Larry Kline
Havre Daily News
lkline@havredailynews.com
Four members of the Montana State University-Northern Skylights women's basketball team were hospitalized after the team's van overturned on Interstate 90 east of the Montana-Idaho border early today, MSU-N officials said.
Montana Highway Patrol Capt. Tom Hamilton said two people in the van were ejected in the crash shortly after 1 a.m. on a curve along Interstate 90.
The driver apparently lost control on an icy stretch of interstate and the van flipped onto its side, school officials said.
The 10 occupants of the vehicle were taken to Mineral Community Hospital in Superior and four were then transferred to a Missoula hospital, said Alex Capdeville, MSU-Northern chancellor. One of the four was later moved to a hospital in Seattle, Capdeville said.
He said the woman who was taken to Seattle suffered a “traumatic” but “non-life-threatening” injury.
“Our concern here is the well-being of these students, and that their medical needs are being attended to,” Capdeville said. “That's the most important thing.”
All of the van's occupants who were not transferred to another hospital were released from Mineral Community Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Holly Blaylock said today.
Capdeville would not identify the players who were injured.
The team was returning from a weekend road trip in Portland, Ore., when the team's van, driven by head coach Chris Mouat, rolled, Northern athletic director David Gantt said. Mouat suffered a hand injury that required stitches, Gantt said.
Gantt said the crash occurred between the state line and St. Regis near Lookout Pass.
The Montana Highway Patrol said the 15-passenger van was carrying 10 people when it rolled at the 12.6 mile marker on I-90 west about 1:11 a.m. today.
Hamilton said the crash remains under investigation. Much of western Montana was under a winter storm warning today as an Alberta Clipper moved across the state, bringing rain, snow and strong winds.
The team was returning after an exhibition game Sunday against Oregon's Portland State.
The team's first road trip of the season began with a game Thursday against Cascade College. The Skylights then had a day off before taking on Warner Pacific College on Saturday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
