Skylights stop Horns, again

It might be an exhibition game, but Tuesday night, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights are heading into the bear’s den when they take on the University of Montana Lady Griz in Missoula. And that’s why it was so important for the Skylights to take care of business against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.

And Northern did just that Saturday afternoon inside the Armory Gymnasium.

In their second meeting with Lethbridge in a week’s time, the Skylights smothered the talented CIS team from Canada in a 66-32 victory. The win pushed Northern to a 3-0 start to the season, a start that has seen the Skylights win every game by 20 or more points.

“Lethbridge is talented, physical, they’re tall and they run really good stuff,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “So for us to come out and hold them to 32 points and win on the boards the way we did, I was really proud of our kids for that. The effort on that end of the floor was great.”

MSU-N is known for suffocating defensive play, and while Lethbridge scored 54 points last Friday in Havre, the Skylights never gave the Pronghorns a chance in the rematch.

Northern overcame an early 6-2 deficit by holding the Pronghorns scoreless for 10 straight minutes, and forcing them into 22 turnovers. Also, in that same 10-minute stretch, the Skylights went on a 19-0 run — a run that was sparked by seven straight points from Jacy Thompson, and was aided by a Brandy Lambourne 3-pointer to start the second period. By the time the barrage ended, the Skylights were ahead 22-6, and with the way MSU-N was playing defense, the game was all but over.

“We got some turnovers, we got some points in transition,” Mouat said. “That run was big because Lethbridge really came out ready to go. They hit a big three to start the game, so it was nice to see us respond to that the way we did.”

Northern wound up leading the Pronghorns 38-17 at halftime, as Peyton Filius knocked in a triple late in the second stanza. Cydney Auzenne added a trey in the third quarter, as did Lambourne, and the Skylights’ lead ballooned to 52-25 with just 10 minutes left. From there, Northern cruised to victory.

Lambourne had a breakout game with 11 points and two treys. Natalee Faupel led the way with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Sierra Richards was also strong with eight points and 10 boards. Defensively, the Skylights held the Pronghorns without a double-digit scorer, while Lethbridge shot just 28 percent from the field.

“For the most part, we played pretty well,” Mouat said. “I thought we executed really well offensively. We didn’t make all the shots, but we ran our stuff really well. Certainly, there are things to clean up, but I was happy with the way we played today, and through the first three games, we have a nice foundation that we can build on going forward.”

Moving forward, the Skylights will play at Montana Tuesday night, then come back home for a game against fellow NAIA member Central Baptist Friday afternoon.

Skylights 66, Lethbridge 32

Lethbridge 6 11 8 7 – 32

Northern 19 19 18 10 – 66

LU – Kathryn Hankins 4-13 0-0 9, Katie Keith 4-6 1-2 9, Zoe Dahl 1-5 1-2 4, Jessica Bashynski 1-2 1-2 3, Isabel Rattai 1-2 0-0 2, Kaitlin Bracko 0-1 4-4 4, Mylanda Miller 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 11-39 8-12 32.

MSU-N – Cydney Auzenne 2-5 0-0 5, Jacy Thompson 3-7 0-0 7, Natalee Faupel 7-8 2-3 17, Peyton Filius 1-4 2-2 5, Molly Kreycik 1-5 2-2 4, Katie Fetterer 1-2 0-0 2, Brandy Lambourne 4-7 1-1 11, Shiloh McCormick 1-7 0-2 2, Makhayla Farmer 1-3 0-2 2, Kealani Sagapolu 1-4 0-0 2, Sierra Richards 2-4 4-6 8. Totals: 24-58 11-18 66.

3-pointers: LU 2-9 (Hankins 1, Bachynski 1), MSU-N 6-23 (Auzenne 1, Thompson 1, Faupel 1, Filius 1, Lambourne 2). Rebounds: LU 27 (Hankins 3), MSU-N 40 (Faupel 10, Sierra Richards 10). Fouls: LU 22, MSU-N 12. Fouled out: Baschynski.