Powerful Saints too much for Northern hoops

Being short-handed for non-conference play is one thing. But being without your two leading scorers for the first two road games of Frontier Conference play is something else.

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights found that out this weekend with a pair of losses at Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College to open league play.

Following their loss in Billings Thursday night, the Skylights moved on to Helena to take on No. 7 Carroll College Saturday night. And Northern came away with a 78-57 loss to drop to 0-2 in the Frontier.

The Skylights played extremely well defensively in the first 20 minutes, trailing the Saints 15-12 after one quarter and 29-24 at halftime. But Carroll exploded for 30 points in the third period and 19 more in the fourth to pull away from MSU-N, which is playing without its top inside threats Hailey Nicholson and Tiara Gilham. A bright spot forNorthern was again sophomore Peyton Kehr, who after scoring 22 points Thursday night, poured in 17, including three 3-pointers against the Saints. Northern also had one of its best 3-point shooting nights of the season, as the Skylights hit eight triples, with Sam Caruth and Gokce Aslan each nailing two. Caruth finished the game with 11 points, while Aslan added eight.

It wasn’t enough, though, as Carroll shot 51 percent from the field and got a huge 23 points from Brittany Johnson. Johnson buried seven threes for the Saints, who hit 12 from beyond the arc. Former Havre Blue Pony Dani Wagner also had a big game with 12 points and five rebounds as Carroll moved to 2-0 in league play.

“We came out and played with a sense of purpose in the first 20 minutes. That being said, we still turned the ball over far too much in both halves,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “Unforced turnovers are hurting us right now. We simply need to take better care of the ball and execute at a higher level. In the second half Carroll’s shooters caught fire and we didn’t answer enough with baskets of our own. I thought our zone was effective at times, but when we had to go man we didn’t get stops. Carroll is No. 7 in the country for many reasons. They played well. Our focus just has to be a complete, clean 40-minute effort. We can take a lot from this game moving forward.”

The Skylights (3-5) will get right back to non-conference play when they host Yellowstone Christian Tuesday night in the Armory Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, Saturday night was unkind to the MSU-Northern men, too. Facing No. 22 Carroll in Helena, Northern saw a close game slip away in the final 10 minutes as the Fighting Saints won 91-76.

The Lights, who lost a tough game at RMC Thursday night, came out swinging in the first half and played the high-octane Saints to a 45-45 tie. By the 10-minute mark of the second half, Northern was still right there, trailing by just three points.

From there however, Matt Wyman, former Havre Blue Pony Dane Warp, and Match Burnham took charge, and Carroll pulled away for good. Burnham led five Saints in double figures with a game-high 26 points, while Warp, the Frontier’s leading scorer, added 19. Carroll also hit 10 threes.

Mascio McCadney pumped in 20 for the Lights, while Adam Huse added 19, but the Lights shot just 25 percent from beyond the arc, and 45 percent for the game.

Northern (6-3, 0-2) will return to non-conference action this weekend with the Duck Inn Classic. The Lights host Dickinson State Sunday and Augustana-Alberta next Monday.

Carroll 78, Skylights 57

MSU-Northern 12 12 16 17 - 57

Carroll 15 14 30 19 - 78

MSU-N - Sam Caruth 3-4 3-3 11, Gokce Aslan 3-7 0-0 8, Sabin Keo 1-2 0-4 2, Petra Sellin 1-2 0-0 3, Allix Goldhahn 1-6 0-0 2, Jada Nicholson 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 2-3 3-4 7, Peyton Kehr 7-7 17, Lilly Hilderbrand 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Hovde 1-3 3-3 4. Totals: 19-35 11-17.

CC - Jaidyn Lyman 3-7 0-0 7, Dani Wagner 5-9 0-0 12, Christine Denny 2-5 0-0 5, Taylor Salonen 1-3 0-0 2, Sienna Swannek 2-3 2-9 7, Hannah Dean 3-4 4-4 10, Brittney Johnson 8-14 0-0 23, Nikki Krueger 2-4 1-4 5, Emma Madsen 2-4 0-0 4, Molly Mcdermott 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 29-57 8-19.

3-pointers: MSU-N 8-14 (Caruth 2, Aslan 2, Sellin 1, Kehr 3), CC 12-28 (Lyman 1, Wagner 2, Denny 1, Swannek 1, Johnson 7). Rebounds: MSU-N 26 (Curl 5), CC 30 (Dean 7). Fouls: MSU-N 18, CC 17. Fouled out: Hovde.

Carroll 91, Lights 76

MSU-N - Kamari Burnside 0-1 1-2 1, Adam Huse 7-11 1-1 19, Caulin Bakalarski 0-4 2-2 2, Kavon Bey 4-5 5-6 13, Mascio McCadney 9-18 1-1 20, Devin Bray 2-4 2-2 6, Justin Dunsmore 3-6 3-5 9, Joe Fons 1-1 0-0 2, Cedric Curtchfield 1-4 2-4 4. Totals: 27-55 17-23.

CC - Dane Warp 8-17 2-3 19, Chase Burnham 0-0 1-2 1, Match Burnham 7-11 9-9 26, Jovan Silvancanin 4-5 2-2 12, Shamrock Campbell 5-6 4-4 16, Matt Wyman 4-9 7-8 15. Totals: 28-48 25-28.

Halftime: 45-45. 3-pointers: MSU-N 5-21 (Huse 4, McCadney 1), CC 10-17 (Warp 1, M. Burnham 3, Silvancanin 2, Campbell 4). Rebounds: MSU-N 25 (Crutchfield 6), CC 32 (Wyman 10). Fouls: MSU-N 22, CC 19. Fouled out: None.