Skylights and Lights fall to Saints in Helena

After winning its first game in the Frontier Conference this season, the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team was looking to carry that momentum into Thursday night’s game on the road against conference heavyweight Carroll College. However, the Skylights fell behind early as they went on to lose, 75-54, to the Saints.

Jamie Pickerns got the scoring started with a layup in the first minute of the game. A minute and-a-half later, Peyton Kehr scored to tie the game up. The Saints responded with a 3-pointer from Sienna Swannack to retake the lead. But the Skylights again tied the game thanks to a three from L’Tia Lawrence.

The Saints finally took momentum as Danielle Wagner and Christine Denny made back-to-back baskets to give the Saints a 9-5 lead. The Saints and Skylights traded baskets over the next few minutes with the Saints leading 13-9. The Saints found a groove with a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 20-9. After a score from Savannah Toms, Swannack made a three to give the Saints a 23-11 lead to end the quarter.

The Saints kept things rolling to start the second quarter as they stretched the lead to 30-15 with six and a half left in the half. The Skylights found some success with a 9-3 run over the next few minutes. Kehr led the Skylights with a pair of buckets during the run, her second cutting the deficit to 33-24 with four and a half left in the half.

But the Saints recaptured momentum with a 14-0 run to take a 47-24 lead at halftime. The Skylights were unable to get back in the game in the second half. The Lights cut the deficit to 50-35 late in the third but that was the closest they got.

Kehr led the Skylights with 15 points as she shot 6-14 from the field. Toms scored 12 points off the bench for the Skylights. Wagner led the Saints with 13 points as she went 6-10 from the field.

The loss dropped the Skylights to 8-17 on the season and 1-10 in the Frontier Conference. They will next play Saturday at 2 p.m. against University of Providence in Great Falls.

Saints overwhelm Lights

Heading into Thursday night’s game against Carroll College in Helena, the Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team was looking to put an end to its three-game losing streak. But the Lights were unable to find a rhythm as they lost, 80-66, to the Saints. Despite the loss, MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse believes they played well.

“I thought we did some great things tonight. To me it was simply a game of them shooting an extremely high percentage in the first half and us not being able to make many shots at all,” Huse said. “Credit to them for scoring much better than we did. I am proud of how we executed and fought. We got great looks against a good defensive team as well as some really good stops.”

The Saints scored on their first possession with a layup from Jonny Hillman. Moments later, Jovan Sljivancanin nailed a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 5-0. A few minutes into the game, David Harris got the Lights on the board with a layup.

The Saints kept making their shots with a 17-7 run. Shamrock Campbell led the Saints with six points during the run. C.J. Nelson ended the run with a layup and one free throw to cut the deficit to 22-12 halfway through the first half.

But the Lights could not turn that play into momentum. The Saints responded with a 9-0 run to stretch the lead to 31-12. Sljivancanin continued to play well for the Saints with six points during this stretch. The Saints kept the Lights at bay through the rest of the half as they took a 52-29 lead into halftime.

The Saints continued to play well in the second half to hold off the Lights. The closest the Lights could get the score was 80-65 but there was not enough time left to make a run.

Harris led the Lights with 17 points as he shot 7-16 from the field. Tanner McCliment-Call scored 13 points off the bench as he shot 3-6 from three. Sljivancanin shot 9-15 from the field, 3-5 from three and 3-3 from the free-throw line to lead the Saints with 24 points.

The Lights fall to 16-10 and 4-7 in Frontier Conference competition. It was also the fourth straight loss for the Lights. They will next play Saturday at 4 p.m. against University of Providence in Great Falls.

Carroll College 75, Skylights 54

MSU-Northern 11 13 15 15 - 54

CC 23 24 15 13 - 75

MSU-N - Peyton Kehr 6-14 2-2 15, Savannah Toms 4-8 4-6 12, L'Tia Lawrence 3-9 2-2 10, Sydney Hovde 5-6 0-0 10, Shyan Krass 1-3 0-2, 4, Dulci SkunkCap 1-3 0-2 1, Ryley Kehr 0-3 0-0 0, Morgan Mason 0-4 0-0 0, Danielle Tyler 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 21-53 9-14.

CC - Danielle Wagner 6-10 0-0 13, Christine Denny 5-8 2-5 12, Jamie Pickens 5-10 2-5 12, Sienna Swannack 3-6 1-2 10, Maddie Geritz 3-6 1-2 9, Jaidyn Lyman 2-8 2-2 6, Genesis Wilkinson 1-2 2-4 4, Kyle Olson 1-3 0-0 3, Addie Ekstrom 1-1 0-0 2, Rakiah Grende 1-1 0-0 2, Kamden Hilborn 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 29-58 10-20.

3-pointers: MSU-N 3-17 (Lawrence 2, P. Kehr 1), CC 7-18 (Swannack 3, Geritz 2,Wagner 1, Olson 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 31 (Hovde 13), CC 32 (Denny 7). Fouls: MSU-N 16, CC 16; Fouled Out: None.

Carroll College 80, Lights 66

MSU-N - David Harris 7-16 2-2 17, Tanner McCliment-Call 4-9 2-2 13, Anthony Braggs Jr. 3-3 1-2 9, Mascio McCadney 1-12 4-4 7, Immanuel Anderson 3-7 1-2 7,CJ Nelson 2-5 3-3 7, TJ Reynolds 1-3 1-1 3, Zyare Ruffin 1-2 0-0 3, Micaiah Hauser 0-1 0-0 0, Terry Holmes Jr. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-59 14-16.

CC - Jovan Sljivancanin 9-15 3-3 24, Brendan Temple 7-8 1-1 15, Shamrock Campbell 5-10 2-2 13, Jonny Hillman 5-8 1-1 11, Andrew Cook 4-9 2-2 10, Garrett Long 2-4 1-2 5, Lowell Chan 1-3 0-0 2, Murat Guzelocak 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 33-59 10-11.

Halftime: CC 52-29. 3-pointers: MSU-N 8-22 (McCliment-Call 3, Braggs Jr. 2, Ruffin 1, Harris 1, McCadney 1), CC 4-11 (Sljivancanin 3, Campbell 1). Rebounds: MSU-N 23 (Harris 6), CC 37 (Sljivancanin 8). Fouls: MSU-N 13, CC 15; Fouled Out: None.