Skylights travel to Arizona for three tough games

The Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team is going to get a dose of warm weather before the Skylights begin Frontier Conference play in January.

Next week, Northern will be in Phoenix for three non-conference games.

The trio of games in Arizona begins with a game against Rust College Tuesday night. Rust is an NAIA program from Mississippi which is currently 5-2 on the young season. This will be the first time the Skylights have faced the Bearcats. Rust is receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches Poll.

On Wednesday, Northern will battle the 20th-ranked Eastern Oregon Mountaineers. EOU is favored to battle for the Cascade Conference championship this season, and the Mounties bring a 6-1 record into the game against Northern.

Following the EOU game, the Skylights will wrap up their trip to Phoenix with a game against San Diego Christian Thursday. The Skylights have faced the Hawks in season's past. SDC comes into the Arizona tournament with a 3-8 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the tough GSAC.

Northern meanwhile, brings a 4-5 record into the trip to the desert. The Skylights' last time out, they played an exhibition game against MSU Billings.

Northern is led by point guard Briaunna McCullough, who is averaging 15 points and four assists per game. She has won Frontier Women's Player of the Week two straight weeks. Senior Ryley Kehr is another double-figure scorer for the Skylights, while forward Shyan Krass has been playing extremely well of late.

The Arizona trip is also Northern's final road games in non-conference play. The Skylights will wrap up December with games against Keyano University Dec. 29, St. Mary's University Dec. 30 and Lake land College Dec. 31.

As for their games in Phoenix, the Skylights play Rust Tuesday at 8 p.m., EOU Wednesday at 4 p.m. and San Diego Christian Thursday at 4 p.m.