Skylights rebound with a thrashing of UGF

Heading into their final road trip of the regular season, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights were in need of several things. They needed to pick up the pace offensively. And, after back-to-back road losses last week, the Skylights, in reality, the Skylights needed to beat arch rival UGF for a third time this season.

Northern accomplished both those things in one shot Thursday night as the No. 15 Skylights thumped the Argos 81-63 in Great Falls. The win pushed MSU-N to 9-6 in the Frontier Conference with just three games left in the regular season.

"We played well as a team tonight," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "I'm proud of the way we responded to a tough loss."

The loss to Montana Tech last Saturday was tough, especially the fact that the Skylights shot a miserable 24 percent from the floor. But, they quickly turned that around against the Argos. Northern shot 48 percent from the floor at UGF and banged in five 3-pointers. But more importantly, MSU-N found some consistency offensively.

The Skylights led just 14-12 after the first period, but over the next two quarters MSU-N turned things up a couple of notches. The Skylights ran off 21 points in the second stanza to lead 35-25 at intermission, and they were even better in the third, scoring 28 points, and, not letting UGF keep pace. MSU-N led 63-25 with 10 minutes left, and the Skylights went on to finish off the Argos with 18 more points in the final stanza. Northern also won on the Argos' home floor for the second time this season, as the Skylights dropped UGF's record to just 1-14 in conference play.

"We did a great job on the boards against a very good rebounding team," Mouat said. "This was big for us because Great Falls is an explosive team with a ton of weapons."

The Skylights did win the battle of the boards 33-23, but, their offensive prowess couldn't be overlooked either. Senior Natalee Faupel was fantastic, scoring 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting and an 8-for-8 performance from the foul line. Molly Krecyik hit three 3-pointers and added 16 points, while Jacy Thompson added 13 and Peyton Filius came off the bench to score seven. Sierra Richards pulled down 13 rebounds as Northern improved to 19-7 on the season ahead of Saturday's trip to Carroll College.

"We got a lot of contributions from a ton of kids tonight," Mouat said. "I'm very proud of how we played."

Lights battle to a win

The Montana State University-Northern Lights have the best scoring defense in the NAIA. And, the Lights also have a great road record in the Frontier Conference. Thursday night in Great Falls, both were on full display.

Playing inside the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls, where Northern lost last month, the Lights put the clamps on the hosting UGF Argos in a 59-53 win that got MSU-N to a 20-win season, and, to 9-6 in conference play.

Northern's defense was stout throughout, especially on the perimeter where the Argos made just one 3-pointer on the night. On the other end, the Lights were efficient, and made 3-pointers, all of them key according to head coach Shawn Huse.

"We had to hang on and keep a very scrappy UGF team at bay down the stretch," Huse said. "They would not go away easy, as he always has them playing hard till the end. I was proud of how we gutted it out at the finish."

The Lights led 30-25 at halftime, and the game remained close the rest of the way. But Northern never let the lead get away in the second half, and the Lights did hang on for their sixth road win of the season in conference play.

"Life is never easy on the road and they all are big, as we head for the home-stretch," Huse said.

Tyler Chandler had another big game for Northern, knocking in three triples and scoring 15 points. David Straughter came up big as well, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Playing in his hometown, Dylan Tatarka also buried three treys and scored nine points, while Badhasa Margarsa and Justin Dunsmore each chipped in with seven.

UGF, which fell to 3-12 in league play, got 14 points from Sergio Berkley, but no one else landed in double figures against the Lights' tenacious defense.

The win put MSU-N at 20-7 on the season and kept Northern in front of Rocky Mountain College for fourth in the Frontier standings, while the Lights also picked up a game on Lewis-Clark State for third.

Northern wraps up regular season road play Saturday night at No. 8 Carroll College. The Lights and Skylights then come home to finish the regular season against UM-Western next Friday and Rocky next Saturday.

Skylights 81, UGF 63

Northern 14 21 28 18 - 81

Great Falls 12 13 20 18 - 63

MSU-N - Cydney Auzenne 2-4 0-1 4, Molly Kreycik 5-9 3-6 16, Natalee Faupel 8-16 8-8 25, Makhayla Farmer 0-1 0-0 0, Peyton Filius 3-8 1-2 7, Brandy Lambourne 1-1 0-0 2, Jacy Thompson 5-9 2-5 13, Katie Fertterer 1-2 4-4 6, Sierra Richards 2-6 0-2 4, Shiloh McCormick 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 29-60 18-28 81.

UGF - Nneka Nnadi 1-5 0-0 2, Stephanie McDonagh 10-23 2-4 25, Molly Herron 0-4 0-0 0, Kalani Ulufale 5-9 1-3 11, Whitney George 3-5 0-0 6, Sidney Arant 0-1 0-0 0, Paige Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Kallee Wilson 2-2 0-0 4, Darah Huertas-Vining 1-5 3-4 5, Jenna Randich 2-8 5-6 10. Totals 24-62 11-17 63.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-17 (Auzenne 0-1, Kreycik 3-6, Faupel 1-3, Farmer 0-1, Filius 0-2, Thompson 1-3, McCormick 0-1), Great Falls (Mont.) 4-14 (Nnadi 0-1, McDonagh 3-8, Herron 0-1, Arant 0-1, Randich 1-3). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 45 (Richards 13), Great Falls (Mont.) 31 (TEAM 7, McDonagh 7). Fouls Montana State-Northern 14, Great Falls (Mont.) 21. Fouled out: none.

Lights 59, UGF 53

MSU-N - Kevin Oberweiser 0-1 0-0 0, Dylan Tatarka 3-7 0-0 9, Ryan Reeves 3-5 0-0 6, Tyler Chandler 5-10 2-2 15, Justin Dunsmore 3-11 0-1 7, David Straughter 5-13 2-4 12, Badhasa Margarsa 1-3 4-4 7, Charles Porter 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Bray 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Huse 1-1 0-0 3, Cameron Epps 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 8-11 59.

UGF - ohn Makkar 1-5 0-1 2, Sigman Farmer III 2-7 2-2 6, Sergio Berkley 5-6 4-5 14, Isaac Howard 0-9 0-0 0, Jarred Burr 3-3 0-0 7, Treyvon Bashir 1-3 0-1 2, Jacob Wetzel 0-2 0-0 0, Quesly-Marie Noresias 3-6 1-2 7, Matthew Brooks-McGregor 3-4 0-0 6, Jared Schultz 3-6 3-4 9, Iain Carr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 10-15 53.

Halftime: Northern 30-25. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 9-26 (Oberweiser 0-1, Tatarka 3-6, Chandler 3-7, Dunsmore 1-4, Straughter 0-2, Margarsa 1-3, Huse 1-1, Epps 0-2), Great Falls (Mont.) 1-11 (Berkley 0-1, Howard 0-4, Burr 1-1, Bashir 0-1, Wetzel 0-2, Noresias 0-1, Schultz 0-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 38 (Reeves 8, Dunsmore 8, Straughter 8), Great Falls (Mont.) 33 (Bashir 7). Fouls Montana State-Northern 17, Great Falls (Mont.) 19. Fouled out: none.