Warriors hold off Skylights in title game

The Montana State University Northern women’s basketball team gave its all in the Frontier Conference championship game, but still, it wasn’t enough to beat the Lewis and Clark State Warriors.

The Skylights certainly didn’t make it easy for the second-ranked Warriors to take home the Frontier Conference Championship, but a tough shooting stretch in the fourth quarter, in which No. 12 MSU-N didn’t score for nearly six minutes, was costly, and LC State held on for the 57-50 win Monday night in Lewiston, Idaho. It’s the Skylights second runner-up finish in the Frontier in the last three seasons.

“We gotta make shots,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said after his team shot 28-percent from the field in the loss. “You have to make your free throws and we have to make more shots. We shot 28 percent from the field, and I think we were 9-of-17 from the foul line and in a single possession game, late in the game, we have to be able to make more shots. I thought the girls’ effort was outstanding. We had a good plan and held them to a season low, I think, offensively. So we did what we had to do, we just didn’t make enough shots to win the game.”

The loss was the fourth of the season for the Skylights against LC State, but even after the defeat, Northern should earn an at-large berth into the NAIA National tournament. The official announcement comes Wednesday.

“The girls are excited to go into the national tournament,” Mouat said. “But I don’t think tonight is going to help us at all unless we learn to make more shots. We can do it, we have done it, we just need to do a better job.”

The Skylights, who knocked off UM-Western Friday night in the semifinals to reach the championship game, started hot Monday as Jacy Thompson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and after five points from Natalee Faupel, MSU-N led 8-4.

Faupel made another trey later in the stanza, as well as another jump shot that put the Skylights in front 18-14 at the end of the first. In the second, Northern continued its strong play as Cydney Auzenne banked home an old-fashioned 3-point play, increasing the lead to five.

“I thought we did a good job of coming out and attacking,” Mouat said. “We wanted to attack them inside and we did a good job of getting to the line.”

The Warriors responded with an 8-1 run to go ahead by two. Faupel made two jumpers to keep Northern even, before LC State managed to pull ahead by one at halftime 33-32.

When the two teams returned to the floor, the Skylights again started off in a flurry as Auzenne knocked down a trey, followed by Molly Kreycik, who also hit from deep with 6:45 left in the third quarter, to put the Skylights up 38-33. However, a 8-2 run by the Warriors to close the quarter, put LC State up 41-40.

Northern started the final stanza by reclaiming the lead, as Auzenne hit her second shot from beyond the arc in the second half, giving MSU-N a 44-41 lead. A bucket by Jacy Thompson made it 46-43 and with just 6:17 left on the clock, the Skylights looked to be on the brink of a championship.

But as they had done all night long, the Warriors answered with a run. This time, they reeled off nine straight points as Jossilyn Blackman scored to put them up 52-46. Northern added a free throw but wouldn’t score again from the field until there was 22 seconds left, as Shiloh McCormick hit a three. After a drought that lasted nearly six minutes, it got Northern within four, but two free throws by LC State and a miss by the Skylights on the other end, sealed their fate.

“We were right there in a championship game and we just couldn’t hit enough shots,” Mouat said. “They (Warriors) just wore us out there a little bit in the fourth quarter and they made more shots than we did. They made their shots and we didn’t and that was the difference in the game.”

Faupel led the way for the Skylights with 17 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. Auzenne added 10 for Northern, while Thompson pitched in with eight and Kreycik had seven. Caelyn Orlandi led LC State with 16 points. Blackman also contributed with 13, while the Skylights did a great job, holding LCSC star Brittany Tackett to kust nine points.

Still, the Warriors (30-1) came away with the title and an automatic berth to Billings.

Meanwhile, the Skylights (23-8), while disappointed with the loss, will also be going to Billings after a great run in the Frontier this winter.

“The bottom line is that we need to execute better,” Mouat said. “We need to get better shots and we need to make them when we get them. Effort-wise, I couldn’t be prouder of our kids. We guarded a great team for 40 minutes, we just didn’t have an answer in those last few minutes and it hurt us.”

Northern is a strong bet to earn an at-large berth into the NAIA National tournament which starts March 15 in Billings. The bracket will be announced Wednesday.

Skylights are 23-8 overall; Next Up: NAIA National Tournament

Selection Show on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

LC State 57, Skylights 50

Northern 18 14 8 10 - 50

Lewis-Clark State 14 19 8 16 - 57

MSU-N - Cydney Auzenne 3-11 2-3 10, Molly Kreycik 2-8 1-2 7, Natalee Faupel 7-25 2-3 17, Peyton Filius 0-0 0-0 0, Jacy Thompson 3-14 1-5 8, Katie Fertterer 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Richards 1-2 1-2 3, Shiloh McCormick 1-1 2-2 5. Totals 17-61 9-17 50.

LCSC - Megan Risinger 1-5 0-0 2, Caelyn Orlandi 6-19 3-4 16, Jansen Edminston 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Tackett 3-6 3-4 9, Hailey Turner 2-2 2-2 6, Lauren Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Brooke Litalien 3-9 2-3 9, Jossilyn Blackman 6-8 1-2 13. Totals 22-52 11-15 57.

3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 7-22 (Auzenne 2-8, Kreycik 2-6, Faupel 1-3, Thompson 1-4, McCormick 1-1), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 2-13 (Risinger 0-2, Orlandi 1-5, Johnson 0-1, Litalien 1-5). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 39 (Faupel 12), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 38 (Risinger 8). Fouls Montana State-Northern 16, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 16. Fouled out: none.