Skylights aim to finish in Great Falls and Butte

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights have suffered some gut-wrenching, heartbreaking defeats the last few weeks in Frontier Conference play, including one last Saturday at Lewis-Clark State.

Now, the Skylights are going back to the scene of another one of those heartbreaking losses as they visit the University of Providence Argos tonight in Great Falls. The game is the start of another two-game road swing for the Skylights (1-7, 9-11), who also travel to Montana Tech Saturday night.

And while Northern has been saddled with some bitter defeats of late, the Skylights also know, they have been improving, by leaps and bounds because they've been taking nationally ranked, conference opponents down to the wire the entire month of January.

"You just have to learn from those games, take what you can from them, and move on to the next one," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said of his young team. "Our kids have responded very well to adversity this season, and in this league, you have to because there are no gimmies. The league is just so talented and so tough."

No gimmies include Northern's next two games,

Tonight, the Skylights return to Great Falls for the second time this month to take on the No. 20 Argos (2-6, 13-7). MSU-N had the Argos on the ropes back on Jan. 8, only to see the game slip away in the final minutes of a 56-50 loss.

Of course, Providence, led by star forwards Parker Esary and Tristan Murphy, as well as guard Emilee Maldanado, have had their own close calls, and while they're just 2-6 in league play, Mouat knows first-hand just how good they are.

"They're really good," Mouat said of the Argos. "They have a great point guard, a huge 1-2 punch inside, and a deep and talented bench. And in my opinion, they have the best non-conference wins of anybody in the country. They've beat a lot of really talented teams. We know full well how good they are, and we know it's going to be a battle. So, what we have to do is go down there and play really well, and hopefully put ourselves in the same position we were in last time, only this time, finish the game out."

Finishing has been the young Skylight's issue. Leads late in games have slipped through Northern's grasp of late, but with Peyton Kehr and Sydney Hovde averaging in double figures, and the return of Tiara Gilham and Hailey Nicholson, MSU-N is playing its best basketball of the season, no matter what the standings say.

And the Skylights will need to play their best, not only tonight, but Saturday night in Butte. Montana Tech is the one win the Skylights have in conference play, as they beat the Orediggers (1-7, 11-8) 59-55 in overtime two weeks ago in Havre. But with the likes of Kaylee Zard, Mesa Williams, Mollie Peoples and Dani Urick among others, Tech has been as tough to beat as anyone in the Frontier thus far.

"They are playing really well," Mouat said. "I think their three guards are super talented, and Kaylee Zard is an absolute beast inside for them. We know they are a very talented team, and that we'll get their very best shot when we go down there.

"So what we have to do is make sure we play our very best in both of these games," he continued. We have to show up and play well for 40 minutes. We've got to finish when we get those opportunities because this league is just so tough."

The Skylights will play Providence tonight at 5:30 at the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls. Northern and Tech will face off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Butte. MSU-N returns home to host Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College next weekend.