Field Trip games, wrestling mark busy Thursday for Northern

It will be an exciting Thursday for Montana State University-Northern athletics.

In the morning, the MSU-Northern men's and women's basketball teams will play a special Field Trip Day doubleheader in the Armory Gymnasium, while the Northern wrestling team will host a home dual Thursday night.

First up though, is the Skylights at 10 a.m. against Alberta-Augustana. Northern is hosting the Field Trip Game for the fourth straight season. The Skylights come into Thursday's game with a 3-4 overall record after losing a heartbreaker to Valley City State last Sunday.

After head coach Chris Mouat's team finishes, the Lights (6-2) will take on Alberta-Augustana in their own Field Trip Game Thursday. Northern, of head coach Shawn Huse, lost an exhibition game at the University of Montana Tuesday night in Missoula, so the Lights will be looking to bounce back quickly.

The Skylights and Lights have hosted the Field Trip Game for several years now, and it will feature grade-school kids from Havre and the Hi-Line. The action starts Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Armory Gymnasium.

The Frontier Conference also recently announced that MSU-Northern basketball had both recipients of the men's and women's "Player of the Week."

For the Skylights, redshirt junior forward Savannah Toms was given the honor. At the MSU-Northern Classic over the weekend, Toms averaged 17 points per game and grabbed seven boards a game. Her 18 points against Concordia University of Edmonton were a career-high. She had a go-ahead layup with 11.8 seconds left to go against Valley City State that would have been the game-winning basket had it not been for a buzzer-beating layup on the other end.

For the Lights, sophomore guard Dae'Kwon Watson took home the award as he lit up the floor against Concordia University of Edmonton on Saturday night. He went for 21 points, including 3-of-5 from three-point land in a team-high 30 minutes of action.

Meanwhile, a busy day in the Armory will turn into a busy night as the No. 8 MSU-Northern wrestling team hosts Dickinson State in a home dual.

The Lights, of head coach Tyson Thivierge, are coming off a successful showing at last Saturday's Battle of the Rockies in Great Falls, and they'll be hoping to build on that momentum against the Blue Hawks.

The dual begins the end of the 2023 portion of Northern's schedule. The Lights wrap up the first half of the season with two duals and the annual Reno Tournament of Champions next weekend.

MSU-N and the Blue Hawks will meet on the mat Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium.