Skylights go undefeated over the weekend

Heading into the final weekend of 2022, the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team looked to find some momentum and get on track heading into the new year. With three games at Armory Gymnasium this past weekend, the Skylights won all three games with a 74-55 win over Keyano University, an 84-67 victory over St. Mary's University and a 64-43 win over Lakeland College. While the Skylights were not perfect, MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat believes the team grew over the weekend.

"We were inconsistent at times but I thought we made a lot of strides. All three teams caused us problems with what they did defensively and we saw three different styles in three different games so I think that was really good for us," Mouat said. "A lot of growing pains still. We're going to deal with that as the season goes on. This is an inexperienced team but I thought they made big strides this weekend."

While the Skylights defeated Keyano Thursday to begin the weekend, they faced some adversity. It was a tough first quarter as Keyano took a 21-20 lead to start the game. But the Skylights bounced back to take a 38-29 lead into halftime.

The Skylights closed it out in the second half to pull out the win. As a team, they shot 52.4 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the free-throw line. Shyan Krass recorded a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Briaunna McCullough and Jalen Callender both scored 16 points to contribute to the winning effort.

The Skylights continued their weekend with their win over St. Mary's Friday night. The Skylights started strong as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Ryley Kehr got off to a hot start as she scored nine points in the first five minutes of the game. Even after St. Mary's scored, Krass and Kehr made a pair of baskets to give the Skylights an 18-3 lead.

But St. Mary's recovered from its rough start and fought its way back into the game. By halftime, the Skylights' lead had shrunk all the way to 37-33. Halfway through the third quarter, the Skylights only had a 50-49 lead.

After allowing St. Mary's back into the game, the Skylights recovered with a 13-6 run to end the third quarter. Rachel Van Blaricom got rolling with a pair of threes to help the Skylights take a 63-55 lead to end the third.

The Skylights started the fourth with a 6-0 run as Krass made a pair of layups early in the quarter. From that point forward, St. Mary's was unable to cut the deficit to less than 10 points as the Skylights held on to win. After giving up their big lead, Mouat was proud that the Skylights did not let the game get away from them.

"I was just proud of our kids being able to get off to such a hot start, have a big lull and then in the fourth quarter, really play well," Mouat said.

Against St. Mary's, the Skylights shot 45.1 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep. Kehr had a double-double as she led the team with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Krass had another strong day for the Skylights with 22 points on 11-for-16 shooting.

The Skylights continued to play well in their win Saturday night against Lakeland College. After the Rustlers made a three to start the game, the Skylights went on an 8-0 run to take control. Both McCullough and Callender scored four points each during this stretch.

However, the Rustlers did not go away as they got back into the game. By the end of the first, the Skylights only had an 18-17 lead. In the second quarter, the Skylights and Rustlers continued to go back and forth until the game was tied 31-31 in the closing seconds of the half. But thanks to a heave from Kehr that went in at the buzzer, the Skylights took a 34-31 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Skylights maintained their lead but were not able to pull away. As the quarter came to an end, the Skylights only had a 45-41 lead with the Rustlers right on their heels.

But the Skylights started the fourth with a barrage of threes to pull away. McCullough started the quarter with a three to stretch the lead to 48-41. After Kayleena Garda scored to make it 48-43, Kehr knocked down a three and Krass made a pair of threes to quickly make their lead 57-43 halfway through the quarter. Along with their explosive fourth quarter, the Skylights shut down the Rustlers the rest of the way to secure the victory.

"I think we did a really good job down the stretch defending," Mouat said. "It's good to see (the threes) fall. We haven't been shooting from three very well so it's nice to see some kids hit some."

The Skylights shot 38 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from deep. In the fourth, the Skylights went 4-for-9 from the 3-point line. Krass posted a double-double as she led the team with 19 points and 11 rebounds. McCullough scored 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line.

The Skylights have had their ups and downs this season, but these three wins have improved their record to 7-8. The Skylights will have tougher games ahead with Frontier Conference play coming up, so they hope to carry over their play from these games into the new year.

"We just wanted to put our best foot forward heading into the new year and get some momentum going into conference and I think we've been able to achieve that," Mouat said. "The league is no joke and we're going to have to play at an extremely high level."

Heading into 2023, the Skylights will also receive some help as Taniyah Finney will join the team this semester. The Skylights signed the guard from Imhotep High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Finney helped her program win back-to-back Philadelphia Public League titles in 2021 and 2022. In her final year, she was named First Team All-Public League.

In her final year in high school, Finney shot 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from deep and 71 percent from the charity stripe. She also recorded 3.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 3.0 rebounds a game, so Mouat expects her to make an impact for the Skylights.

"We are extremely excited to have Taniyah on board. She is a quality player who brings a lot to the table. She can shoot it from the three and she can get to the rim. Plus, she's coming from a highly successful program at Imhotep," Mouat said in a press release. "We think she has a great future in a Skylight uniform and will be a great addition to our campus community."

The MSU-N women's basketball team will next play this Thursday at 5 p.m. at Armory Gymnasium with a conference game against Rocky Mountain College.

MSU-Northern 74, Keyano 55

KU - 21 8 15 11 - 55

MSU-N - 20 18 18 18 - 74

KU - Zera Panesa 7-16 4-10 20, Joy Victor 5-9 1-5 11, Jaylynn Twinn 5-7 1-1 11, Kayla Lutterodt 2-6 3-4 7, Grace Pardell 2-7 0-0 4, Casey Gorieu 0-7 2-2 2, Mzna Mohamed 0-5 0-2 0, Kristin Reid 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 21-60 9-19.

MSU-N - Shyan Krass 10-13 2-2 22, Briaunna McCullough 7-16 0-2 16, Jalen Callender 8-11 0-0 16, Ryley Kehr 5-7 1-2 11, Dulci Skunkcap 2-3 0-0 5, Sydney Hansen 1-6 2-2 4, ShaAnn Danelson 0-3 0-0 0, Rachel Van Blaricom 0-1 0-0 0, Abigail Keltner 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 33-63 5-8.

Halftime: MSU-N 38-29. 3-pointers: KU 4-14 (Zera Panesa 4), MSU-N 3-13 (Briaunna McCullough 2, Dulci Skunkcap 1). Rebounds: KU 29 (Jaylynn Twinn 7), MSU-N 42 (Shyan Krass 15). Fouls: KU 12, MSU-N 16. Fouled Out: Joy Victor.

MSU-Northern 84, St. Mary's 67

SM - 9 24 22 12 - 67

MSU-N - 20 17 26 21 - 84

SM - Andria Stitt 6-23 4-6 19, Luiza Mendes 6-8 2-3 17, Jazmyn Kellogg 5-13 2-2 15, Maitlynn Wilde 3-9 1-1 7, Adit Deng 1-1 1-2 3, Chayle Clark 1-2 0-0 2, Ivet Hidalgo 1-5 0-0 2, Colleen Nkrumah 1-2 0-2 2. Totals: 24-63 10-16.

MSU-N - Ryley Kehr 10-17 3-3 24, Shyan Krass 11-16 0-0 22, Briaunna McCullough 5-15 1-6 12, Jalen Callender 5-9 0-0 11, Rachel Van Blaricom 2-6 0-0 6, Dulci SkunkCap 2-8 0-2 4, Sydney Hansen 1-3 0-0 3, Savannah Toms 1-6 0-0 2, ShaAnn Danelson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 37-82 4-11.

Halftime: MSU-N 37-33. 3-pointers: SM 9-24 (Jazmyn Kellogg 3, Andria Stitt 3, Luiza Mendes 3), MSU-N 6-20 (Rachel Van Blaricom 2, Briaunna McCullough 1, Ryley Kehr 1). Rebounds: SM 32 (Chayle Clark 8), MSU-N 41 (Ryley Kehr 10). Fouls: SM 14, MSU-N 15. Fouled Out: None.

MSU-Northern 64, Lakeland 43

LC - 17 14 10 2 - 43

MSU-N - 18 16 11 19 - 64

LC - Kayleena Garda 4-7 0-0 8, Susan Avaa 3-12 0-0 7, Alana Olson 2-6 0-0 5, Angela Baran 2-8 0-0 5, Sarah Dacuycuy 2-5 0-0 4, Payton Grindle 2-3 0-1 4, Bethany Montebon 1-11 0-0 3, Morgan Ostig 1-1 0-0 3, Abigail Whitehead 0-4 2-2 2, Annika Timmerman 1-2 0-0 2, Breanna O'Connor 0-3 0-0 0, Veda Gottselig 0-2 0-0 0.

MSU-N - Shyan Krass 6-14 5-5 19, Briaunna McCullough 5-11 5-8 16, Ryley Kehr 4-11 1-1 11, Jalen Callender 2-3 1-2 5, Savannah Toms 0-3 4-4 4, Dulci SkunkCap 1-4 1-1 3, Sydney Hansen 1-3 1-2 3, Rachel Van Blaricom 0-0 2-5 2, ShaAnn Danelson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-50 20-28.

Halftime: MSU-N 34-31. 3-pointers: LC 5-24 (Alana Olson 1, Angela Baran 1, Bethany Montebon 1), MSU-N 5-18 (Shyan Krass 2, Ryley Kehr 2, Briaunna McCullough 1). Rebounds: LC 35 (Kayleena Garda 7), MSU-N 39 (Skyan Krass 11). Fouls: LC 21, MSU-N 7. Fouled Out: Susan Avaa.