Skylights split a pair of tough NAIA games in Tennessee

Dominant. That's what the Montana State University-Northern Skylights have been thus far this season. But, with the start of Frontier Conference play, the Skylights needed challenges. And they found them in Jackson, Tennessee.

The No. 16 Skylights were in Tennessee this past weekend for a pair of games against nationally ranked rivals at the Rotary Classic, a 14-team field full of Top 25 and teams that were in the NAIA national tournament last spring.

And since head coach Chris Mouat's team was looking to be tested, tested is exactly what the Skylights were.

Friday, Northern opened the tournament against 8th-ranked Freed-Hardeman, one of the NAIA's premier programs, and a team that eliminated Northern from the 2015 national tournament. And while the Skylights played valiantly, Freed-Hardeman was able to pull away from them late, winning 65-56, and handing Northern its first loss of the season.

"We got off to a slow start against a phenomenal Freed-Hardeman team," Mouat said. "But our kids battled and battled and fought back. We were right there and gave ourselves a chance, and it was an exciting game and a heck of a challenge for us like we knew it would be."

Northern also battled in Saturday morning's thrilling overtime win over No. 21 Talladega. The Skylights trailed by four points with a minute left, but fought to tie the game, and in the high-scoring affair, they prevailed 88-81 by outscoring the Tornadoes 22-15 in overtime.

Natalee Faupel scored a game-high 28 points, but Jacy Thompson added 19 and Molly Kreycik scored 16. Brandy Lambourne hit two clutch 3-pointers in the come-from-behind win.

"It was a dogfight and on short rest, too," Mouat said of the second game. "So I was really proud of the effort and fight in our kids in that game. They just wouldn't go away. They kept battling and battling.

"I thought one of the biggest positives, from both games was we were playing two big and athletic teams who are phenomenal rebounding teams, and we won on the boards in both games," he added. "That's big for us moving forward, and it says a lot about the heart and effort of our kids."

Going up against an elite field of teams in Tennessee also showed the Skylights they are one of those elite teams, and with the start of conference play coming this weekend, including a road trip to Frontier favorite Lewis-Clark State, the Skylights are now battled-tested.

"The biggest thing about this trip was the competition," Mouat said. "I haven't seen better competition for a November tournament. It was a great challenge. Both games were great games and our kids did a great job of stepping up. We would have liked to have gone 2-0, but, to go 1-1 out there, play as well as we did, and with these conference games coming up, I thought we got exactly what we needed."

The Skylights (7-1) will travel to Montana Tech Thursday night to open league play, before heading to LC State Saturday.

Freed-Hardeman 65, Skylights 56

Northern 8 19 12 16 – 56

Freed-Hardeman 17 12 12 24 – 65

MSU-N – Cydney Auzenne 3-10 0-0 7, Molly Kreycik 1-11 0-0 3, Natalee Faupel 4-10 2-4 10, Peyton Filius 0-0 0-0 0, Brandy Lambourne 0-0 0-0 0, Jacy Thompson 4-13 8-8 18, Katie Fertterer 1-3 4-6 7, Sierra Richards 1-3 7-10 9, Kealani Sagapolu 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 15-51 21-28 56.

FH – Taleeah Cross 9-19 9-10 29, Morgan Warren 1-3 2-4 5, Kim Mallory 5-14 7-8 17, Tiffany Pate 0-2 0-0 0, Carrie Hatchel 0-2 0-0 0, Sandrea Sylman 6-11 1-1 14, Haylee Croom 0-2 0-0 0, Gabrielle Nicholson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 19-23 65.

3-pt FG:MSU-N 5-19 (Auzenne 1-4, Kreycik 1-7, Faupel 0-1, Thompson 2-5, Fertterer 1-2), FH 4-13 (Cross 2-3, Warren 1-2, Mallory 0-2, Pate 0-1, Hatchel 0-2, Sylman 1-2, Nicholson 0-1). Rebounds: MSU-N 34 (Auzenne 9), FH 23 (Pate 6). Fouls: MSU-N 16, FH 18. Fouled out: Sylman . Technical: MSU-N Coach.

Skylights 88, Talladega 81, OT

Talladega 9 21 19 17 15 – 81

Northern 10 25 16 15 22 – 88

TC – Tajenee Wells 8-16 0-1 17, Sydnee Clark 5-9 1-2 11, Jasmine Lee-Stackhouse 1-8 2-4 4, Shahana Ziegler 4-8 2-2 10, Victoria Shallberger 1-3 0-0 2, Shashaniqua Youngblood 2-5 0-0 4, Dehanna Cook 2-4 0-0 5, Lisa Van Der Water 4-5 2-2 11, Tasheba Henry 6-11 2-2 16. Totals: 33-69 8-13 81.

MSU-N – Cydney Auzenne 1-4 2-2 4, Sierra Richards 1-7 3-4 5, Brandy Lambourne 2-2 0-0 6, Natalee Faupel 7-12 11-14 28, Molly Kreycik 4-8 6-8 16, Jacy Thompson 8-14 2-2 19, Katie Ferterrer 2-4 2-2 6, Peyton Filius 0-1 0-0 0, Shiloh McCormick 0-0 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 2-7 0-0 3. Totals: 27-59 26-32 88.

3-pointers: TC 7-14 (Wells 1, Shallberger 1, Cook 1, Van Der Water 2, Henry 2), MSU-N 8-16 (Auzenne 1, Lambourne 2, Faupel 3, Kreycik 2, Thompson 1). Rebounds: TC 32 (Wells 9), MSU-N 35 (Richards 9, Faupel 9). Fouls: TC 26, MSU-N 14. Fouled out: Zeigler.