Dawgs nip Skylights in Dillon

For the last month, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights have gotten better and better. That was evident last Friday when the Skylights went to Montana Tech and won in their regular season finale.

And, there's no denying the Skylights played well in their Frontier Conference quarterfinal game Wednesday night in Dillon — it's just that UM-Western Bulldogs, and star guard Brianna King, played a little bit better.

Northern saw its season come to an end inside the Straugh Gymnasium with a 70-62 loss to the No. 15 Bulldogs. It was an end to a tough season for the Skylights, but one in which they never, ever gave up on.

"Our kids played extremely hard tonight, as they've done throughout this entire season," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "They continued to battle all year, through all kinds of adversity. They never once through in the towel. We had great leadership from our four seniors. They did a great job for us all year. So I'm extremely proud of this team. They continued to improve all year long, and they put themselves in a position to beat anybody in the Frontier, especially down the stretch of the season."

And the Skylights were definitely in a position to beat the Bulldogs Wednesday night. Northern raced out to a commanding 18-12 lead in the first 10 minutes, and while Western responded with 23 points in the second period, the Skylights shot 48 percent from the field and made four first-half 3-pointers on their way to a 37-35 lead.

"Our kids came out ready," Mouat said. "And they executed extremely well offensively. I thought where the game got away from us a little was what a great job Western did on the offensive boards. They really hurt us there. And, down the stretch, they made some really timely three's, and we hurt ourselves with a couple of costly turnovers in that same time frame. So it's tough, because we're in a position to win that game. We just didn't get ti done, and give credit to Western for putting us away at the end."

Behind 29 points and three triples from King, Western was able to get past the Skylights. The Dawgs took the lead in the third quarter, and with 10 minutes to go, were ahead 53-47. Northern did continue to fight and late in the game, had it down to a one-possession contest. But the Bulldogs, who have won 13 of their last 14 games, were able to hang on for the win, and advance to Saturday night's Frontier semifinals.

King was the catalyst, going 9-of-18 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Britt Cooper added 10 points and Alexa Welch hit three of Western's nine 3-pointers.

On the other end, the Skylights got two triples and 14 points from Peyton Filius, while Kealani Sagapolu finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Tiara Gilham added 11 points and seven boards, while Shiloh McCormick chipped in with 10.

It was a heartbreaking ending to a difficult season for the Skylights, who were a Sweet 16 team just a year ago. But through it all, including the loss of All-American Jacy Thompson, Northern fought, scrapped and clawed its way to make sure it still competed with every team in the Frontier, every night.

"Nobody on this team ever quit," Mouat said. "They never gave up on each other or what we were trying to accomplish. They came to work every day, they battled, they prepared, they worked hard and I'll forever be thankful to them for that. This was a special group and I'm extremely proud of them."

Western 70, Skylights 62

MSU-Northern 18 19 10 15 - 62

UM-Western 12 23 18 17 - 70

MSU-N - Brandy Lambourne 1-8 0-0 3, Naomi Terry 0-2 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 3-6 1-1 7, Peyton Filius 4-12 4-5 14, Shiloh McCormick 4-8 0-0 10, Lily Hilderbrand 2-2 1-1 5, Kealani Sagapolu 4-5 4-5 12, Tiara Gilham 5-11 1-2 11. Totals 23-54 11-14 62.

UM-W - Alexa Welch 3-7 0-0 9, Paige Holmes 1-6 0-0 3, Sierra Bignell 0-1 0-0 0, Britt Cooper 4-8 2-2 10, Cierra Lamey 1-7 3-4 6, Brianna King 9-18 8-9 29, Tori Anderson 2-4 0-0 5, Savanna Bignell 1-3 0-0 2, Darby Schye 3-9 0-0 6. Totals 24-63 13-15 70.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-19 (Lambourne 1-6, Terry 0-1, Filius 2-5, McCormick 2-5, Gilham 0-2), University of Montana-Wes 9-28 (Welch 3-6, Holmes 1-4, Bignell 0-1, Lamey 1-5, King 3-7, Anderson 1-3, Bignell 0-2). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 37 (Sagapolu 9), University of Montana-Wes 33 (TEAM 8). Fouls Montana State-Northern 14, University of Montana-Wes 12. Fouled out: Filius, Cooper.