Despite struggles, Skylights saw growth throughout the season

This past winter, the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team had its ups and downs. The Skylights finished the season with an overall record of 8-21 and a record of 1-14 in the Frontier Conference. While he would have liked to pick up more wins this season, MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat liked the character of his team throughout the year.

"I'm actually proud of the growth this team showed throughout the course of the season. We were the youngest team in our league," Mouat said. "I think they showed up every night and came to work trying to get better. They were up against it many nights but they never quit."

The Skylights started the season with a 3-2 record in non-conference games. But once they started conference play, the Skylights had their struggles as they lost their first 13 games of the season in the Frontier Conference.

A bright spot for the Skylights came last month when they defeated Montana Tech, 66-57, for their lone conference win of the season. It was also the final home game for the Skylights this season. But the good times were short lived as the Skylights lost, 70-61, to Rocky Mountain College in the Frontier Conference Tournament to end the season.

Even though the Skylights had their struggles in the Frontier Conference, several of them played well along the way. Junior guard Briaunna McCullough earned honorable mention All-Conference honors for her season this past season. McCullough averaged 13.0 points a game on 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 62.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line. She also averaged 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game this season.

Sophomore forward Shyan Krass was named co-sixth Man of the Year in the Frontier Conference. This season, she averaged 9.6 points a game on 54.2 percent shooting from the field and 80 percent shooting from the charity stripe. She excelled in the post averaging 6.1 rebounds a game.

Freshman guard Rachel Van Blaricom was named to the All-Defensive Team for her performance this season. Senior guard Abigail Keltner was named to the Champions of Character team. The Skylights dealt with injuries and tough losses throughout the season, but Mouat believes his players were deserving of these accolades.

"We were up against many nights, but I think their attitude never wavered," Mouat said. "We continued to grow and this team stuck together."

While he was proud of how they competed over the course of the winter, Mouat knows that finishing at the bottom of the Frontier Conference is not acceptable. The goal moving forward will be to move up the standings. Not only will that put them in place to compete in the Frontier Conference, but also on the national level.

"We gotta get back to where we belong and that means top three in our league. If you're doing that year in and year out, you stand a chance to be playing in Sioux City, Iowa in the national tournament," Mouat said. "It's going to take hard work, step by step and hopefully a little luck staying healthy."