Skylights look to carry momentum into conference games on the road

As they begin play in 2022, the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team will be looking to start the new year on the right foot. However, the first games of the year will not be easy for the Skylights as they head on the road to play Rocky Mountain College and Montana Western this weekend. As they return from their winter break, MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat knows the Skylights will need to quickly recover in order to compete this weekend.

"We're just going to have to go in and play extremely hard," Mouat said. "Both of these teams are the real deal and if you don't show up, it's going to be a long night. We have to play hard, we're going to have to play smart, take care of the basketball and rebound. If you do those things, you usually have a chance to win."

The Skylights will first play Rocky Mountain College this Thursday night in Billings. The Bears will be a tough opponent to start the year as they have a 12-1 record and 2-0 conference record so far this season. Fortin Education Center will also be a tough place to play as the Bears have a 3-0 record there this season.

If the Skylights are going to compete against the Bears, they will need to limit their best players. Senior guard N'Dea Flye leads the Bears, averaging 18.5 points a game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field. She is also a presence in the post, averaging 10.2 rebounds a game.

"She changes them. To me, she's the best overall athlete in our conference," Mouat said about Flye. "She is a matchup nightmare and just does really good things for them that make all of their players better."

Shauna Bribiescas has also had a strong year for the Bears. She averages 13.9 points per game and she shoots 48.5 percent from the 3-point line. Kloie Thatcher has also had a strong season for the Bears, leading the team with 4.2 assists per game while averaging 13.8 points a game.

"They've got a seasoned group of kids and they are just playing so well together right now," Mouat said about the RMC roster. "They've done a good job and had a great preseason and we know they're going to be a handful, especially at their place."

Things will not get much easier for the Skylights Saturday afternoon when they head to Dillon to play Western. So far this season, the Bulldogs have a 10-3 record and are 1-1 to start conference play.

The Bulldogs have many strong players that the Skylights will need to contain. Brynley Fitzgerald leads the Western offense averaging 17.3 points per game on 43.8 percent shooting from the field and 35.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line. She also leads the team averaging 7.6 rebounds a game and 2.7 assists a game. Jenni Weber will also look to make an impact on offense as she averages 10.1 points per game and she shoots 37.2 percent from deep.

"They run their stuff so well - both defensively and offensively," Mouat said about Western. "They just run their stuff, they stick with their system and they've got really hard-nosed aggressive kids who just buy in."

If the Skylights are going to win this weekend, they will need their best players to show up. Freshman L'Tia Lawrence is off to a solid start this season with 11.7 points a game. She also leads the Skylights with 4.1 assists a game. In the post, the Skylights will need Sydney Hovde to continue grabbing boards as she leads the team with 10.5 rebounds a game.

The Skylights enter the weekend with a 4-9 overall record and an 0-2 conference record. However, they are coming off a 92-77 win over Benedictine University at Mesa last month that snapped a six-game losing streak. Mouat believes that win showed a different side to his team and showed what they are capable of when they play well.

"As a team, we came together in Phoenix," Mouat said about the win. "Just saw a different team energy wise, leadership wise and were making shots and that changes everything."

The Skylights will need that same energy and execution as they head on the road. The Skylights will first play RMC Thursday at 5 p.m. at Fortin Education Center in Billings. The Skylights will then play Western Saturday at 2 p.m. at Straugh Gymnasium in Dillon.