Battlin' Bears cage Skylights, Lights

The Frontier Conference is loaded with nationally ranked women's basketball teams. The Montana State University-Northern Skylights saw that first-hand this weekend in the Armory Gymnasium.

On Friday night, Northern lost yet another close battle with a Top 25 Frontier rival, falling to No. 21 Rocky Mountain College 55-50. Northern started strong, and put together a 14-2 run in the fourth quarter, but, the Skylights couldn't hold off the charging Bears in the end.

"We made a good run at them," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "Our kids stepped up. But then we didn't finish in the fourth quarter like we would have liked. Bottom line, we have to make more shots in those situations."

Northern did make a run. The Skylights started the game hot, with Allix Goldhahn and Tiara Gilham knocking in 3-pointers to stake the Skylights to a 15-11 lead after 10 minutes.

From there however, the Skylights were the oppoisite of hot. In a streak that started late in the first stanza, MSU-N went nearly 10 minutes without a bucket, and the Skylights wound up scoring just four points in the second stanza, while Rocky reeled off a 10-0 run. Still, MSU-N's defense was stellar throughout the first 20 minutes, and that enabled the Skylights to trail justy 24-19 at intermission.

"We only scored four points in the second quarter, and that's not going to get it done," Mouat said. "But, I thought our defense and our rebounding were very both very solid, and so at halftime, we were OK. And from there, we made a game of it."

Rocky made a game of it in the third quarter by going up by as many as 10 points, but Northern didn't fold. Instead, back-to-back baskets from Hailey Nicholson and Peyton Kehr cut the Rocky lead to 33-29 going into the fourth quarter, and big plays by Sabin Keo helped Northern turn that finish into an eventual 12-0 run. At that point, the Skylights led 35-33, and while Gilham, Keo and Sydney Hovde all made key plays down the stretch, Rocky answered Northern's run with a 11-0 spurt of its own, and the Skylights never full recovered.

"We got plenty of shots," Mouat said. "And I thought we played well enough defensively. But it's the same old, same old, we have to finish. We have to make more shots when we're in a position to win or even put these games away, and we didn't do that tonight."

Northern's defense was good against a star-studded Rocky offense. The Skylights held the Bears to 39 percent shooting and 22 percent from beyond the arc, though two big three's by Justyn Juhl in the fourth stanza proved to be back breakers. Juhl and Brooke Jones would combine for 23 points for the Bears. Offensively, Northern got 11 points each from Kehr and Goldhahn, while Hovde added nine points and nine rebounds.

Rocky Shoots out the Lights

There have been nights over the years, and plenty this season, in which the Montana State University-Northern Lights have bombarded an opponent with some red-hot shooting from the 3-point-line.

But, on Friday night, the Lights were on the receiving end of a 3-point barrage. In a 79-65 home loss to No. 22 Rocky Mountain College, the Lights watched as the Bears sank 10 three's in the second half, and seven in the last nine minutes. And that kind of shooting was just too much for Northern to ovewrcome in its return to the Armory Gymnasium.

"Give Rocky credit," Northern head coach Shawn Huse said. "They simply got hot, and especially after we felt like we played really good basketball in the first half. Craig Wilmore specifically, shot it really well. Simply, they made the shots and we didn't."

Northern made plenty in the first 20 minutes. Adam Huse buried an early try, and Kavon Bey and Mascio McCadney helped Northern to a 9-0 run with three straight transition buckets. And when Devin Bray knocked down a triple of his own, the Lights were headed to the lockerroom leading 35-26.

As Coach Huse noted though, Rocky didn't go away. The Bears started the second half on a 10-2 run, capped former Box Elder star Brandon The Boy's floater in the lane. Northern responded to the run by a big bucket from Cedric Curtchfield, and by the nine minute mark, the Lights were down just one. And things were fine as Joe Fons hit a clutch 3-pointer. But, what happened next essentially ended the game. Clayton Ladine answered Fons' three with one of his won, and in the next two minutes, Ladine and Jared Samuelson would each hit another triple, and over the course of the next five minutes, Wilmore would knock in four more. By the time the Danny Betcher added a triple, the Lights trailed by 14 points, and Rocky was able to leave Havre with a second win over the Lights this season.

All tolled, the Bears shot 51 percent for the game, and a sizzling 70 percent in the second half. Rocky also went an incredible 10-of-14 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes, while Wilmore poured in a game-high 25 points.

"It's disheartening because I felt like we played really well at time tonight," Huse said. "But at other times, we just went ice cold. We have great shooters on this team, but tonight we didn't make them, and we were unable to capitilize on the opportunites we got."

Northern shot 44 percent on the night, but just 31 percent in a second half that saw the Lioghts go just 4-0f-11 from downtown. Adam Huse led Northern with 16 points, while McCadney scored 12 and Crutchfield chipped in with nine points and nine boards.

"I thought Cedric had a really good game," Huse said. "He was a big factor for us tonight. Again, credit to Rocky, because they played very well in the second half. And for us, it was just one of those nights when the ball just didn't go enough."

The Northern men and women host nationally-ranked Carroll College tonight.