Skylights fall at home to the Western Bulldogs

For the second straight Frontier Conference home game, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights were hanging tough with a nationally ranked opponent. For the second straight game, however, that opponent pulled away.

Saturday in the Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights fell to the No. 18 Montana Western Bulldogs 76-67, dropping Northern to 0-4 in league play.

"Credit Western, they're a Top 10 team in my opinion," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "They're a talented team, they shoot it really well and they did today. But I also really thought we did some good things. I thought our team defense was really good for the most part. I thought we had kids really defend and also make some big shots. So we're getting better. There's no moral victories, but we're improving every time we step out on the floor."

It was another strong offensive performance for MSU-N, which shot 42 percent and made a season-high 10 3-pointers. Early on, Shyan Krass and Rachel Van Blaricom canned threes that gave the Skylights a short lead. Box Elder star Joelnell Momberg, who would go on to have a huge game in the Armory, answered with a three as Western went ahead 19-15 after 10 minutes.

MSU-N battled throughout the second stanza though. Briaunna McCullough buried a triple, and then, Momberg hit a pair of threes only to be answered by Krass, her fellow District 9C alum. In the quarter, the lead changed five times, but Western took a 36-29 lead into intermission.

"They (Dawgs) shot it really well," Mouat said. "And we didn't do a good enough job at times of preventing those open looks. But at the same time, we were really right there with them through the first half. But in the end, they kind of blew it open in the third quarter, they really started getting to the rim and that just stretched our defense. They're very good offensively, and I thought that really showed in the second half."

Northern opened the third quarter with another three from Krass, who had a strong game, but that's as close as MSU-N would get. Western closed the third on a 10-0 run to lead 61-42 and led by as many 23 points in the fourth. Northern closed the gap with Dulci Skunk Cap hitting a couple of late threes but it wasn't enough as the Dawgs improved to 3-1 in the Frontier and 15-2 overall. They got 16 and four bombs from Momberg, and made 12 treys as a team, while also out-rebounding the Skylights 32-27. All-American Brynley Fitzgerald added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"Joelnell had a great game," Mouat said. "She made some big shots. She played really well."

On the other end, McCullough had 16 points, Ryley Kehr had 15 points and six boards, while Krass finished with 10 and four rebounds as MSU-N fell to 7-10 overall and has to embark on a four-game road trip starting with a visit to Montana Tech this Thursday night, and a game at nationally ranked Carroll College this Saturday.

"We're continuing to get better," Mouat said. "This group really has a lot of heart and guts, and they work hard, and we're continuing to improve, just like I thought we would. But at the same time, we have a lot to clean up. We've got to find a way to play a clean game for a full 40 minutes. We've played well, but we haven't done that yet."

Montana Western 76, Skylights 67

Western 19 17 28 12 - 76

Northern 15 14 18 20 - 67

MW - Brynley Fitzgerald 11, Shainy Mack 10, Joelnell Momberg 16, Jordan Sweeney 15, Mesa King 8, Kyla Momberg 3, Payton Hagy 7, Emily Cooley 4, Isabella Lund 2. Totals: 30-68 4-8.

MSU-N - Brianna McCullough 16, Jalen Callender 2, Rachel Van Blaricom 8, Ryley Kehr 15, Shyan Krass 10, Sydney Hansen 5, Dulci Skunk Cap 6, Savanna Toms 5. Totals: 23-55 10-19.

3-pointers: MW 12-25 (Fitzgerald 1, Mack 2, J. Momberg 4. Sweeney 2, K. Momberg 1), MSU-N 10-19 (McCullough 1, Van Blaricom 2, Kehr 2, Krass 2, Hansen 1, Skunk Cap 2). Rebounds MW 32 (Fitzgerald 11), MSU-N 27 (Callender 7). Fouls: MW 15, MSU-N 7. Fouled out: None.