Skylights come up short against the Battlin Bears

For three quarters, the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team was threatening to take down a Rocky Mountain College team knocking on the door of a Top 25 appearance.

Unfortunately for Northern, the game was four quarters.

Thursday night in the Armory Gymnasium, Frontier Conference play started for good as the Battlin’ Bears defeated Northern 76-60, dropping MSU-N to 0-3 in league play and snapping the Skylight’s three-game winning streak.

“Bottom line, we got off to a terrible start tonight,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “Defensively, we just didn’t come out and handle the start of the game very well. But this team really dug their heels in and started to get the stops we needed, and we started to play pretty well on offense. We did what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance.”

Northern was right there through three quarters. After Rocky jumped on the Skylights early, MSU-N found itself trailing 22-14 after the first period. But, after a Shyan Krass 3-pointer, the Skylights had ripped off an 8-0 run and cut Rocky’s lead to 33-30 late in the first half, and they would trail just 37-35 at the break. MSU-N never took the lead, but the Skylights kept things close behind some strong play in the third period, including threes from Briaunna McCullough and Rachel Van Blaricom, which kept them within striking distance at 55-50 after three quarters.

However, that would be as close as the Skylights would get.

Behind big shots from Kloie Thatcher, the Battlin’ Bears went on a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter, which ultimately ended what was a valiant effort by Northern, which did shoot 46 percent from the floor and got 13 points from Krass, along with 10 each from Ryley Kehr and Savanna Toms, who gave MSU-N a huge boost in the second stanza.

“The fourth quarter really turned out to be the story of the game,” Mouat said. “We turned the ball over too many times, and made some crucial mistakes, and then we just couldn’t stop them. So it was disappointing to see the game kind of get blown open like that in the fourth. Rocky is dangerous, a very talented team and we knew that. And it showed in the fourth quarter. They really outplayed us down the stretch.”

And though MSU-N played well in stretches, outscoring the Bears 36-33 in the middle of the game, it wasn’t enough to overcome 18 turnovers and Rocky shooting a sizzling 50 percent from the floor, as Dominique Stephens poured in a game-high 19 points to go with 11 boards. Rocky also had four players in double figures and out-rebounded Northern 30-23 as the Bears improved to 3-0 in league play and 11-4 overall.

“We’re a young and inexperienced team and that shows at times,” Mouat said. “I think we’re improving, we’re learning, but we still have to play better for a full 40 minutes. So credit to Rocky tonight. They took it to us in the fourth quarter. They’re really good, and for us there’s no moral victories. But I know this team won’t quit. They’ll keep fighting, and that’s what we’ll do Saturday against a really good Western team. We’ll just go back to work and try to play better. I love that about this team. They’ll keep fighting.”

The Skylights will try and bounce back Saturday afternoon when they host nationally ranked Montana Western at 2 p.m. in the Armory.

Rocky Mountain 76, Skylights 60

Rocky 22 15 18 21 - 76

Northern 14 21 15 10 - 60

RMC - Illiana Moran 5, Kloie Thatcher 17, Grace Lekvold 3, Dominique Stephens 19, Mackenzie Dethman 2, Ky Buel 5, Tynesha Parnell 6, Kacy Horton 4, Morgan Baird 15. Totals: 30-60 10-15.

MSU-N - Brianna McCullough 9, Jalen Callender 4, Rachel Van Blaricom 8, Ryley Kehr 10, Shyan Krass 13, Sydney Hanson 4, Dulci Skunk Cap 2, Savanna Toms 10. Totals: 23-50 10-12.

3-pointers: RMC 6-19 (Moran 1, Lekvold 1, Buell 1, Parnell 2), MSU-N 4-13 (McCullough 1, Van Blaricom 2, Krass 1). Rebounds: RMC 30 (Stephens 11), MSU-N 23 (McCullough 7). Fouls: RMC 14, RMC 13. Fouled out: Dethman.