An Armory Weekend Special: Skylights aim for a fight wth Dawgs, Bears

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights responded to their first back-to-back losses like great teams do — by coming right back and winning.

Now, the No. 15 Skylights (10-6, 20-7) are poised to keep that winning streak going on the last weekend of the Frontier Conference’s regular season.

Northern is home tonight to host No. 20 UM-Western in what amounts to the biggest game of the season thus far. Then, MSU-N will celebrate senior night against Rocky Mountain College Saturday night. Both games tip inside the Armory Gymnasium at 6 p.m.

“Two very big games at home,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “We’re looking forward to them. Both teams present huge challenges for us in different ways. But we’re excited to be back at home. We’re looking forward to playing in front of our great fans again.”

Yes, both teams do present big challenges for the Skylights, who can lock up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Frontier playoffs with a win tonight. That seed would be huge because it would give the Skylights the semifinal game inside the Armory Gymnasium. But even though the Skylights have already beaten Western twice, the Bulldogs, who are currently tied with Northern in the Frontier standings, will do everything in their power to steal that No. 2 seed way from MSU-N tonight.

“They’re (Bulldogs) a complete team right now,” Mouat said. “Kaye Bignell is having a huge season. And Aneise Palmore is as good as it gets in our league. She’s been phenomenal all season long. But they also have great players around those two. They are just very, very complete.”

The Bulldogs (10-6, 21-6) are complete and have completed a major turnaround this season. Western is headed to the NAIA national tournament just one year after finishing in last place in the Frontier. Certainly, Palmore (5-5), who averages 15 points per game, and Bignell (5-9), who chips in with 14 ppg, are a big part of the turnaround. But, the Dawgs have talent and depth. Britt Cooper and Sierra Lamey add another 15 points per night combined, while Taylor Howlett has come on strong as well.

Western, which averages 69 points per night, and allows just 55, which is sixth-best in the NAIA, is also coming to Havre motivated, as two of their six Frontier losses have come at the hands of Northern, including the Skylights’ 57-51 win earlier this month in Dillon.

“Lindsey Wooley has just done an amazing job at Western,” Mouat said. “They finished in last place last year, and where they’re at right now, it’s incredible. He’s the coach of the year in my opinion. Again, they are just so complete. They play great defense, they score in a variety of ways and they have a lot of weapons. They are going to be a handful.”

Of course, the Bulldogs know first-hand how much of a handful the Skylights can be, too. Northern is coming off back-to-back road wins over rivals UGF and Carroll College, and the Skylights’ defense is simply suffocating. Allowing just 54 points per game, and coming off a game in which they held Carroll to a mere 45, Northern is playing as well as any team in the country defensively.

But just when they needed to, the Skylights have also picked up the pace offensively. And on senior weekend, MSU-N looks to its quartet of seniors, in Natalee Faupel (17 ppg), Molly Kreycik, Sierra Richards and Cydney Auzenne, to lead the way against not only the Bulldogs but also a massive game with RMC Saturday night.

Yes, no matter what happens tonight, Saturday night’s regular season finale will be a big one, in particular because Rocky has beaten Northern twice this season. The Battlin’ Bears (4-12, 12-16) have just four Frontier wins this season, but two of them are against the Skylights, and the last one was a 73-57 drubbing earlier this month in Billings.

“They’re just a matchup nightmare for us at times,” Mouat said of Rocky. “Hailee Farvsteet playing the point creates all kinds of matchup issues. And Wes (Keller) is so creative. He’s always coming up with new wrinkles, and I think he just does such a great job. Not only that, but they’re talented, too. They have a lot of weapons, they can go inside-out, and they can hurt you in many different ways.

“They have also played everybody in our league tough,” Mouat said. “And they’ve beaten us twice. They beat us like a drum in Billings. So they’re record certainly isn’t indicative of how good they are. That game is going to be a big challenge for us.”

Farvsteet (5-11) and Keisha Englehart (5-9) combine to score 23 points per night for a Rocky squad that averages 65 per game. But the Bears also have veteran talent in Jayde LeFevre (5-7) and Justyn Juhl (6-0), while freshman Markaela Francis (6-0) has really come on strong in the second half of the season.

Still, as good as the Bears have been against Northern this season, MSU-N is on a roll. They are coming off two of their biggest wins of the season, and, they’re back in the Armory, on senior weekend, with two huge games in front of them. So emotions will be running high and, Mouat says, the Skylights will be ready to go.

“We’re playing in our gym finally, and that’s exciting,” Mouat said. “And then you have the emotions of senior night and all of that. We’ll be honoring some great players who have done so much for our program. But at the same time, our kids are focused on the bigger picture. Western and Rocky are two very good teams, and winning these games is what matters most to our kids because it will help them accomplish some of their longterm goals for this season. So, it’s a big, big weekend for us.”

Tonight’s NAIA showdown between the Skylights and Bulldogs tips at 6 inside the Armory Gymnasium. Saturday’s regular season finale against RMC also tips at 6 p.m.

No. 15 Skylights vs No. 20 Western tonight, 6 p.m.; vs RMC Saturday, 6 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: msun.edu/athletics

Twitter: HavreDaily

Skylights Projected Starters

G Jacy Thompson, 5-6, Jr., 10 ppg

G Molly Kreycik, 5-7, Sr., 8 ppg

G Cydney Auzenne, 5-10, Sr., 10 ppg

F Natalee Faupel, 5-10, Sr., 17 ppg

F Sierra Richards, 6-0, Sr., 12 ppg