George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
It may only have been an exhibition game for the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team, but the Skylights proved that, for the most part, they are capable of hanging with the big guns. On Wednesday night in Billings, MSU-N fell to NCAA Division II Montana State University- Billings, 80-67. And even though the final score showed a 13-point margin of victory for the Lady Yellowjackets, it wasn’t indicative of how well MSU-N played. Northern withstood an early charge by the Lady Jackets, and only trailed 38-36 at halftime. The Skylights played outstanding defense on MSU-B All-American Michelle Lieber and did well to only trail by two points at the half. But, with Lieber held in check, the Lady Jackets heated up from the 3-point line in the second half, especially former Lewistown standout Alira Carpenter. The sophomore hit five threes en route to a game-high 28 points, and Jetton Meadors added four trey's and 16 points and MSU-B outscored the Skylights 43-21 in the final 20 minutes of the game. The 3-point-line was certainly the difference in the game, as MSU-B hit 11 long-range shots, seven of which came in the second half. Offensively, the Skylight splayed well for most of Wednesday night’s affair, but MSU-N did turn the ball over 19 times. Michele VanDyke paced the Skylights with 14 points and eight rebounds. DeLayne Johnston and Ashley Trulock also had their way in the paint. Johnston scored 11 points, grabbed seven boards and had five blocked shots. Trulock came off the bench to score 14 points. Chelsie Searle was hot from the outside. The senior hot on 6-of-7 shots for 13 points. The loss doesn’t changes mSU-N’s overall record. The No. 24 Skylights are 8-3. MSU-N will now head to a tournament in Lewiston, Idaho. The Skylights will face British Colombia’s Simon-Fraser University Friday night and George Fox University Saturday afternoon.
