Carroll races past Northern women in the second half

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights were absolutely on fire in the first half of their Frontier Conference home opener against nationally ranked Carroll College. Unfortunately for Northern, former Havre Blue Pony star Kyndall Keller was twice as hot.

In a wild first half Saturday in the Armory Gymnasium, Keller, who transferred to Carroll from the University of Montana, hit four first-quarter 3-pointers, and scored 19 points, helping Carroll eventually pull away from the Skylights 68-49.

“Kyndall has put up a lot of

shots in this gym,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “And she got loose and made some big ones tonight. I know how hard she’s worked at her game. I’ve seen it first-hand. She played great tonight, she made big shots. Carroll has a lot of weapons, and they got it going, so full credit to them.”

Keller’s incredible performance, as she finished with 24 points, was offset by a heroic effort from Northern’s Briaunna McCullough, who scored 17 in the first half as well as

Northern trailed just 21-20 at the end of the first period. McCullough twice gave Northern the early lead with triples, and when Shyan Krass hit a big three in the second, Northern trailed just 34-32 and would ultimately be behind just 37-32.

“I was really pleased with the start we got off to,” Mouat

said. “I thought in the first half we shot it pretty well against their zone, we rebounded it pretty well, too. Our effort was really good. But with Carroll, it’s pick your poison. They are so talented. They just have so many weapons and they’re really good, but yes, I thought we did play really well in the first half.”

That, however, would be as close as the Skylights would get.

Keller opened the second half with a trey, and Carroll finished the third stanza on an 8-0 run to lead by 10 at 51-41. Carroll then outscored Northern 17-8 the rest of the way as the Skylights shot just 31 percent in the second half compared to 50 percent in the first 20 minutes. Conversely, the Saints shot 43 percent for the game, made 10 threes and out-rebounded Northern 41-26.

McCullough led Northern with 24 points and seven rebounds, as the Skylights made 7-of-18 triples. Ryley Kehr added nine points for MSU-N, which fell to 0-2 in the Frontier, and will resume non-conference play with games at Dickinson State Tuesday and at home against Briercrest College Thursday afternoon.

“We didn’t do a good enough job to get it done tonight, and a lot of the credit for that goes to Carroll, they’re just really good,” Mouat said. “So big picture, we’re 0-2 and we have to find ways to win n this league. We have a long way to go. Bjut, I do like our physical effort, and our approach. These kids are working hard, and I think you’ve seen, after the first quarter at Providence (Thursday), we have adjusted to Frontier play. We are getting better, and that’s what I believe this team will continue to do, we’ll continue to grow and get better.”

Carroll 69, Skylights 49

Carroll 21 16 14 17 - 68

Northern 20 12 9 8 - 49

CC - Kyndall Keller 24, Kamden Hillborn 8, Sienna Swannack 9, Jamie Pickens 14, Maddie Geritz 2, Genesis Wilkinson 2, Addi Eckstrom 9. Totals: 28-65 10-31 68.

MSU-N - Brianna McCullough 24, Taya Trottier 3, Ryley Kehr 9, Savannah Toms 4, Sydney Hansen 2, Shyan Krass 5, Dulci SkunkCap 2. Totals: 20-52 2-4 49.

3-pointers CC 10-31 (Keller 6, Swannack 3, Eckstrom 1), MSU-N 7-18 (McCullough 4, Trottier 1, Kehr 1, Krass 1), Rebounds: 41 (Pickens 11), 26 (McCullough 7). Fouls: CC 7, MSU-N 9; Fouled out: None.