Skylights aim to turn it around on the road

It's been a tough go of it lately for the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team. Now, Northern hopes to use its time on the road to start to turn things around.

Tonight, the Skylights visit Montana Western, while they travel to Butte to face Montana Tech Saturday afternoon. And head coach Chris Mouat knows things will be tough for Northern, which is 0-8 at the halfway point of the Frontier Conference season.

"Both teams present big challenges for us," Mouat said. "We need to continue to focus on taking care of the ball, executing on the offensive end and winning on the boards to expect to be successful." 

Western (2-6, 11-12) is where Northern starts a four-game road trip, and while the Bulldogs have lost four straight league games, they are very talented. With star forward Brynley Fitzgerald, as well as veterans like Shainy Mack and Mesa King, Western is a potent offensive team, as the Skylights found out when they fell to the Dawgs 69-41 earlier this month in Dillon,

"Western is another nationally ranked team from our league," Mouat said. "They are a team full of shooters. They are really aggressive defensively, and we can plan on them getting after us with full-court pressure the entire game. Brynley Fitzgerald is an elite scorer and they do a really good job of getting her the ball in positions to score. They are a quick group and do a great job attacking the rim and sharing the ball for open 3s. When they are shooting it well, they can beat anyone in the country, and they've proven that."

If Western isn't tough enough, things won't get any easier Saturday in Butte. Northern fell to Montana Tech (2-6, 11-12) 71-61 two weeks ago in Havre, in a game the Skylights were leading early on. Tech has been a dangerous team all season, led by Tavia Rooney, who averages 12 points and 10 rebounds per night. The trio of Brooke Heggie, Mollie Peoples and Dani Urick are tough to handle as well.

"Montana Tech is a talented team with good balance," Mouat said. "They have a good group of guards and a bunch of kids that contribute for them in the post.  They, like Western, will press and zone a lot. As a team, they are really good on the offensive boards. They have beaten some really good teams this year and have proven that they can play with the best in the country. In Phoenix, they fell to Westmont, the defending national champions, by eight points and they played great at both ends."

Meanwhile, the Skylights are looking to right the ship now that they're finally healthy. Seniors Peyton Kehr and Sydney Hovde lead the way, while freshman L'Tia Lawrence has been strong at point guard. Horve is third in the Frontier with her 10 rebounds per night, while Kehr leads the team in scoring. Riley Kehr and Danielle Tyler have also stepped up in recent weeks for the Skylights, who are looking to start to build for the postseason.

Tonight's game between Northern and Western tips off at 5 in Dillon. The Skylights meet Tech Saturday at 2 p.m. in Butte.