Lights head to Tacoma for back to back this weekend

After a week away from the court, the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams are back with some games on the road this weekend. The Lights will make a trip to Tacoma, Washington, to play Puget Sound University this Saturday and then Pacific Lutheran University this Sunday. Meanwhile, the Skylights will head down to Helena to face Willamette University this Sunday.

Puget Sound University has just started its season and is off to a 2-0 record this year. Mussie Teclemariam is off to a strong start this season as he leads the team with 16.0 points a game on 66.7 percent shooting from the field. He also leads the team in the post averaging 11.0 rebounds a contest.

The Loggers have other players who could make an impact this Saturday. Liam Ruttledge has been playing well through two games with 14.5 points a game on 62.5 percent shooting. Will Pohland is also a threat as he averages 13.0 points a game on 83.3 percent shooting. MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse believes that overall, the Loggers just have great chemistry.

"They play very well together," Huse said. "They have a lot of weapons on the perimeter, they have good interior play as well and so far they look like they play well in transition."

After the Lights play Puget Sound, they will have to face a solid Pacific Lutheran University team Sunday. The Lutes are off to a 2-0 start this season with wins over The Evergreen State College and Warner Pacific University.

The Lutes have many players to turn to this weekend. Sam Noland started the year going 8-for-15 for 19 points in his first game. Jackson Reisner also got off to a strong start going 4-for-9 for 17 points. With many players capable of going off, the Lights will need to be ready on defense in the second game of a back to back.

"We're going to have to be really on point with our defense not only in one-on-one but also with our help and our rotations," Huse said. "We're going to have to be locked in, rested and turn around to find our energy again and get right after it."

The Lights will look to remain undefeated as they are off to a 4-0 start this season. As a team, the Lights have shot the ball at a 48.3 percent clip, including 38.1 percent from the 3-point line. Through the early portion of the season, many different Lights have made an impact.

Dae'Kwon Watson leads the team with 11.8 points a game on 54.8 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent shooting from deep. Tanner McCliment-Call has been reliable this year with 11.3 points a contest on 38.1 percent shooting from the field. While the Lights have played great this season, Huse still wants to see improvement this weekend.

"These are the types of games we need as the season continues to progress and I feel like we're going to learn a lot about ourselves in these two games and see where we're at," Huse said. "We're still a relatively new and inexperienced team in many ways so we still have a lot to learn about ourselves."

The Skylights will face Willamette University this Sunday at Carroll College's gymnasium in Helena. The Bearcats should be a tough opponent as they are off to a 2-0 start this season thanks to the play of many of their players.

Carolyn Ho is off to a strong start averaging 11.5 points a game on 52.6 percent shooting from the field. Kaitlin Imai has also played well with 11.0 points a game on 33.3 percent shooting. Sami Riggs and Megan River have also made an impact with 10.0 points a game through two games this season.

"They're basically a team of guards running around the floor. They can all drive and shoot the ball," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "We're going to have to be on our toes defensively. I think that's the number one thing for us. We can't allow dribble penetration to hurt us."

The Skylights are 3-1 to start the season. Ryley Kehr leads the team with 14.3 points a game as she is shooting 50 percent from the field. Briaunna McCullough has also made an impact with 11.3 points a game on 24.6 percent shooting. While the Skylights are off to a solid start this year, Moaut believes they need to start shooting the ball better.

"We just have not shot the ball terribly well. I think we've executed and we've got some great looks at the basket but we've got to start knocking them down," Moaut said. "Hopefully, we get in there and have a good shoot around and get our feet under us and knock some down."

After this game, the Skylights will next play the University of Providence in their first Frontier Conference game of the season. Right after that game, the Skylights will play Carroll College. With their first conference games coming up, Mouat wants the Skylights to use this game against Willamette University to get themselves ready for the more important games.

"It's a chance for us to work on execution and some of the things we're going to need to do to compete in our league," Mouat said. "We just have to continue to get battle tested as we head into those first couple of games because they are going to be very tough."

The MSU-N men's basketball team will head to Tacoma to play Puget Sound University this Saturday at 6 p.m. and will then play Pacific Lutheran University Sunday at 2 p.m. The MSU-N women's basketball team will play Willamette University in Helena this Sunday at 2 p.m.