Skylights fall to Our Lady of the Lake University

Heading into Saturday's game against Our Lady of the Lake University at Armory Gymnasium, the Montana State University-Northern womens' basketball team was looking to clean up its mistakes and take the next step forward. Despite a hot start by the Skylights to the game, the Saints took over to hand the Skylights a 63-57 loss.

"We played hard. I don't think we played overly smart at times. I thought we were our own worst enemy at times," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "But I know we played hard. Our kids are dialed in and their effort is there."

The loss dropped the Skylights to 3-4 this season while the Saints improved to 2-6 to snap a four-game losing streak. The Skylights started the game hot to take an early 6-0 lead. Peyton Kehr was the main driving force behind the run with four points. The Saints were able to cut their deficit to 6-4 thanks to a pair of baskets from Makayla White. The Skylights took back momentum with a 10-2 run to take a 16-6 lead.

"We executed. We made shots," Mouat said about the strong start to the game. "Our kids were ready to play tonight and I think that was a lot of the hot start. I think they were dialed in and ready to go."

The Saints again battled back. Starting with a 3-pointer from Tiffany Lopez, the Saints ended the first quarter on a 7-2 run to cut MSU-N's lead to 18-13 at the break.

The Saints maintained their momentum to begin the second quarter with a corner three from Cormia Lewis to cut their deficit to two. But L'Tia Lawrence responded for the Skylights by completing a layup and one free throw to again make the lead five points. Thanks to some solid shooting from the free-throw line, the Skylights were able to build a 28-22 lead halfway through the quarter.

But the last five minutes was all Saints as they went on a 13-0 run to take the lead. Keviona Barber got things rolling for the Saints with back-to-back threes to tie the game, 28-28. Miranda Villegas then made a layup to give the Saints their first lead of the game. Natalia Trevino capped off the run with a 3-pointer and a layup to give the Saints a 35-28 lead with less than a minute left in the half. Kehr made two free throws in the final moments of the half, but the Skylights trailed, 35-30, at halftime after leading for the first 15 minutes of the game.

Momentum remained on the Saints' side as they started the third quarter on a 7-2 run to build a 10-point lead. Barber continued to hit from deep as she capped off the run with back-to-back 3-pointers. The Skylights were able to respond with a 7-3 run of their own to cut their deficit to six points. However, Barber hit another three at the clock to give the Saints a 48-39 lead at the end of the third.

The three at the end of the quarter was one of many for Barber as she went 6-for-10 from deep on her way to 30 points. As a team, the Saints only shot 30.9 percent from the field but they made up for that by shooting 38.5 percent from beyond the arc.

"I don't think we defended the three terribly well tonight, especially with Barber," Mouat said, "just left her open a few too many times and at the wrong times."

Barber started the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer but the Skylights responded with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 51-46. Over the last six minutes of the game, the Skylights kept battling but they could not make it all the way back as the Saints held on for the win.

Kehr finished the night with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field and 5-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line. As a team, the Skylights shot 41.2 percent from the field but struggled from deep as they shot 18.2 percent from beyond the arc.

"Eighteen percent from three is not good enough. 40 percent from the field when we're getting good shots, we got to be better," Mouat said. "That's going to be a continual focus. We have to make shots to win basketball games."

The Skylights will not play again for nearly two weeks. When they next hit the court, it will be a Frontier Conference game on the road at Carroll College. With such a tough opponent on the horizon, Mouat knows they will need to improve if they want to compete.

"We're going to have to play a lot better. We're going to have to show up ready to go," Mouat said. "Tonight we took steps forward, then we'd have a step back. Now we just need to keep our momentum moving forward and if we do that, we get to the point where we're doing that all the time, we're going to be in good shape."

The Skylights will next play Carroll in Helena on Dec. 2.

OLLU 63, MSU-Northern 57

OLLU - 13 22 13 15 - 63

MSU-N - 18 12 9 18 - 57

OLLU - Keviona Barber 30, Natalia Trevino 9, Makayla White 8, Miranda Villegas 7, Cormia Lewis 6, Tiffany Lopez 3.

MSU-N - Peyton Kehr 22, L'Tia Lawrence 10, Sydney Prather 8, Sydney Hovde 6, Ryley Kehr 5, Shyan Krass 4, Danielle Tyler 2.