Skylights play at a high level in play-up games

The Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball program doesn’t like to view itself as an underdog and this weekend, against a pair of NCAA Division II opponents, the Skylights showed why they should never be underestimated.

The Northern women, who took part in the Dixie State Tournament Saturday and Sunday in St. George, Utah, played the University of Colorado-Mesa and Dixie State in back-to-back nights and more than held their own. The Skylights actually built a double-digit lead against Colorado-Mesa, before losing a tight game 55-49 Saturday, followed by a competitive 77-66 defeat at the hands of Dixie State Sunday.

“We came out here to get better and continually push our team against good teams and they were both solid across the board,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “They played completely different styles and I think, heading to Tennessee, that is going to help us because we played two really talented teams. We didn’t lay down for anybody, we just came up a little short both times, but not for a lack of effort.”

In the first game of the weekend Saturday, against Colorado-Mesa, the Skylights (5-3) came out firing, outscoring the Mavericks 19-8 in the opening stanza. In the second quarter, Northern continued its strong start and when Shiloh McCormick drilled a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the first half, MSU-N found itself ahead 24-15. The Mavericks trimmed the lead to four at one point in the second quarter, but at intermission, the Skylights were still in front 29-22.

In the third quarter, Colorado-Mesa clamped down defensively, limiting Northern to just six points in the period, while the Mavericks scored 21, giving them a 43-36 edge going into the fourth quarter.

Early in the final stanza, Jacy Thompson scored three points to get MSU-N back within four with 5:51 left in the game. The margin stayed about the same until the final minute, when the Skylights got the lead down to two points at 51-49. Yet, the Mavericks were able to ice the game at the free throw line and Northern never got a shot to tie.

“Given the fact that we got in so late on Friday night, I was really proud of our effort,” Mouat said. “We definitely got beat by a team that got hot in the second half. They have some good players and they are very well coached. They are a solid, solid NCAA Division II program. But I thought we held our own on the boards, we just didn’t shoot it as well as we needed to. Defensively, we did everything we needed to, we just didn’t shoot it well enough.”

Brandy Lambourne had a solid effort in defeat for the Skylights, scoring a team-high 14 points. Kealani Sagapolu matched Lambourne with 14 points and also grabbed six rebounds, while McCormick also pitched in with 12 points and five boards. Ma’ata Epenisa led the Mavericks with 16 points and seven rebounds. Erin Reichle also added 13 points and seven boards for Colorado-Mesa.

Sunday, against Dixie State, the Skylights didn’t get off the same kind of start and fell behind early to the Trail Blazers, who built a 22-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, MSU-N refused to go away. Freshman Naomi Terry hit twice from 3-point range in the second quarter, getting Northern as close as three, before Dixie State ultimately took a 37-31 lead into the break.

“It was a little different story (Sunday),” Mouat said. “They jumped out on us in the first quarter. We gave up a lot of easy shots and (Dixie State) got their confidence up.”

The two teams traded hoops back and forth in the third quarter, but by the end of it, the Trail Blazers extended the lead to 57-49 with 10 minutes left in the game. Early in the fourth, Dixie State pushed its lead to 10, before another triple by Terry got it back to seven, but that’s as close as the Skylights would get. Northern, which finished with 22 turnovers, ended up losing by 11, 77-66.

“They pressed us all game long,” Mouat said, “but at the end of the day, we turned it over 22 times. We were there at the end, down six with a chance to cut it to four, so I was proud of our effort, I just think we need to play better in certain aspects of the game and taking care of the ball is one of them.”

Thompson had a stellar night for Northern, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Lambourne contributed with 11 points, four assists and four rebounds, while Terry finished with nine points, two boards and two assists. Ali Franks led Dixie State with 19 points. The Trail Blazers also got an 18-point effort from Taylor Moeaki.

“Great individual performance by Jacy,” Mouat said. “She was phenomenal. She really carried us for stretches when we needed offense. I think we outrebounded them and they shot a pretty good percentage, we just turned it over a little too much.”

The Skylights will be back in action Friday in Jackson, Tennessee, where they will take part in the Rotary Classic. MSU-N will open against Campbellsville State of Kentucky, which is currently the sixth-ranked team in the NAIA. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. MSU-N will also play Martin Methodist College Saturday at 1 p.m.

Colorado-Mesa 55, MSU-Northern 49

MSU-N 19 10 7 13 - 49

Mesa 8 14 21 12 - 55

Northern - Brandy Lambourne 5-14 4-4 14, Shiloh McCormick 3-4 4-4 12, Jacy Thompson 1-10 2-4 4, Peyton Filius 1-6 1-2 3, Jessica Curl 0-1 2-2 2, Kealani Sagapolu 3-7 8-10 14. Totals 13-42 21-26.

Colorado-Mesa - Ma’ata Epenisa 7-12 2-8 16, Erin Reichle 5-8 0-0 13. Karina Brandon 3-6 3-4 9, Jaylyn Duran 3-14 0-0 8, Kelli Van Tassel 2-5 0-0 5, Sophie Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Sierra McNicol 0-1 0-0 0, Valentine Desreumaux 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-52 5-12.

3-pt FG: Colorado Mesa 6-19 (Erin Reichle 3-3, Karina Brandon 0-1, Jaylyn Duran 2-10, Kelli Van Tassel 1-4, Sophie Anderson 0-1). MSU-N 2-12 (Brandy Lambourne 0-4, Shiloh McCormick 2-2, Jacy Thompson 0-4, Peyton Filius 0-2). Rebounds: MSU-N 33 (Sagapolu 6) Colorado-Mesa 34 (Epenisa 7). Fouls: Colorado-Mesa 22, MSU-N 13. Fouled out - none.

Dixie State 77, MSU-Northern 66

MSU-N 11 20 18 17 - 66

DSU 22 15 20 20 - 77

Northern - Jacy Thompson 5-14 8-9 20, Brandy Lambourne 4-11 1-2 11, Kealani Sagapolu 2-5 4-5 8, Jessica Curl 3-7 2-2 8, Peyton Filius 2-8 1-2 6, Naomi Terry 3-4 0-0 9, Lily Hinderbrand 2-3 4. Totals: 21-54 16-20.

Dixie State - Taylor Moeaki 7-12 4-6 18, Mariah Martin 3-8 2-3 9, Maile Richardson 4-7 1-1 9, Kristin Baldwin 2-5 4-4 8, Matti Ventling 0-6 0-0 0, Ali Franks 6-11 4-4 19, Ashlee Burge 3-7 1-2 7, Morgan Myers 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 28-64 16-20.

3-pt FG: MSU-N 8-16 (Jacy Thompson 2-5, Brandy Lambourne 2-4, Peyton Filius 1-2, Naomi Terry 3-4, Peyton Kehr 0-1). Dixie State 5-22 (Taylor Moeaki 0-2, Mariah Martin 1-2, Malie Richardson 0-1, Kristin Baldwin 0-1, Matti Ventling 0-5, Ali Franks 3-7, Tramina Jordan 1-2, Morgan Myers 0-1, Keslee Stevenson 0-1). Rebounds MSU-N 43 (Curl, Sagapolu 8) Dixie State 30 (Baldwin 7). Fouls: Dixie State 16, MSU-N 15. Fouled out - none.