Big Night in Dillon: MSU-N sweeps

If there's one gym that hasn't been too kind to the Montana State University-Northern Lights in recent years, Stroh Gymnasium in Dillon would be the one. But, with one game, Northern exercised a lot of demons.

Saturday night, in a critical Frontier Conference showdown, the Lights knocked off the No. 13 Bulldogs 76-73, completing a road sweep that helped the Lights jump right back into the Frontier title chase.

"It was truly a total team effort and I am excited about how much growth we have made," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said after the game.

The growth is visible because just three weeks ago in Havre, the Bulldogs beat the Lights by double digits. But, thanks to impeccable shooting, the Lights turned the tables on their bitter rival.

Northern shot a sizzling 50 percent from the 3-point-line, going 15-of-30, as well as going 50 percent from the field for the game.

MSU-N came out red-hot too, drilling eight three's in the first 20 minutes, to take a 41-36 halftime lead. Of course, Western had no intentions of going away, and the Bulldogs shot 50 percent themselves in the second half. Western took the lead with under six minutes left as well, but, the Lights made another seven trey's in the second stanza, and a clutch free-throw on an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3.5 seconds left turned out to be the difference.

Seniors Badhasa Margarsa and Tyler Chandler combined for seven triples and 29 points, but Devin Bray provided a spark as well with thee bombs, while Justin Dunsmore and Dylan Tatarka each made two, and all of them were big. Dunsmore, Bray and David Straughter each scored nine points, while Ryan Reeves had eight rebounds and a blocked shot.

However, as critical as Northern's shooting was, Huse complimented his defense too. Western is one of the highest-scoring teams in the NAIA, and while the Bulldogs did make eight three's and got 23 points from Shyke Smalls, 19 by Dom Robinson and 17 from Cooper Kidgell, Huse said defense is what made the difference in the end.

"Western makes it tough on you in many ways," Huse said. So I was proud at how well we defended and how well we knocked down shots."

The win was Northern's first conference sweep since January rolled around, but it was the Lights' second road sweep of the season. It also boosted MSU-N to 7-5 in league play, which still has the Lights in fourth place, but, just a half game behind third-place Lewis-Clark State, and just two games behind the Bulldogs. Northern visits LCSC this Thursday, as well as Montana Tech Saturday. And, the Lights get another shot at Western Feb. 24 in Havre.

We're excited about what we acc0omploished this weekend," Huse said. "But, there are many big games left and we need to focus up quick as traveling to Lewiston will come quick."

Skylights bounce back

Playing on the road in Frontier Conference women's basketball is a grind. It can also be a dogfight every single night.

And, following a loss to Rocky Mountain College Thursday night, the No. 11 Montana State University-Northern Skylights knew they'd be in for a dogfight, literally, in their next game. But, needing a win over No. 22 UM-Western, it turns out, the Skylights were up to the challenge as they overcame a late deficit to beat the Bulldogs 57-51.

"I'm so proud of our kids," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "We have some kids who are pretty sick. And then, we're coming off a game where we did not play well at all (Rocky). So to come here and find a way to win, against a Western team playing as good as anybody right now, I'm just extremely proud of this team."

The win was crucial for the Skylights, not only because they showed resilience by shrugging off the loss to RMC, but also because they came to Dillon tied with Western for second place in the Frontier standings. Now, however, Northern leaves Western with a hard-fought road split, and an 8-4 league record.

"It was big," Mouat said of Saturday night's win. "This was a very hard-earned road split. And we've got four more on the road ahead of us. So we'll take this one and move forward."

The Skylights will take it. They trailed Western by four points with four minutes left in the game, but 3-pointers by Molly Kreycik and Cydney Auzenne lifted the Skylights into the lead, and Northern's trademark defense was strong in the waning minutes, as MSU-N heat the bulldogs for the second time in four weeks.

"I thought we hit some big three's," Mouat said. "But most importantly, we got some key stops and we rebounded really well down the stretch. Aneise Palmore was pretty much unstoppable tonight. She played an incredible game. But I thought we did a good job defensively holding everybody else in check, and we were really good defensively down the stretch. It was a great effort by our kids."

