Last home games of 2018 for Northern hoops

The non-conference season is winding down for the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams. And the next two home games will be the last that fans will get to see the Lights and Skylights before Frontier Conference play commences in January.

The Northern men and women are home Sunday and Monday to host the Duck Inn Corporation Classic. MSU-N will play back-to-back doubleheaders against NAIA rival Dickinson State and the University of Alberta-Augustana.

The Duck Inn Classic starts with a Sunday matinee between MSU-N and DSU. Up first will be the Skylights (4-5) who lost to the Blue Hawks last month in Dickinson, and head coach Chris Mouat said the rematch is one his young team is very much anticipating.

"Our kids will be excited for that game," Mouat said. "And they (Blue Hawks) will be coming here to win. It will be an exciting game, and one our kids are looking forward to."

The game will also be a homecoming for Havre's Lacey Waid, Danielle Wallace and Kylee Verpolegen. All three are playing for the Blue Hawks (5-6), with Waid being a starter. And they were key in helping DSU beat Northern last month - a result Mouat said his team is looking forward to reversing Sunday. Former Northern assistant Liz Lewis is also in her second season as DSU head coach.

"We have to take care of the ball, and shoot it better," Mouat said. "Those are two things we didn't do well in Dickinson. Those are things we need to do better in every game moving forward."

Moving forward, the Skylights would also like to get healthy. MSU-N continues to miss the experience and inside scoring punch of Hailey Nicholson and Tiara Gilham, but sophomore Peyton Kehr, freshman Allix Goldhahn and posts Sydney Hovde and Jessica Curl have certainly been doing their part. Kehr has come on strong this season, averaging 15 points per night, and she's scoring from all over the floor. Point guard Gokce Aslan as well as Sabin Keo and Petra Sellin have also been giving Northern valuable minutes, as the Skylights continue to grow.

"The heart and effort is there with this team," Mouat said. "We've just got to continue to learn and get better. That's what these games this weekend are all about. I love the energy and effort these kids bring every night, so we just need to continue to play, continue to work hard and continue to progress."

While the Skylights will try to avenge a loss to the Blue Hawks Sunday afternoon, the Lights (6-3) will try and make it a clean sweep over the Blue Hawks. Northern, which is returning home after tough losses to Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College, beat DSU (2-6) 71-57 last month in Dickinson, and the Lights, led by top scorers Adam Huse, Mascio McCadney, Justin Dunsmore and Kavon Bey, are looking to do it to the Blue Hawks again.

"Dickinson has many weapons that can score outside, inside, in transition, and are really good off the bounce," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "We will need another good defensive game to give ourselves great opportunities on offense. Most importantly, we are focused on continued improvement right now. I am guessing our guys are hungry to get back on the court after a heartbreaking first conference weekend."

Being an NAIA rival, DSU will have Northern's full attention and the Lights won't take Alberta-Augustana lightly, especially since Monday night's game will be the final home games for Northern basketball until January.

"Alberta always has shooters so we need to be sure to keep them from getting hot. Coach Drabiuk always does a really nice job with his squad as they always play so hard, and play very well together," Huse said. " Again, we are just looking forward to playing outside competition again after the tough finishes we had at Rocky and Carroll. We know how good of a team we can be and the weapons we have on this team. We do not feel like we have reached our full potential yet, and are just working hard every day to get closer to full-steam. This will be another good opportunity for us to get some good game experience together as a group."

The Duck Inn Classic begins with the Skylights taking on DSU Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium. The Lights and Blue Hawks will meet at 4. Monday, the Skylights take on Augustana at 6 p.m. in the Armory, followed by the Lights and Vikings at 8.