Argos hold back depleted Skylights

Two weeks ago, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights nearly fought their way back from a double-digit deficit in Great Falls. Dog tired, spent from an emotional win Wednesday night, and playing with just seven healthy players, the Skylights nearly did it again against the University of Providence.

And yet, just like in Great Falls, Northern didn't have quite enough to complete the comeback in a 53-41 loss to the Argos Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium. The loss to Providence left the exhausted No. 18 Skylights with a home split and sitting at 4-4 in the Frontier Conference.

Yet, while the loss was a disappointing one, Northern head coach Chris Mouat couldn't have been more proud of his team, a team that was playing without star guard McKenzie Gunter, as well as Tiara Gilham, Reilly Walsh and Jada Nicholson for the second straight night.

"Proud of our fight again tonight, for sure. But, we got off to a terrible start," Mouat said. "They (Argos) came in here charged up and we were flat. We played really flat. And honestly, we didn't do much to make it any better throughout the first half."

It was a tough start for the Skylights, and it didn't take long for the Argos to do the same thing they did to Northern two weeks ago as Bailey Cartwright, Jenna Randich and Kerstyn Pimperton all hit 3-pointers, while Emilee Maldonado had a huge first half, with 11 of her 15 points coming in the first 20 minutes. Maldonado would score eight straight points as part of a 14-0 Providence run to finish the first half, while the Skylights went the last 7:48 of the half without a single point, and they had just one field goal in the second quarter, as they trailed 31-12.

"They (Argos) really hurt us on the boards, and they made some big shots to stretch the lead on us, and then we didn't help ourselves because we shot very poorly," Mouat said. "I thought we had some really costly turnovers, too."

The Argos were very good, but behind a valiant effort from Hailey Nicholson, the Skylights inched their way back.

First, she scored eight straight points in the third period, and then, Northern's very thin bench got a spark from Petra Sellin and Ryley Kehr, who made back-to-back threes. And while the Skylights still trailed by 13 points with 10 minutes left, the battle had certainly been joined.

And in the fourth quarter, Northern got even closer. MSU-N forced UP to turn the ball over on four straight possessions, while Nicholson and Sydney Hovde made buckets to pull the Skylights all the way back to within eight points with 5:30 left in the game. Northern's defense kept on fighting from there, but the Skylights were clearly out of steam, and the shots never fell, while the Argos were able to close the game out at the free-throw line.

"Credit our kids for showing a lot of grit in the second half," Mouat said. "I thought defensively, our effort was really good, and Hailey Nicholson really got going, and our girls rallied around that when we really needed it. We battled and I'm proud of them for that. But at the end of the day, our inability to make shots really was the difference.

"No excuses either," he continued. "Everybody in this league has these same schedule challenges. The bottom line is, Providence came in here and outplayed us. They outplayed us for the second time this year."

The Skylights did have tired legs though, especially in trying to stop Parker Esary in the paint. The UP junior scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, helping the Argos outrebound Northern a whopping 53-41. The UP defense also held the Skylights to just 32 percent shooting, and 18 percent form beyond the arc.

On the other end, MSU-N's defense did hold the Argos under 40 percent and force 21 turnovers, while Nicholson finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal. Hovde added eight points and Allix Goldhahn scored seven, as Northern (15-5) will now look to rest and regroup before next week's home games against Lewis-Clark State, Friday and Montana Tech Saturday.

"We wanted to sweep," Mouat said. "And we didn't get that done. So we have to regroup now. We will go back to work, and get better, learn from this and get ready to go again next week."

Skylights are 4-4 in Frontier, 15-5 overall; Next Up: vs LCSC Friday

Providence 53, Skylights 41

Providence 15 16 12 10 - 53

MSU-Northern 7 5 18 11 - 41

UP - Jenna Randich 3-6 0-0 7, Kerstyn Pimperton 1-4 1-2 4, Parker Esary 7-9 4-4 18, Elly Teske 0-0 0-0 0, Emilee Maldonado 4-11 6-6 15, Kennedy Cartwright 2-6 0-0 4, Reed Hazard 0-2 0-0 0, Bailey Cartwright 1-9 2-4 5, Brooklyn Harn 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 13-16 53.

MSU-N - Kenya Lorton 1-8 0-0 2, Petra Sellin 1-3 2-2 5, Allix Goldhahn 2-14 3-4 7, Ryley Kehr 1-2 1-2 4, Hailey Nicholson 7-12 0-0 14, Peyton Kehr 0-5 0-0 0, Morgan Mason 0-0 1-2 1, Sydney Hovde 3-3 2-3 8. Totals 15-47 9-13 41.

3-pt FG:Providence (Mont.) 4-19 (Randich 1-2, Pimperton 1-4, Maldonado 1-6, Cartwright 0-3, Hazard 0-2, Cartwright 1-2), Montana State University- 2-11 (Lorton 0-2, Sellin 1-2, Goldhahn 0-4, Kehr 1-2, Kehr 0-1). Rebounds: Providence (Mont.) 42 (Esary 18), Montana State University- 20 (Nicholson 8). Fouls Providence (Mont.) 14, Montana State University- 16. Fouled out: none.