Skylights set to battle Tech, LC State once more

Devastating injuries and games against a cavalcade of nationally ranked opponents has certainly put a strain on the Montana State University-Northern's women's basketball team. And yet, head coach Chris Mouat says his team has the right mindset heading into two more tough Frontier Conference road matchups.

The No. 18 Skylights (4-8, 15-9) visit Montana Tech (2-10, 12-12) Thursday night, followed by their final trip ever to No. 21 Lewis-Clark State (8-4, 16-16) Saturday afternoon. And while Northern has dropped four straight, including comeback losses to Tech and LC State just two weeks ago, Mouat said his team is still after all the same goals.

"This is the stretch run. It's tough with four of the last six on the road," Mouat said, "but we have to understand, we still have a lot to play for. We just have to keep our footing, we have to play a cleaner game, we need to shoot it better. If we clean things up, we can still be right where we want to be."

The Skylights have lost a slew of heartbreakers in recent weeks, but playing Tech and LCSC for a third time, there will certainly be few surprises. Tech, which erased a 20-point deficit two weeks ago in the Armory, knows what Northern has, which is a top-notch defense, as well as the return of point guard McKenzie Gunter, who didn't play the last time out. The Skylights will also look to Peyton Kehr and Sydney Hovde to counter Tech and LC's outstanding offenses, both of which can put points on the board in a hurry.

And while the Skylights have been on the wrong end of some tough games in recent weeks, with how crazy the Frontier standings are right now, Mouat knows his team can still be right in the thick of the playoff race, and beyond.

"Our kids have the right mindset," Mouat said. "They haven't gotten down. They understand that it's all right there for us still. We can achieve all our goals still. So what we need to do is continue to clean things up and finish the regular season by playing our best basketball of the year. If we do that, we'll be in a good position going into the conference tournament, and we'll go from there."

The Skylights battle Montana Tech Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. in Butte. MSU-N's last visit to LC State comes Saturday with tip set for 3 p.m. Northern is back home next weekend for its Armory finales against Montana Western and Rocky Mountain College.