Skylights go for the season sweep of the Orediggers

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights are gunning for a third win over Montana Tech tonight in the Armory Gymnasium. But for the first time in Frontier Conference play, the Skylights aren't looking at Tech as an opportunity to bounce back from a tough loss.

Instead, Northern (3-10, 11-14) comes into tonight's game with the Orediggers (2-10, 12-11) riding high, after getting over the hump in a win over the University of Providence Wednesday. And instead of trying to get over a loss, the Skylights will aim to make it two in a row for the first time in league play.

Of course, the Orediggers won't make that easy on the Skylights, who beat Tech in Havre and in Butte last month. And no one knows better just how hard it is to beat a Frontier Conference rival three times in one season than MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat.

"It's hard to win games in this league, period," Mouat said. "But it's very hard to beat a team three times. So this game will be a heck of a test for us."

Northern certainly passed a big test Wednesday when the Skylights erased a 10-point halftime deficit against the Argos. Getting a huge lift from Sabin Keo and Tiara Gilham off the bench helped, while guards Peyton Kehr and Allix Goldhahn and starting forward Sydney Hovde also helped Northern beat its first ranked opponent in league play, and its first conference opponent not named Tech, this season.

But now the Skylights will be tasked with keeping that momentum going, and while Mouat was certainly excited for his team Wednesday, he says, there's still work to be done.

"We've got to continue to shoot the ball better, from all over the floor," he said. "That's big for us. But I do really like where we're at defensively right now, and how we're battling on the boards. And I love the fight in our team. They've stuck together. There's no give-up in them at all."

Now the fight continues, and Tech comes to Havre with plenty of fight of its own. The Orediggers have a scoring machine in Mesa Williams and one of the Frontier's toughest post players in Kaylee Zard. Guards Mollie Peoples and Dani Urick are also deadly from the outside, as evidenced in the shots they made in Northern's overtime win over the Diggers last month. So once again, Mouat knows his team will have its hands full.

"Tech has weapons all over the floor," Mouat said. "They're good inside and out. They're like us, they've had some really close, tough losses, but they're playing at a very high level. They're very well coached, and they operate really well on both ends of the floor."

The Skylights are operating at a high level right now, too, and they have some newfound confidence on their side. With so many bitter losses in January, Northern hopes it has turned a corner following Wednesday night's big win, and now the Skylights look to keep the ball rolling.

"We've been playing well, we've put ourselves in a position to win almost every game we've played," Mouat said. "So it was nice to see our kids get over the finish line (on Wednesday). Now, we have to go back to work and try to play at a high level on Friday night against another quality Frontier opponent."

Tonight's game between the Skylights and Orediggers tips off at 6 inside the Armory Gymnasium. Northern takes to the road to play Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College next week.

Skylights (3-10, 11-14) vs Montana Tech Orediggers (2-10, 12-11) tonight at 6 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: golightsgo.com

Twitter: HavreDaily

Skylights Projected Starters

G Gokce Aslan, 5-3, Sr., 7 ppg

G Allix Goldhahn, 5-8, Fr., 7 ppg

G Peyton Kehr, 5-10, So., 14 ppg

F Hailey Nicholson, 5-10, Jr., 11 ppg

F Sydney Hovde, 6-0, So., 10 ppg