By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
With this season, a Frontier Conference road win, no matter how close or who it is over, is an accomplishment.
That's why Mike Erickson will gladly take a hardfought 71-67 win over the last-place Westminster Griffins on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Despite a 3-23 overall record and no wins in the conference, Westminster always seems to play tough at Payne Gymnasium, and Saturday night was no different.
The Skylights found themselves in a dogfight late in the game against the upset-minded Griffins.
Westminster overcame a 33-22 halftime deficit behind the solid play of the conference's leading scorer and rebounder Shalee Fackrell and guard Lindsey Huffman.
The duo rallied the Griffins in the second half to cut the lead and Fackrell's score inside gave Westminster a 64-62 lead with under two minutes left to play.
"Things got a little tight there," said Skylights head coach Mike Erickson. "We gave them a little sniff of a victory and they really came after us."
However, Jessi Reome sank one of her six 3-pointers to give the Skylights back the lead. Westminster attempted to retake the lead, but Fackrell's shot inside just missed and Northern's Jaci Heny banged home a 3-pointer to push the lead back to four and the Skylights never looked back.
"Jessi and Jaci hit some big shots for us down the stretch, which is what you need in road games," Erickson said. "I thought our girls did a good job of coming out focused and ready. You will always take a split on the road in conference no matter what."
Reome finished with 21 points, while Heny had 19 and six assists. Fackrell with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Huffman chipped in with 14.
The win improved Northern to 8-5 in conference and 22-9 overall.
Unfortunately, the MSU-Northern men couldn't also salvage a split like the Skylights.
The Lights battled valiantly against the 12th-ranked Griffins, but fell 73-63.
Northern overcame an 11-point halftime deficit in the second half to cut the lead to five with about two minutes remaining.
However, Griffin senior Shane Humphrey's sank a long 3-pointer to push the lead back to eight. Northern missed its shot on its ensuing possession and Westminster's Matt Mark knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead to 11 and put the game out of reach.
"Humphrey's 3-pointer was about from 25 feet with the shot clock running out," said Lights head coach Shawn Huse. "Then we miss an open shot and they hit another three, and just like that, it's back to 11 in a matter of minutes."
Freshman Cory Brothers came off the bench to score 14 points, including three 3-pointers to lead the Lights, while Jordan Matthews added 11. Northern was playing without reserve freshman Cody Gillespie, who injured his knee in Thursday's loss to Lewis-Clark State.
"Cory played a good game for us," Huse said. "He's been playing well lately. I think he kind of hit the wall earlier this year. It's tough for freshmen because the season is much longer than they are used to."
Although the Lights dropped their sixth straight game in conference, Huse saw some positives.
"We're still playing extremely hard and our defense kept us in the game," Huse said. "We had some chances in the game, we had some open looks and just didn't make the shots."
Both Northern teams will be in Great falls on Saturday to take on the University of Great Falls Argos in the final regular season games of the season.
MSU-NORTHERN 71, WESTMINSTER 67
MSU-NORTHERN (22-9, 8-5)
Michele VanDyke 3-7 1-2 7; Megan Valgardson 3-8 1-3 7; Jessi Reome 6-12 3-4 21; Jaci Heny 5-12 5-5 19; Kristie Pullin 1-2 0-0 2; Camille Gardner 1-70-0 3; DeLayne Johnston 6-10 0-0 12; Jena Heggem 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-5910-14 71.
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE (3-23 0-12)
Emily Johnson 0-6 0-0 0; Lindsey Huffman 6-9 0-0 14; Shalee Fackrell6-14 10-10 22; Angie Layton 3-10 3-3 9; Jennifer Barney 5-9 2-2 12; AshleyBaldwin 1-2 1-1 3; Alicia Haberle 3-5 0-0 7; Tiff Dodge 0-2 0-0 0. Totals:24-57 16-16 67.
Halftime score: MSU-N 33, WC 22. 3-point goals: MSU-N 11-26 (Reome 6-11,Heny 4-7, Gardner 1-6, Heggem 0-1), WC 3-23 (Johnson 0-6, Huffman 2-5,Layton 0-5, Barney 0-2, Baldwin 0-1, Haberle 1-3, Dodge 0-1). Rebounds:MSU-N 29 (Johnston 7, VanDyke 6); WC 40 (Fackrell 12) Assists: MSU-N 17 (Heny 6, Gardner 5); WC 19 (Johnson 6, Huffman 5). Turnovers: MSU-N 13, WC 20. Total fouls: MSU-N 15, WC 17. Fouled out: Barney; Technicals: none.
WESTMINSTER 73, MSU-NORTHERN 63
MSU-NORTHERN (12-15, 3-10)
Reid Stovall 3-5 0-0 7; Marcus Wilson 3-9 0-0 6; Jordan Matthews 4-11 2-2 11; Landen Grant 1-3 0-0 3; Leo Bullchild 1-5 0-0 3; Rodrick Carter 2-4 0-0 6; Cory Brothers 5-9 1-1 14; Antonio Jordan 2-4 0-0 5; Tim Hutchins 3-7 2-2 9. Totals: 24-57 5-5 63.
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE (20-8, 10-2)
Nick Booth 3-5 1-2 7; Matt Mark 3-5 0-0 9; Steve Cramer 3-5 1-1 9; Jared Ruiz 6-8 4-7 16; Shane Humphreys 6-13 3-3 19; Robby Holcombe 1-2 0-0 2; Danny Reeder 3-4 2-5 8; Ryan Olson 0-2 0-0 0; Nick Buroker 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 26-47 11-18 73.
Halftime score: WC 37, MSU-N 26. 3-point goals: MSU-N 10-22 (Stovall 1-2, Matthews 1-4, Grant 0-1, Bullchild 1-4, Carter 2-3, Brothers 3-5, Jordan 1-2, Hutchins 1-1), WC 10-25 (Mark 3-5, Cramer 2-4, Ruiz 0-2, Humphreys 4-10, Olson 0-1, Buroker 1-3). Rebounds: MSU-N 26 (Wilson 7); WC (Booth 7) Assists: MSU-N 14 (Wilson 4, Jordan 4); WC 15 (Booth 3, Ruiz 3). Turnovers: WC 9, MSU-N 9. Total fouls: MSU-N 15, WC 9. Fouled out: none;Technicals: none.
