Northern sweeps Montana Tech in the Armory

Tiara Gilham has missed much of her second season in a Montana State University-Northern Skylight uniform with a leg injury. But, healthy again, she announced her return to the Northern lineup with a vengeance.

Saturday night, Gilham scored 14 second-half points, and hit a game-clinching 3-pointer with :33 left in overtime, lifting the Skylights to a 59-55 win over Montana Tech - their first Frontier Conference win this season.

"Coach said we needed a three," Gilham said of her huge shot. "And I was way too wide open not to take it. So I was happy it went in.

"It feels great to be back out there," she added. "It's been a long two months, and all I wanted was to be back out there with my girls. So I'm really happy.

"T (Gilham) came in ready to go," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "She's starting to get healthy, and you see the player she can be. She's dangerous. She's a unique player. She's really good. And that shot she hit tonight, that was a big one. I'm just really happy for her."

Happy indeed.

The Skylights had lost their last two league games in gut-wrenching fashion, and late in Saturday night's game, it looked like it might happen again.

Northern fell behind 8-2 against the feisty Orediggers, but, late in the third quarter, the Skylights were cruising, leading 35-20, and, they were dominating defensively. MSU-N held Tech to just 16 points in the first 20 minutes, and back-to-back three's early in the second stanza by Peyton Kehr staked MSU-N on a 9-0 run. Gilham would finish the first half with an inside bucket to give Northern a 27-16 lead at halftime.

Northern's lead grew to as much as 15 in the third, and the Skylights led by 11 with 10 minutes left. From there however, things got dicey. Mesa Williams and Mollie Peoples each hit two triples, sparking Tech on a 13-4 run, and while back-to-back buckets by Gilham and Sydney Hovde put Northern back up by eight with 3:12 left, Peoples would score eight more points in the final stretch, and it took two buckets by Hovde and a defensive stand in the final 10 seconds just to force overtime.

"Tech's comeback was great," Mouat said. "They hit big shots, and we tensed up. So credit them for not giving in, because, if take care of the ball, we have a chance to put that game away. But they wouldn't let us, and we wouldn't let ourselves do it. So, we've got to continue to grow and clean those things up.

"But I was very proud of our kids, because I thought we answered a lot of their big shots tonight," he continued. "And that does dhow growth. So I was proud that we were able to hang in there and find a way to get it done in overtime, because at that point, it could have gone either way."

Northern did show plenty of growth, and heart, Tied at 49-49 at the end of regulation, Allix Goldhahn buried a trey to give the Skylights the lead. But the Diggers took the lead right back, before Hovde converted a huge, and-one, and the Skylights forced Tech into back-to-back turnovers. But, Peoples wasn't done, and she made a wild shot with one minute left in extra time to tie the game at 55-55.

That's when Gilham hit the biggest shot of her young Northern career, and the Armory erupted in delight. Gokce Aslan would then get a steal on the other end, and Gilham finished the game at the charity stripe.

Gilham finished the game with a season-high 20 points, to go with five rebounds. Hovde added 13 points and six rebounds, while Kehr chipped in with 10, and the MSU-N defense held Tech to just 33 percent shooting, as well as forcing the Diggers into 14 turnovers.

"We played really well for much of the game, and we hung tough when things got close," Mouat said. "I was porud of my point guard tonight (Aslan). She really kept it together for us and made a lot of really good decisions. I thought Allix Goldhahn and Sydney Hovde stepped up big for us too, I thought our team defense was really good for much of the night. Our kids played extremely heard and they fought, and that shows how much we're growing.

"And this win is huge for us," he added. "It's been a rough 7-10 days for our kids. In the last two games, we performed really well but still lost. So to come back tonight and finally get one, that's big for us, and I'm happy for our kids."

The win was indeed huge for Northern, which had come so close to beating nationally-ranked Lewis-Clark State last Saturday and arch rival Providence last Tuesday night. It pushed Northern's record to 1-5 in the Frontier and 9-9 overall as the Skylights now embark on a five-game road trip which starts this Thursday night at UM-Western.

"We knew this game would be a battle," Gilham said. "But we also knew how hungry we were. We knew we needed a W. So it was a lot of fun in the lockerroom afterwards. We were all really excited."

Northern won't be back in the Armory until the Skylights host Rocky Mountain College Feb. 1 and Carroll College Feb. 2.

Lights thump Diggers

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team returned tot he Armory Gymnasium playing perhaps its best basketball of the season, after wins over nationally ranked Lewis-Clark State and the University of Providence. But, in order to keep the momentum going, the Lights had to beat another team playing really good basketball.

And, that's exactly what Northern did Saturday night, as the Lights toppled the resurgent Montana Tech Orediggers, 72-60. The victory was Northern's third straight, pushing its record to 3-3 in the Frontier Conference had of an upcoming five-game road trip.

"I do feel like we're starting to click more and more," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "I felt like you more of that tonight. Our guys were focused and determined. We played really well as a team. It does feel like we're improving more and more, and that has been the goal all along."

At the onset, a much-improved Tech squad didn't make that progress easy on the Lights, as the Orediggers jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. But, back-toback 3-pointers from Mascio McCadney, another from senior Caulin Bakalarski, and two quick buckets inside from Kavon bey, sparked the Lights to a an 11-0 run, while Tech had no answers, and the Lights took a 38-28 lead into halftime.

Tech did have answers early in the second stanza though, and the Diggers cut Northern's lead to 46-40 with 14 minutes still to play. But, Northern responded as Bray and Bakalarski drilled triples, and the lights wound up going on a 16-2 run which essentially put the game out of reach.

"I think what I'm most pleased with tonight is our defense," Huse said. "We can score, we can shoot the ball, and we've shown that by building some nice leads in past games. But, tonight, we didn't have any letdowns in our defense. Our guys stayed with it, played hard for 40 minutes, and our defense is what allowed us to really grab control of the game."

The Lights were stout, holding Tech to just 40 percent shooting and a 2-for-10 performance from beyond the arc. Northern was just as good offensively, with Bakalarski pouring in 24 points, Bey chipping in with 15 and McCadney adding 14. Northern shot 49 percent from the floor, 50 percent from deep and was also perfect from the charity stripe, and all that against an Oredigger team that came into Saturday's game hot.

"Every win in this league is valuable," Huse said. "But when you consider how well Tech is playing, coming off a win against Great Falls (Providence) and we know how good they are, this was a really good win for our guys. I'm proud of them for their focus and their ability to play well against another really good Frontier Conference team."

Now, with their three-game win streak in tow, the Lights (11-7) head to Dillon this Thursday for a rematch with UM-Western, then travel to Lewiston, Idaho Saturday to take on LC State. Northern isn't back in the Armory until Feb. 1-2 when the Lights host Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College.