Orediggers roar back to defeat the Skylights

Early Saturday afternoon, it looked like the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team could pick up its first win in the Frontier Conference this season. At Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights jumped out to an 18-8 lead and took a 31-28 lead into halftime.

But like they have done several times this season, the Skylights let go of this chance to win as the Orediggers dominated the second half of the game to win 75-63. The Skylights played competitively in three out of four quarters, but Tech's domination in the third doomed them.

"The third quarter was the game. I thought we were taking relatively decent care of the ball but we got really rattled, we made really poor decisions with the ball and they converted on the other end with points," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "Montana Tech caught fire. They were hitting some crazy shots out there and did what they had to do to win the game."

The Skylights started the game quickly as Savannah Toms, Ryley Kehr and Jalen Callender all scored to take a 6-0 lead. After the Orediggers came back to cut the deficit to 9-8, the Skylights went on a 9-0 run to stretch their lead to 18-8 with about three minutes remaining in the first. Briaunna McCullough made the biggest impact with a 3-pointer and a free throw during the run.

The Orediggers finished the opening frame strong with a 6-0 run. In the final minutes of the quarter, both Aubrie Rademacher and Soda Rice made a three to cut Northern's lead to 18-14 at the end of the quarter.

The Orediggers carried that momentum into the start of the second quarter as a three from Dani Urick gave Tech a 21-20 lead. After Toms made a layup in response, Rice knocked down a jumper to give Tech a 23-22 lead halfway through the quarter.

Trailing late in the half, the Skylights went on a 9-3 run to retake momentum. Sydney Hansen got the run started with a pair of layups to give Northern the lead again. Shyan Krass then made a layup to keep the run going. After Tech scored to break up the run, Hansen made a layup and one free throw to give Northern a 31-26 lead.

"I thought we really executed. I thought we got the shots we wanted to the spots we wanted for the people we wanted them for," Mouat said about the Skylights' play in the first half. "I thought we were poised with the ball in our hands. For the most part, we limited turnovers."

In the closing minute of the half, Tavia Rooney scored to cut Northern's lead to 31-28 heading into halftime. The Orediggers then started the third quarter on a 12-5 run. The Orediggers started the run with four straight points to take the lead. After Toms scored to retake the lead for Northern, Rice knocked down a three to give Tech the lead. The Orediggers then made three straight baskets to stretch their lead to 43-33 early in the third.

The Skylights tried to come back in the third, but the Orediggers continued to score as they stretched their lead to 55-40 heading to the fourth. Even in the fourth, the Skylights were unable to cut the deficit to less than 12 points as the Orediggers controlled the game down the stretch.

Toms finished as the leading scorer for the Skylights with 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and 8-for-11 shooting from the free-throw line. Krass finished the game with 11 points while Kehr and McCullough each scored 10 for the Skylights.

The Skylights finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field and they went 17-for-25 from the charity stripe. However, they struggled from beyond the arc where they shot 12.5 percent.

Rice led Tech with 19 points as she shot 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep. Urick and Rooney also played well as they both scored 16 points. As a team, the Orediggers shot 47.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep. After shooting 35.7 percent in the first half, the Orediggers got hot shooting 57.5 percent from the field in the second half.

"They were really balanced. If you look at their statline, a lot of kids hurt us," Mouat said. "It was really a team effort on their part where everybody was chipping in making shots and, unfortunately, we went cold at the wrong time."

The Skylights remain winless in the Frontier Conference with a 0-10 record and have a 7-16 overall record. The road ahead does not get easier as the Skylights will next play Carroll College, but Mouat believes his players will not let recent adversity get them down.

"It's a heck of a challenge so we're going to have to dust ourselves off and move forward. That's all you can do," Mouat said. "We've got a bunch of kids that believe. They're not hanging it up or throwing in the towel by any means. They're giving me what they got."

The MSU-N women's basketball team will play Carroll College at Armory Gymnasium this Thursday at 5 p.m.

Tech 75, Skylights 63

Tech - 14 14 27 20 - 75

MSU-N - 18 13 9 23 - 63

Tech - Soda Rice 7-11 2-2 19, Dani Urick 6-12 1-1 16, Tavia Rooney 6-10 4-4 16, Aubrie Rademacher 5-10 0-0 12, Liv Wangerin 3-5 1-2 7, McKayla Kloker 1-6 0-0 3, Madison Allen 1-3 0-0 2, Ally Cleverly 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 29-61 8-9.

MSU-N - Savannah Toms 6-10 8-11 20, Shyan Krass 5-6 1-1 11, Briaunna McCullough 3-10 3-6 10, Ryley Kehr 4-6 1-2 10, Sydney Hansen 3-5 3-3 9, Jalen Callender 1-5 1-2 3, Rachel Van Blaricom 0-4 0-0 0, Taniyah Finney 0-2 0-0 0, ShaAnn Danelson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 22-50 17-25.

Halftime: MSU-N 31-28. 3-pointers: Tech 9-27 (Dani Urick 3, Soda Rice 3, Aubrie Rademacher 2), MSU-N 2-16 (Ryley Kehr 1, Briaunna McCullough 1). Rebounds: Tech 26 (Tavia Rooney 5), MSU-N 30 (Savannah Toms 8). Fouls: Tech 23, MSU-N 14. Fouled Out: Soda Rice.