Skylights hoping to rebound at Western, Rocky

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights opened their Frontier Conference season with a pair of exciting wins against Rocky Mountain College and Montana Western. But that was back in early December, and, since then, Frontier play has been a rollercoaster ride for Northern.

And, the No. 18 Skylights (4-6, 15-7) will now take that ride on the road for long-awaited rematches with No. 22 Western (7-3, 14-7) tonight in Dillon and No. 24 Rocky (5-5, 14-7) Saturday in Billngs.

Of course, both teams are NAIA Top 25 opponents, but, the Skylights are used to that. Northern also knows both teams well, but the Skylights are also in a much different place than they were back in early December as injuries have really hampered Northern, as well as forcing players like Ryley Kehr, Morgan Mason and Petra Selin into increased roles.

Northern also returns to the road after suffering a pair of gut-wrenching losses last weekend in the Armory Gymnasium, and head coach Chris Mouat knows full well that things will get no easier.

"Both teams present plenty of challenges," Mouat said. "They are well-coached teams and both have big wins this season. We will need to continue to focus on taking care of the basketball, winning on the boards, and avoiding breakdowns for points to be successful."

Tonight's game against Western will definitely be challenging, as the Bulldogs have risen to first place in the Frontier, having won three straight. Western is among the top teams in the NAIA defensively, too, while the Dawgs get balanced scoring from the likes of Shannon Worcster, Paige Holmes, Gracey Meyer and veteran Savanna Bignell, all of whom average more than nine points per night.

Tonight's game will be tough, but so will Saturday night's trip to Billings, because Rocky is another ultra-talented team that plays stingy defense. And senior Markaela Francis is having an All-American type season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.

"Western is playing very well," Mouat said. "They are getting a lot of contributions from a talented group of starters and a very deep bench. They defend very well and play extremely hard. As a team, they have a bunch of kids who will shoot the 3 and posts who fit their system perfectly. They execute at a high level.

"Rocky is talented and Markaela Francis is one of the best big kids not only in the league but in the country," he continued. "She can score it and does a great job on the boards. They have been defending really well and are a very physical basketball team. They have been getting contributions from a lot of kids on the offensive end, and have plenty of firepower."

This weekend's road trip is the start of a tough final stretch for the Skylights, who also go back to Lewis-Clark State and Montana Tech next weekend, and play six out of their last eight games away from Havre.

Tonight's game at Western tips at 5:30 in the Straugh Gym, while Saturday's visit to RMC also tips at 5:30 p.m., in the Fortin Center in Billings.