5-7, Jr., 8 ppg

F Cydney Auzenne, 5-11, So., 11 ppg

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

F Sierra Richards, 6-0, Jr., 8 ppg