Blocked: Carroll overpowers MSU-N women at the end

Monday night's Frontier Conference women's opener in the Armory Gymnasium was an exercise in defensive skill. Tuesday night however, was much different.

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights were back in the Armory Tuesday, hosting No. 6 Carroll on the back end of a two-night doubleheader, and this time around there were plenty of offensive fireworks in what ended up being a 65-59 Carroll win.

The loss dropped Northern to 0-2 in the Frontier and 1-5 overall on the young season, and for the second night in a row, it came as a result of just too much Carroll firepower, as the Saints shot 47 percent from the field, and had 31 points in the paint, led by a combined 33 points from forwards Jamie Pickens and Maddie Geritz.

"They (Saints) really took it to us on the block," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "Their size wore us down in the third quarter. And again, they beat us on the boards. They're so tough on the boards, and they took advantage of that tonight.

"Carroll is really good," he continued. "They're big, physical, athletic, talented and deep. We fought them hard for two nights, and I'm proud of our kids for that. Our effort and heart is there. We just have to get better."

Carroll was tough on both ends, but the Skylights never gave in.

Tiara Gilham hit an early 3-pointer, and she buried another at the end of the first to help the Skylights trail just 14-13. Allix Goldhahn then hit a trey early in the second, and Gilham added her third of the night, then scored on a coast-to-coast steal as the Skylights took the lead midway through the quarter. Carroll fought back but still, McKenzie Gunter would hit a trey of her own, and the Skylights trailed just 35-34 at the break, as Northern made six threes in the first 20 minutes.

"We did make plenty of big plays in the first half," Mouat said. "T (Tiara Gilham) came out hot, gave us a huge lift. She played great. And I thought we were executing pretty well. But they (Saints) made some adjustments defensively, and I don't think we responded to some of that very well, especially in the third quarter. They went on a big run, and we didn't answer. You have to answer, you have to make shots when a team gets hot and we didn't do that."

The game would still be very much in doubt in the fourth quarter, but Northern had to overcome a devastating third period in which the Skylights only made one field goal and got outscored 18-8, a run that left them tailing by 12 points with 10 minutes left. And yet, the fight was still there.

L'Tia Lawrence and Gunter both made big plays to get Northern all the way back to within six, and the Skylights were still down just two possessions with :41 left, but, as Carroll did one night earlier, the Saints were able to hold the Skylights off at the foul line in the final minute.

The Saints ended up shooting 47 percent from the field, and while they only hit two threes, they also out-rebounded Northern by eight and had 11 on offensive boards. Pickens led the way with 19 points, while former Havre Blue Pony Dani Wagner added 13 and hit some key free throws along the way.

Meanwhile, the Skylights played well offensively, shooing 40 percent from the floor, with Gilham scoring 19 points and Gunter adding 18. But they didn't make a three in the second half, and the third quarter put them in a hole they couldn't quite dig their way out of.

"I like a lot of what we did these last two games, against a very good team and considering how much time we had off. We hadn't played a game in a while," Mouat said. "Our heart and guts, I have no complaints. It's there. Now we just have to clean things up that hurt us in these games. We just have to get better going forward, and we'll do that."

The Skylights will have little rest. They head to Montana Western for a pair of Frontier games, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, before returning to the Armory for a five-game home stand.

Skylights are 0-2 in Frontier; Next up: at Western Saturday-Suunday

Carroll 65, Skylights 59

Carroll College 14 21 18 12 - 65

MSU-Northern 13 21 8 17 - 59

CC - Danielle Wagner 4-11 4-4 13, Christine Denny 4-7 2-3 10, Jaidyn Lyman 0-2 0-0 0, Molly McDermott 0-3 0-0 0, Sienna Swannack 2-5 0-0 5, Emma Madsen 1-2 0-0 2, Kamden Hilborn 1-5 0-2 2, Maddie Geritz 6-7 2-2 14, Jamie Pickens 8-14 3-5 19. Totals 26-56 11-16 65.

MSU-N - Allix Goldhahn 1-7 0-0 3, L'Tia Lawrence 2-9 4-5 8, Ryley Kehr 0-0 1-2 1, Mckenzie Gunter 6-12 5-5 18, Peyton Kehr 0-1 0-0 0, Dulci Skunkcap 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Mason 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Mooney 1-2 2-4 4, Sydney Hovde 1-2 4-4 6, Tiara Gilham 6-10 3-4 19. Totals 17-44 19-24 59.

3-pt FG:Carroll (Mont.) 2-10 (Wagner 1-4, Lyman 0-1, Swannack 1-2, Hilborn 0-3), Montana State-Northern 6-18 (Goldhahn 1-5, Lawrence 0-3, Gunter 1-2, Kehr 0-1, Mason 0-1, Mooney 0-1, Gilham 4-5). Rebounds: Carroll (Mont.) 31 (Swannack 12), Montana State-Northern 23 (Hovde 7). Fouls Carroll (Mont.) 19, Montana State-Northern 19. Fouled out: Gilham.