Skylights NAIA national tournament run ends with loss to Vanguard

BILLINGS -- The Montana State University-Northern Skylights did everything they could to advance to the final eight of the NAIA Women's Basketball Championship Friday night inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra in Billings, but in the end, they fell six points short.

Despite a valiant effort and a never-say-die spirit, the Skylights battled one of the best teams in the country for four quarters, but ultimately, dropped their second-round game at the national tournament to Vanguard, 71-65. MSU-N ends it season at 25-9 with the loss.

"This group has done a great job," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "That was the only thing that I could tell them tonight, that I was proud of their effort. We got beat tonight. We hurt ourselves at times and they hurt us at times. But this has been an incredible run with a great group of kids that responded to every bit of adversity that came their way throughout the year and some throughout four years and I am not really ready to say goodbye to them yet."

Both teams flew out of the gates offensively to start the game, as the Skylights knocked down 58 percent of their shots in the opening stanza, while Vanguard made 63 percent as the Lions grabbed a 21-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Skylights got a big spark from true freshman Shiloh McCormick, who scored eight points in the stanza, including two made 3-pointers, which helped Northern stay within five, 39-34 at the half.

Early in the third, the Lions pushed their lead to seven, but triples by Molly Kreycik and another from McCormick got MSU-N back within three at 45-42. Yet, by the end of the third, the Lions advantage was back to five at 51-46.

The Skylights quickly trimmed the lead to 51-49 after a trey by Natalee Faupel, but a 9-2 run by the Lions gave them their biggest lead of the night at 60-52. But with its season on the line, Northern had one last run in it.

First, Faupel hit a three, her third of the fourth quarter and after a bucket by Jacy Thompson, the Vanguard lead was down to 60-58. However, a 6-0 run by the Lions put an end to any hopes of a comeback for Northern, which ultimately lost by six.

Faupel had another stellar outing in her final game as a Skylight, scoring 23 points and grabbing four rebounds. Kreycik also went out with a bang with 13 points and eight assists, while McCormick finished with 11. Claire Lamunu finished with 15 to lead Vanguard (30-3).

With both Northern and Montana Western losing out Friday, Lewis and Clark State is the only Frontier Conference team still alive in the tournament.