Western sweeps in the Armory

While Northern had a great opportunity to beat LC State Friday night, the UM-Western Bulldogs never gave the Skylights the same chances on Saturday.

Western used big runs in the second and third quarters to top the Skylights 67-51 Saturday night in the Armory. It was MSU-N's eighth straight loss in conference play ahead of four straight games coming on the road.

"Western came out and played really, really well," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "They really ripped our zone apart, shot it very well and beat us in transition. On our end, I thought we came out a little flat, and continued to hurt ourselves with little things. Those things are fixable, but we've got to come out more ready and match them from the start. Because they came in here hot, and we needed to match that intensity right from the start of the game, and I don't think we did that tonight."

The Dawgs did play great. One night after blowing out 14th-ranked Providence in Great Falls, Western used 10-0 run in the second quarter, sparked by two 3-pointers from Tori Anderson, to build a 35-21 halftime lead. The Skylights had hung tough in the first quarter, with Brandy Lambourne scoring seven points in the final two minutes of the period, as Northern trailed just 13-10.

However, Alexa Welch and Brianna King combined for eight straight points early in the second, as Western outscored the Skylights 22-11 in the period. And the Dawgs kept shooting it well in the third quarter.

Paige Holmes opened the second half with a three, and by the time Peyton Filius drained a top of the key trey, Western was ahead 55-35, and the Dawgs never looked back, as they improved to 7-3 in the Frontier. Western shot 44 percent from the field and made seven three's, with King and Britt Cooper each scoring 14 points. The Dawgs also held a decided, 34-22 edge on the boards.

On the other side, Lambourne had a big night for the Skylights, scoring 19 points, including three triples. Shiloh McCormick also scored 16 points, while Filius chipped in with seven. But shooting doomed Northern, as the Skylights shot just 33 percent and went 6-for-21 from beyond the arc.

The loss continued a rough stretch for Northern (9-12), which hasn't won since beating nationally-ranked Our Lady of Lake back on Dec. 30. And now the Skylights are faced with a pair of daunting road games, traveling to nationally-ranked Rocky Mountain College Thursday night, and Carroll College Saturday night.

"We've got to just continue to get better," Mouat said. "We have to stay positive and work on the things we can control. We played hard tonight, the kids really dug their heels in in the fourth quarter and battled. But overall, I felt like we should have been more competitive for 40 minutes and our kids feel the same way. So we just have to go back to work and keep getting better."

Western thwarts Lights

Less than 24 hours after Northern's emotional win over Lewis-Clark State Warriors, the Lights were back on the floor to take on another tough team, only this time, MSU-N would have to do it without head coach Shawn Huse, who was suspended for Saturday night's game against UM-Western after his two technical fouls on Friday night.

And though the Lights would fight hard, they couldn't quite solve the high-scoring, 16th-ranked Bulldogs, who beat the Lights 86-75 inside the Armory Gymnasium.

"I'm really proud of the fight in our guys, in both games," Huse said after Saturday night's game. "I'm disappointed I wasn't able to coach them in this game, but I thought our guys fought hard, and Josh (Thompson, MSU-N assistant) did a great job."

Northern did have plenty of fight, but, a bad start to each half did the Lights in.

Behind a hot start from Zach Darko-Kelly, two buckets from Dom Robinson and a three by Kooper Kidgell, Western took an early 21-10 lead. Kelly would hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 26-15, but, the Lights responded.

First, Ryan Reeves dominated in the paint, throwing down two thunderous dunbks, and scoring Northern's first seven points. Then, Devin Bray hit three triples in a two-minute stretch, and when Justin Dunsmore hit a trey with 1:57 left in the half, the lights had the lead 1t 34-32. The two teams battled down the stretch of the first half, until Kidgell knocked in a trey to give Western a slim, 39-36 lead after the first 20 minutes.

But while Northern overcame a rough start, they would have to overcome an even tougher start to the second half.

Kelly and Marcus Payne caught fire in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, and with 10:30 left in the game, the Bulldogs were leading 66-51. The lead would grow to 75-53 with 6:48 to go, but again, the Lights responded.

Adam Huse and Bray went back-to-back from deep, to cut into the Western lead. The two sophomores would do it again at the three-minute mark, and all of a sudden, Northern had chopped the Western lead to 78-69 with two minutes left. But, a seven-point margin was as close as the Lights would get, and while they did outscore Western 19-4 during a six-minute run, the Lights simply ran out of time.

"Was really proud of the way we fought back in both halves," Coach Huse said. "The guys never gave in. They showed a ton of character to keep fighting like that. But, I also was a little disappointed, because I felt like we just didn't play Northern basketball for a full 40 minutes. And we know, you can't do that against good teams.

"And credit Western," he continued. "They're a very good team and all their weapons came in her tonight and were fully loaded and ready to go. They earned the victory."

The Bulldogs were good, shooting a scorching 67 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Darko-Kelly had a huge night with 23 points and 17 rebounds, leading five Dawgs in double figures.

Northern did battle hard, getting a game-high 20 points from Reeves, who also had seven boards and three blocks. Dunsmore added 16 points, while Bray hit five three's and scored 15 and Charles Porter added 11.

However, it just wasn't enough to overcome the Bulldogs sensational scoring night, and the Lights were forced to settle for a home split. Northern is now 5-5 in the Frontier Conference, and must play its next four games on the road, including Thursday night at Rocky Mountain College and Saturday night at Carroll College.