Nationally-ranked Saints sweep MSU-Northern women

The Carroll College women’s basketball program is really good these days, and no one knows that better than Montana State University-Northern head coach Chris Mouat. And he also knows, it’s hard rough playing the mighty Fighting Saints under normal circumstances, let alone doing it after missing a week and multiple more practices due to quarantine.

But that’s what the Skylights were up against when they traveled to No. 6 Carroll this past weekend in Helena. On Saturday night, the short-handed Skylights put up a great fight in a 76-67 loss to the Saints, who were led by former Havre Blue Pony Dani Wagner’s 16 points.

On the other end, Northern got an incredible 25-point performance from another Hi-Line standout, former Harlem Wildcat L’Tia Lawrence. She hit three 3-pointers and made 7-of-11 field goals as the Skylights battled back from a 15-point, first-half deficit. Tiara Gilham added 14 points and Sydney Hovde scored 11 and grabbed eight rebounds on a night when Northern hit seven threes and played Carroll even on the boards.

“Carroll played really well tonight, so full credit to them. They are executing well and defending at a high level. They present matchup problems across the board, and we gave them entirely too many points in the first half,” Mouat said. “That being said, I was really proud of our kids tonight. We didn't have many practices heading into the game, and didn't do a single thing 5 on 5 all week for various reasons. I know fatigue set in a bit in the third quarter, and Carroll did a nice job getting some easy transition baskets, which is atypical for us.”

The Skylights did battle on Saturday, but in the rematch Sunday afternoon, Carroll took full advantage of a short-handed Northern squad, with an 83-46 win.

In the dominating performance, the Saints started the game on a 16-7 run, then they really pulled away with a 28-4 explosion in the third period. Carroll would shoot 54 percent, make 11 threes and see five players score in double figures. On the other side of the coin, Northern did make eight triples, but the Skylights shot just 35 percent while committing 22 turnovers. Lawrence did have another good game for Northern with 12 points, while Allix Goldhahn added 12, as well.

Northern fell to 3-8 in the Frontier and 4-11 at home, but the Skylights should be back to full strength this week, as they enjoy their final three home games of the season. MSU-N hosts Providence Wednesday night, followed by a Western doubleheader Saturday and Sunday in the Armory Gymnasium.

Carroll 76, Northern 67

MSU-Northern 14 16 21 17 20 - 67

Carroll College 23 21 13 19 - 76

MSU-N - Allix Goldhahn 1-3 0-0 2, L'Tia Lawrence 7-11 8-8 25, Ryley Kehr 1-4 0-0 2, Mckenzie Gunter 3-14 1-2 8, Morgan Mason 2-4 0-0 5, Sydney Hovde 4-7 3-3 11, Tiara Gilham 6-12 0-2 14, Dulci Skunkcap 0-2 0-0 0, Brandi White 0-0 0-0 0, ShaAnn Danelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 12-15 67.

CC - Danielle Wagner 5-13 5-7 16, Christine Denny 5-8 1-2 13, Jaidyn Lyman 1-2 0-0 3, Molly McDermott 0-0 0-0 0, Sienna Swannack 3-5 0-0 6, Emma Madsen 0-1 0-0 0, Kamden Hilborn 4-5 1-2 9, Maddie Geritz 2-4 1-2 5, Genesis Wilkinson 0-2 0-0 0, Jamie Pickens 9-16 4-5 24, Kyle Olson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-56 12-18 76.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 7-21 (Goldhahn 0-2, Lawrence 3-6, Kehr 0-2, Gunter 1-3, Mason 1-2, Gilham 2-6), Carroll College 6-14 (Wagner 1-4, Denny 2-2, Lyman 1-2, Swannack 0-1, Madsen 0-1, Hilborn 0-1, Pickens 2-3). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 33 (Hovde 8), Carroll College 33 (Pickens 10). Fouls Montana State-Northern 14, Carroll College 18. Fouled out: none.

Carroll 83, Skylights 46

MSU-Northern 7 13 4 22 - 46

Carroll College 16 28 28 11 - 83

MSU-N - Allix Goldhahn 4-9 2-2 12, L'Tia Lawrence 5-11 0-0 12, Ryley Kehr 0-3 0-0 0, Mckenzie Gunter 3-13 0-2 8, Morgan Mason 2-2 0-0 4, Sydney Hovde 2-3 0-0 4, Tiara Gilham 2-4 0-0 6, Dulci Skunkcap 0-4 0-0 0, Brandi White 0-2 0-0 0, ShaAnn Danelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 2-4 46.

CC - Danielle Wagner 2-5 6-6 11, Christine Denny 5-9 2-2 14, Jaidyn Lyman 3-5 0-0 8, Molly McDermott 0-3 0-0 0, Sienna Swannack 8-11 0-0 20, Emma Madsen 1-2 0-0 2, Kamden Hilborn 0-3 0-0 0, Erica Nessan 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Geritz 6-8 2-3 16, Rakiah Grende 0-1 0-0 0, Genesis Wilkinson 0-0 0-0 0, Jamie Pickens 5-8 2-3 12, Kyle Olson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 12-14 83.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 8-20 (Goldhahn 2-4, Lawrence 2-6, Gunter 2-5, Gilham 2-2, Skunkcap 0-2, White 0-1), Carroll College 11-19 (Wagner 1-2, Denny 2-3, Lyman 2-3, McDermott 0-1, Swannack 4-6, Hilborn 0-1, Geritz 2-2, Grende 0-1). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 24 (Hovde 5), Carroll College 36 (Pickens 10). Fouls Montana State-Northern 12, Carroll College 12. Fouled out: none.