LC State, Tech women pull off comebacks

Heartache endings have become something the Montana State University-Northern Skylights have seen all too much of in recent years during Frontier Conference play.

And this weekend in the Armory Gymnasium, it was heartache for Northern all over again, not once, but twice.

After falling to Lewis-Clark State Friday night, the Skylights looked to have righted the ship against the Montana Tech Orediggers Saturday night in Havre. That is until the second half started anyway.

Northern led Tech 34-18 at intermission and had led by as many as 20 points in the first half, only to see the Orediggers come all the way back for a 67-60 win, Northern's second straight loss in which an opponent erased a double-digit deficit.

"It's tough, it's disappointing," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "Our kids came ready to play tonight, after a tough one last night. We shot the ball really well in the first half, and defended pretty well, too. We were ready to go. But we have to understand, it's a 40-minute game, and we have to be able to finish games like this. I know we're capable of it, but we didn't do that tonight, and that hurts."

It was gut-wrenching, especially given the way the game started.

The Skylights came out swinging as Peyton Kehr hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 12-0 first-quarter run that saw the Skylights go up 17-4. And they weren't done. Allix Goldhahn hit a triple and Kenya Lorton scored on back-to-back layups capping an 11-0 run that put Northern ahead 32-12, and eventually, 34-18 at halftime.

The good times wouldn't last however. Kaylee Zard scored six straight points, sparking a 14-0 Tech run to start the second half. Northern didn't score until the 2:48 mark of the period, and ultimately, the Diggers went on a 17-2 run and cut the Skylight's lead to 42-38 after three. And Tech wasn't done. Mesa Williams scored at the 8:40 mark of the fourth stanza to tie the game at 42-42 and while the teams traded buckets for the next couple trips down the floor, Northern could do little to stop Tech's roll.

And when Hailey Crawford scored with 4:23 left, Tech had its first lead, and though big plays by Lorton and Sydney Hovde kept it close, the Skylights never got the lead back.

"We didn't have any sense of urgency in the third quarter, and I knew we needed it," Mouat said. "Then we also missed a couple of layups, and I thought Tech came out ready, and started to find some holes in our zone. So credit to Tech, they shot it really well in the second half, but at the same time, we had 13 turnovers in the second half, and we shot it very poorly, so that's on us, and we have to understand that we can't do those things and expect to win."

Tech shot an incredible 64 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, and outscored the Skylights 44-21. Zard and Tavia Rooney each scored 13, and Rooney, the Frontier's leading rebounder, added 11 boards. MSU-N meanwhile, shot a scorching 51 percent in the first half but cooled off from there. Kehr scored a game-high 16 points, while Lorton and Goldhahn added 10 apiece.

LC comes back, again

Friday night was the last time the Lewis-Clark State Warriors were going to play a regular season game in the Armory Gymnasium. And, like so many times before, the Warriors left the Montana State University-Northern Skylights and their fans broken-hearted.

Just like last month in Lewiston, Idaho, the Skylights led the Warriors for much of Friday's game in the Armory, only to see LC State hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute to pull of a 67-60 comeback win. The loss was a tough one for the injured Skylights, who have lost four of their last five against LC State by less than five points, and, who saw star senior Hailey Nicholson become the latest Skylight to suffer an injury.

"I was proud of our kids tonight because they fought through a lot of adversity, and really rallied when Hailey went down," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "But at the end of the day, we didn't get the W. Credit LC, they made some big shots down the stretch. They got going and we had some defensive breakdowns, after I thought we'd been pretty solid all night. But they're a 3-point shooting team and they made some big ones tonight."

No doubt, LC caught fire in the second half, led by Jansen Edmiston, who didn't play in the first half, but who drilled a triple with 1:20 left to break a 55-55 tie. Just seconds before, Jamie Nielson had hit a trey that tied the game up with 1:50 left. The flurry countered a stellar run by Northern, which saw two huge threes from Petra Selin, as well as big plays from Ryley Kehr and Sydney Hovde, which led to Northern leading 55-52 with under two minutes to go.

"We did a good job to get the lead back," Mouat said. "But they turned us over a couple times, and then hit some really big shots, so credit them."

The wild finish was part of a crazy final 20 minutes. Northern got an early trey from Allix Goldhahn, and played excellent defense through the first half to lead 21-17 at halftime. However, the Warriors jumped on Edmiston's back in the third quarter. They took the lead at 26-25, and when Edmiston hit her second trey of the LC led 36-32 and eventually would be in front 40-34 at the end of the third.

Northern responded in the fourth with Peyton Kehr and Selin going back-to-back from downtown, while Kenya Lorton hit two key buckets, the last of which gave the Skylights a 55-52 lead with just three minutes to play.

Thanks to Edmiston, though, it wouldn't last. She finished with 21 points in just a half, including three treys. LC a sizzling 61 percent in the final 20 minutes, as well as making 5-of-9 threes, four of which came in the fourth.

On the flip side, Northern, playing without leading McKenzie Gunter, and eventually Nicholson, got 16 points by Peyton Kehr and 13 from Lorton, while Sydney Hovde had 11 boards, as MSU-N out-rebounded the bigger Warriors 32-28, and also forced 18 turnovers. Still, it was a rough pill for the Skylights, who lost by just three points at LC just two weeks ago, to swallow.

"I thought our kids came in ready to go," Mouat said. "They were dialed in and we got off to a great start. And I'm proud of them for that because they showed some resilience again tonight. They battled, and I'm proud of them for that. I'm also really proud of Petra. She came in and really seized her opportunity. She hit some huge shots when we needed them."

With losses to both LC and Tech, the Skylights (15-7), fell to 4-6 in league play and won't be back at home until Feb. 21. Northern travels to Montana Western this Thursday, followed by a visit to Rocky Mountain College Saturday night.

"We've got to look in the mirror, all of us," Mouat said. "We have to make sure we learn and grow from these last two games. Sure, we're limited by injuries and things like that, but no excuses. We showed what we can do in the first half of both these last two games, we know what we have. So we need to mature, we need to make sure we learn from this and move forward."