Rebound: Skylights blow out Blue Hawks

The start to the 2017-18 season didn't go as planned for the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team. But the Skylights sure turned things around in a hurry.

Friday, Northern was back in the Armory Gymnasium, and the No. 21 Skylights dominated the Dickinson State Blue Hawks from start-to-finish, winning in blowout fashion, 74-48.

"Proud of our kids," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "They were disappointed with what was an ugly game against Lethbridge. Tonight, they came out ready to play, they played with a lot of energy, they were aggressive, they played with more purpose. I thought we got good shots, we got hot from the three early on, we got after it on the boards. We did a lot of good things tonight and that's exciting."

Indeed, many of the things the Skylights didn't do well the previous Saturday, they did Friday night, against a Dickinson State squad headed by former Mouat assistant Liz Lewis, and with former Havre Blue Pony Lacy Waid. Northern made just one 3-pointer last Saturday, but made six in the first half alone against the Blue Hawks. The Skylights shot 57 percent from the field Friday night, after shooting 29 percent against the Pronghorns. They were also better on the free-throw-line and on the boards.

"I thought we did a great job of sharing the ball tonight," Mouat said. "Brandy Lambourne had a great game for us. She hit big shots, she got us into really good offense, and she showed a lot of toughness out there. Again, our kids came ready to play tonight."

From the start, too. Northern buried four triples in the first 10 minutes, starting with a Shiloh McCormick three, followed by bombs from Lambourne, Peyton Filius and Naomi Terry, and just like that, the Skylights were out to a 21-10 advantage.

A Jacy Thompson trey early in the second would cap a 7-0 run, and a three from Lambourne to end the second stanza sent MSU-N into the break with a 37-18 lead. From there, the rout was on. McCormick scored 12 of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter, as Northern's lead grew to 55-34, and the Skylights cruised home from there, improving to 1-1 on the young season.

Offensively, the Skylights were very good, with McCormick tallying a double-double with 12 rebounds to go with her 24 points. Lambourne finished with 13 points and four assists, while Jessica Curl scored eight points and grabbed a huge 18 rebounds. Thompson added nine, and became the latest member of Northern's exclusive 1,000-point club along the way, while Kealani Sagapolu, Terry and Peyton Kehr added a combined 16 bench points. On the other side, Northern out-rebounded the Blue Hawks, 48-31, and held them to just 29 percent shooting for the night.

"Very proud of the way we played defensively," Mouat said. "Peyton Filius did a great job guarding their best shooter, and Shiloh McCormick had a huge game for us on both ends of the floor. Our kids were just very focused and ready to go tonight."

And they needed to be because Lewis knows Northern well. And while DSU had a rough night in Lewis' return to the Armory, Mouat says the Blue Hawks will be going in the right direction. Waid scored 15 points for the Blue Hawks, in a homecoming, where she played against Lambourne and Filius. The trio helped Havre High win the 2014 Class A state championship.

"Coach Lewis will have them playing at a high level," Mouat said. "They were short-handed tonight, but she is a very good basketball coach, and it was neat to see a former assistant leading a team now. And full credit to Lacy Waid, too. She played a great game tonight. I've known her forever. It was special for her to come home and play against some of her old teammates, and in front of her family. There were a lot of people that came here to see her tonight, and it was great to see her play so well."

Waid did play well, but the night belonged to the Skylights, who will certainly gain some confidence with the first win of the season out of the way.

"We did a lot of good things tonight," Mouat said. "We have things we know we need to work on. We need to keep getting better. But I thought the girls worked hard all week long, to get ready for this game, but also just to get better. And it really showed tonight. So I'm proud of them for that."

The Skylights will hit the road for two straight, including a trip to Dickinson State for a rematch Nov. 6. First, they'll travel to Pablo to take on Salish Kootenai College this Friday.

Skylights 74, Dickinson State 48

Dickinson St. 10 8 16 14 – 48

MSU-Northern 21 16 18 19 – 74

DSU - Tarissa Phipps 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Hansen 1-2 0-0 3, Riley Helmick 3-8 0-0 9, Jennifer Burnham 1-7 0-0 3, Karen Hopkins 5-13 7-10 18, Isidora Tasovic 0-7 0-0 0, Lacey Waid 7-20 0-1 15, Natalee Hafer 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 17-58 7-13 48.

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 2-10 4-4 9, Brandy Lambourne 5-6 1-1 13, Naomi Terry 1-3 2-4 5, Jessica Curl 3-8 2-3 8, Peyton Filius 1-11 1-2 4, Peyton Kehr 2-5 0-0 5, Shiloh McCormick 9-15 5-6 24, Lily Hilderbrand 0-1 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 26-64 15-20 74

3-pt FG:Dickinson State U 7-24 (Hansen 1-1, Helmick 3-6, Burnham 1-2, Hopkins 1-5, Tasovic 0-2, Waid 1-8), Montana State University- 7-21 (Thompson 1-5, Lambourne 2-2, Terry 1-1, Filius 1-8, Kehr 1-3, McCormick 1-2). Rebounds: Dickinson State U 31 (Tasovic 5), Montana State University- 48 (Curl 18). Fouls Dickinson State U 16, Montana State University- 10. Fouled out: none. Technical: none.