Skylights lock up second with win over Dawgs; Western holds off Lights

The MSU-Northern Skylights had already won two tough battles with the UM-Western Bulldogs. But to be at home for the Frontier Conference semifinals, the Skylights needed one more. And, on Friday night in the Armory Gymnasium, they got it.

Thanks to a monster fourth quarter from Natalee Faupel, the No. 15 Skylights beat the No. 20 Bulldogs 57-53. The win, with a tiebreaker over Western, ensured Northern will finish second in the Frontier Conference, and host a semifinal game in the Frontier playoffs next Friday night.

And like the game earlier this month in Dillon, Northern needed its incredible defense, and the heady play of Faupel to keep the Dawgs at bay. MSU-N rattled off a 15-2 run at the end of the first period and the start of the second, to lead 22-12. But, that was as far away from the Dawgs as the Skylights would get. Thanks to Kaye Bignell's 14 first-half points, the Skylights led just 27-24 at halftime.

Western then took the lead early in the third quarter, but on back-to-back buckets from Molly Kreycik, and on the strength of seven points in the quarter, the Skylights were able to lead 42-38 with eight minutes left. From there, the game was every bit up for grabs though, and when Aneise Palmore made a jumper at the 2:20 mark, it was tied at 51-51. That's when Faupel took over for good.

The Northern all-time great answered Palmore's shot with a short bucket to put the Skylights back in front, then, with the shot clock winding down and the Skylights up by just two, Faupel grabbed a Krecyik miss, got fouled and calmly sank to free throws to seal Western's fate, and a huge win for her team.

Faupel finished with 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Sierra Richards added 11 points and Thompson finished with nine, while Palmore scored 17 for the Dawgs. Northern's defense was big in the second half, holding Bignell scoreless, while the Skylights also held a commanding 32-20 on the boards.

With the three-peat over the Bulldogs complete, Northern will now look to finish the regular season off with a win over Rocky Mountain College Saturday night in Havre.

"It's a huge win for us," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "Our kids had a goal to host the semifinals at home this season, so to go out and see them do it, especially having to beat a great team in Western three times to accomplish that goal, that's really special."

Also on Friday night, the Lights were at home for the first time in three weeks, but, especially in the first half, it was visiting UM-Western that made themselves feel right at home. The No. 13 Bulldogs hit eight first-half 3-pointers and led by as many as 18 points in a 72-66 win.

Northern did weather the Dawgs early storm, and fought back to only trail 41-32 at halftime. The Lights then opened the second half on a 10-0 run, on the strength of the inside play of Ryan Reeves. The run lifted MSU-N to a 43-43 lead, and Devin Bray buried a three shortly after to keep the Lights going.

From there however, Western stormed right back. Dom Robinson nailed two more three's in the final five minutes, and Marcus Payne scored eight points as part of a 9-2 spurt by the Bulldogs, which put them ahead 59-52 with 8 minutes to go. The Lights kept it close down the stretch, but never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Robinson, who scored a game-high 31 points, also lit up the Lights in Havre for 25 points last month. Reeves and David Straughter paced the Lights with 19 and 16 points, respectively, each also grabbing seven rebounds.

The win clinched second place in the Frontier for the Bulldogs, while the Lights fell to 9-8 in league play, but will still earn fourth place due to Rocky's loss at UGF Friday night. Northern hosts Rocky in the regular season finale Saturday, and will also host the Bears in the first round of the Frontier playoffs next Wednesday.