Bears cage Skylights in Billings

No question, the opening week of Frontier Conference women's basketball was going to be a difficult one for the Montana State University-Northern Skylights. After all, Northern was set to begin Frontier play on the road with games at Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College, both of which are ranked in the NAIA Top 25.

The first leg of the road trip proved to be tough, as the Skylights were beaten by No. 24 RMC 65-52 Thursday night in Billings. And while Northern fell to the Bears by double digits, it wasn't the start or the finish that hurt the Skylights.

Instead, MSU-N saw a one-point first quarter deficit turn into a 33-20 Rocky lead at intermission, as the Battlin' Bears went on a 19-7 run in the second quarter. Already in a hole, the team got deeper in the third quarter as Rocky ripped off a 16-8 run to build a commanding 49-28 lead with just the fourth frame left.

The Skylights did make a run in the final 10 minutes, behind the hot shooting of Peyton Kehr, and they wound up outscoring Rocky 24-16 down the stretch. But, the 21-point lead RMC had amassed through three quarters was just too much for Northern, which is playing without its two leading scorers, to overcome.

Kehr did have another strong outing for the Skylights, scoring 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting. However, the Skylights shot just 38 percent from the field, including a tough, 28 percent in the first half. Sam Caruth, Jessica Curl and Gokce Aslan each added six points, with Caruth hitting two of Northern's five 3-pointers.

On the other end of the floor, Rocky shot a sizzling 56 percent from the field, even with only two triples. Marissa Van Atta had a double-double for the Bears with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and RMC out-rebounded the Skylights 34-23.

The tough road loss is something the Skylights (0-1, 3-4) will have to quickly shake off, too, as they head to arch rival Carroll College. The Fighting Saints are ranked seventh in all of the NAIA and have a tall, talented squad that includes former Havre Blue Pony Dani Wagner, who averages six points and five rebounds per night.

Carroll's size, with Hannah Dean and Brittney Johnson will also be a matchup problem for the Skylights, while the Saints are also one of the top defensive teams in the country every season.

"Carroll is playing very well right now," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "They have some big wins over nationally ranked opponents, and they have played a brutal schedule. As a team, they defend extremely well and are effective in man-to-man as well as their zone. Hannah Dean returns as an All-American for them and really does a little bit of everything for them at both ends. She is surrounded by a lot of quality returners and solid newcomers. As they have been in the past, Carroll is again a very strong team on the boards. Their scoring is a bit deceptive because, although Dean is their only double-figure scorer, they have a lot of kids capable of big nights offensively."

Northern and Carroll will meet Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Helena. The Skylights return home to face Yellowstone Christian Tuesday night.

Rocky Mountain 65, Skylights 52

MSU-Northern 13 7 8 24 - 52

Rocky Mountain 14 19 16 16 - 65

MSU-N - Lily Hilderbrand 1-2 0-0 3, Peyton Kehr 7-13 7-7 22, Jessica Curl 3-9 0-0 6, Sydney Hovde 2-4 0-2 4, Allix Goldhahn 2-5 0-2 5, Petra Sellin 0-0 0-0 0, Jada Nicholson 0-0 0-0 0, Sabin Keo 0-2 0-2 0, Gokce Aslan 2-8 2-4 6, Sam Caruth 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 19-49 9-17 52.

RMC - Alexi Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Kloie Thatcher 1-6 0-0 2, Kiana Corpus 2-4 0-0 4, Marissa Van Atta 8-12 5-6 21, Antuanisha Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Alyssa Big Man 4-7 0-1 9, Alecia Chamberlin 6-7 2-2 15, Olivia James 1-2 0-0 2, Markaela Francis 5-6 2-4 12. Totals 27-48 9-13 65.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 5-13 (Hilderbrand 1-1, Kehr 1-5, Goldhahn 1-1, Aslan 0-2, Caruth 2-4), Rocky Mountain College 2-11 (Smith 0-1, Thatcher 0-2, Corpus 0-1, Van Atta 0-1, Wright 0-1, Big Man 1-3, Chamberlin 1-2). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 23 (Curl 8), Rocky Mountain College 34 (Van Atta 12). Fouls Montana State-Northern 15, Rocky Mountain College 17. Fouled out: none.