Frontier Notebook: Skylights remain in the thick of the Frontier race

The halfway point in the Frontier Conference basketball season has come and gone. And one thing is certain, the next four weeks are going to be entertaining.

On the women’s side, there’s a chance that Lewis-Clark State is going to run away and hide from the rest of the field. The Warriors won two close games this past weekend, to push their record to 11-0 in the Frontier, which means they have a four-game lead on second-place MSU-Northern with seven games left.

The women’s race is tight from there, however. The Skylights are in second by a game over UM-Western, but Northern must play six of its last eight on the road. Interestingly, for as deep as the Frontier is, only LCSC, Northern and Western have winning records in conference play right now, with fourth-place Montana Tech sitting at 5-6 and Carroll behind the Orediggers at 4-6. If the Frontier playoffs started today, shockingly, UGF would be out, as the Argos are 1-9 in last place, though they were ranked No. 13 in the NAIA less than a month ago.

Things are similar on the men’s side, though two teams have moved away from the pack. Carroll is on an eight-game winning streak and has a one-game lead on Western, which is 8-2 in league play. LC State has started to come on strong, having won four in a row and is alone in third, but a full four games behind the Fighting Saints. MSU-N is the fourth team at .500 or better with a 5-5 in record in fourth place, while Rocky Mountain College sits in fifth at 4-6, UGF is sixth at 2-8 and Tech is last at 1-10.

So the next four weeks are going to be interesting, and even if the likes of the LC women, and the Carroll and Western men run away from the pack even more, there’s still a lot that’s going to be determined in the month of February.

Poll Position

The new NAIA Men's and Women's Coaches Polls were released Tuesday afternoon, and for the MSU-Northern women, there was no movement for the third straight poll. The Skylights remained ranked No. 11 in the new poll, while Lewis-Clark State also stayed put at No. 2. UM-Western jumped three spots to No. 25, while the big change came in that no other women's team from the Frontier even received votes. In the last poll, UGF, Carroll and Tech were all still receiving votes, but it's obvious the Frontier is so tough, it's taking its toll on the league's national rankings.

In the men's poll, Carroll moved up five spots to No. 8, while Western dropped four spots to No. 13. LC State is also receiving votes, while the Northern men are no longer receiving votes.

Leaders

Halfway through the Frontier season, some of the usual suspects in the league are leading the way. On the men's side, LC's Doug McDaniel leads the league in scoring at 18 points per game, while teammate Zavon Jackson is first in rebounding at 8 per outing. UM-W's Dom Robinson is first in assists at 5 per night, while teammate Shyke Smalls leads in steals at 3 per outing. Northern's Ryan Reeves is first in blocks at 2 per game and has a total of 43 this season.

Northern's Natalee Faupel leads the Frontier women in scoring with her 17 points per night. Carroll's Cassidy Hashley leads in rebounding at 10 per game, while LCSC star Caelyn Orlandi is first in assists at a whopping 7 per game. Rocky's Mikayala Jones is first in steals at 3 per game and UGF's Whitney George leads the conference in blocked shots with 46.

Frontier Honors

LC State's Brittany Tackett has been named the Frontier Women's Player of the Week. Tackett is a 6-0 forward from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. No. 2 Lewis-Clark State stayed unbeaten with a pair of home wins. Tackett averaged 19.5 points, seven rebounds and one assist. She was 17 of 21 from the field (81 percent) and 5 of 11 from the free throw line. Against Montana Western, she hit the go-ahead basket late in the fourth quarter.

LCSC's Zavon Jackson was named Frontier Men's Player of the Week. Jackson is a 6-5 forward from Salt Lake City, Utah. Lewis-Clark State won two games over the weekend. The Warriors edged No. 9 Montana Western 90-89 in overtime and downed Rocky Mountain College 90-84. Jackson averaged 16 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals. He was 11 of 17 from the field (65 percent) and 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Against Montana Western, he scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.

Northern's Natalee Faupel and Dylan Tatarka were also nominated.

NAIA Women's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Freed-Hardeman) 21-0 250

2 2 Lewis-Clark State) 23-0 242

3 3 Westmont (Calif.) 19-1 233

4 4 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 22-0 227

5 5 Vanguard (Calif.) 20-1 218

6 6 Shawnee State (Ohio) 22-2 210

7 7 Oklahoma City 18-2 198

8 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) 20-3 196

9 9 Lyon (Ark.) 16-3 182

10 10 Baker (Kan.) 17-4 180

11 11 MSU-Northern 17-4 176

12 15 Benedictine (Kan.) 16-5 156

13 12 Columbia (Mo.) 18-4 154

14 13 Central Methodist 17-4 143

15 14 Cumberland (Tenn.) 15-5 140

16 19 Wayland Baptist 18-2 134

17 17 Bethel (Tenn.) 14-7 120

18 18 Our Lady of the Lake 15-7 103

19 21 Biola (Calif.) 16-5 99

20 23 John Brown (Ark.) 15-6 90

21 20 The Master's (Calif.) 14-6 89

22 25 Montana Western 17-4 76

23 22 Pikeville (Ky.) 16-7 73

T24 RV Loyola (La.) 18-4 62

T24 24 Lindenwood-Belleville 15-6 62

Others receiving votes: MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 58; William Penn (Iowa) 39; LSU Shreveport (La.) 27; Talladega (Ala.) 23; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 22; Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 10; William Woods (Mo.) 3.

NAIA Men's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 LSU Alexandria (La.) 21-0 250

2 4 William Penn (Iowa) 18-2 235

3 2 Georgetown (Ky.) 20-2 231

4 6 Dalton State (Ga.) 18-1 228

5 3 Columbia (Mo.) 21-2 217

6 7 Biola (Calif.) 21-2 215

7 11 Wiley (Texas) 20-2 201

8 13 Carroll (Mont.) 19-3 192

9 12 Texas Wesleyan 18-3 190

10 18 Cumberlands (Ky.) 19-4 174

11 14 Dillard (La.) 15-5 168

12 5 Westmont (Calif.) 17-4 166

13 9 Montana Western 18-4 154

14 10 Pikeville (Ky.) 19-5 142

15 17 Grand View (Iowa) 14-5 126

16 15 Talladega (Ala.) 16-6 121

17 NR LSU Shreveport (La.) 15-5 113

18 8 Oklahoma City 15-5 111

19 24 William Carey (Miss.) 14-4 105

20 16 William Jessup (Calif.) 16-6 104

21 20 SAGU (Texas) 16-6 98

22 NR Freed-Hardeman 15-6 78

23 NR The Master's (Calif.) 17-3 69

24 NR Benedictine (Kan.) 15-6 67

25 19 Our Lady of the Lake 12-6 56

Others Receiving Votes: Hope International (Calif.) 50; Park (Mo.) 44; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 33; Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 19; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 13; Faulkner (Ala.) 9; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 7; Graceland (Iowa) 4; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 4.