The Skylights did overcome an incredible effort by Palmore, who poured in 29 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made four triples. They also overcame Western's strong fourth-quarter push. Northern led 26-23 at intermission, but found itself down four with the game on the line. Kreycik would lead a balanced scoring effort with 14 points, while Natalee Faupel and Sierra Richards each scored 12 and Auzenne added 10.

"I was really proud of Katie Fertterer tonight," Mouat said. "She stepped into a starting spot and we didn't miss a beat. But overall, it was a really great team effort by our kids. We had a lot of different players make big plays for us in key situations. It was just another game where our kids found a way and I'm proud of them."

The Skylights will look to build Saturday night's win over the Bulldogs, but they'll continue to have to do it on the road. Northern heads to first-place Lewis-Clark State Thursday night, then visits surging Montana Tech Saturday night. The Skylights have lost twice to the Warriors this season, but are 2-0 against Tech. Northern also still has a rematch left with Western too, which will come Feb. 24 in the Armory Gymnasium.

Skylights 57, Western 51

Northern 12 14 13 18 – 57

Western 10 13 14 14 – 51

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 0-2 2-2 2, Katie Fertterer 0-1 2-2 2, Natalee Faupel 5-13 2-3 12, Peyton Filius 2-3 0-0 5, Molly Kreycik 4-9 3-3 14, Cydney Auzenne 2-11 5-6 10, Sierra Richards 5-9 2-2 12. Totals 18-48 16-18 57.

UM-W - Kaye Bignell 2-7 2-4 6, Savanna Bignell 4-8 0-0 9, Dani Baker 0-0 0-1 0, Darby Schye 0-0 0-0 0, Britt Cooper 0-4 1-2 1, Sierra Bignell 0-1 0-2 0, Aniese Palmore 12-22 1-2 29, Cierra Lamey 1-7 0-0 2, Taylor Howlett 1-3 0-0 2, Jill Jacobs 1-2 0-0 2, Frankie Bignell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 4-11 51.

3-pt FG: MSU-N 5-17 (Thompson 0-2, Fertterer 0-1, Faupel 0-2, Filius 1-2, Kreycik 3-4, Auzenne 1-6), UM-W 5-18 (Bignell 0-1, Bignell 1-2, Bignell 0-1, Palmore 4-9, Lamey 0-3, Howlett 0-1, Jacobs 0-1). Rebounds: MSU-N 36 (Richards 9), UM-W 30 (Palmore 7). Fouls: MSU-N 10, UM-W 15. Fouled out: none.

Lights 76, Western 73

MSU-N - Cameron Epps 0-6 0-0 0, Badhasa Margarsa 4-5 2-3 14, David Straughter 4-11 1-2 9, Kevin Oberweiser 2-2 0-0 5, Devin Bray 3-6 0-0 9, Dylan Tatarka 3-3 0-0 8, Justin Dunsmore 3-6 1-3 9, Charles Porter 1-2 0-0 2, Tyler Chandler 6-8 0-1 15, William Walker 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Reeves 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 28-56 5-11 76.

UM-W - Shyke Smalls 7-14 7-9 23, Kooper Kidgell 6-11 3-3 17, Troy Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Marcus Payne 4-6 2-2 10, Chase Haack 0-1 0-0 0, Dom Robinson 6-17 3-4 19, Riley King 1-5 2-2 4, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 17-20 73.

Halftime: Northern 41-36. 3-pt FG: MSU-N 15-30 (Epps 0-3, Margarsa 4-5, Straughter 0-2, Oberweiser 1-1, Bray 3-6, Tatarka 2-2, Dunsmore 2-5, Porter 0-1, Chandler 3-5), UM-W 8-23 (Smalls 2-6, Kidgell 2-3, Scott 0-1, Robinson 4-10, King 0-3). Rebounds: MSU-N 33 (Reeves 8), UM-W 31 (King 11). Fouls: MSU-N 20, UM-W 12. Fouled out: none.