DILLON The Montana State University-Northern women's
basketball team is ranked fourth in the nation in free-throw
shooting this season, and that strength was crucial in the
Skylights' good fortunes last night.
No. 14 Northern made 17 of 22 attempts from the line,
including an 11-for-14 effort in the second half, to hang on
for an 81-69 win over 12th-ranked Western Montana in a
Frontier Conference game.
The result was very important for both teams as the regular
season winds down to a close. Northern (7-4, 20-6) moved
into third place in the Frontier, while the Bulldogs (7-5,
18-7) slipped from second to fourth.
The rest of Northern's schedule this season seems
favorable. The Skylights will visit Montana Tech in Butte on
Saturday, but will then close out their regular season with
two home games next week against Carroll and Rocky Mountain.
Abby Hjorth led Northern with 20 points, six assists and
five steals, guard Anna Fabatz added 14 points, and Lana
Quintyne chipped in with 13 points, seven rebounds and six
steals.
Northern did a remarkable job holding Western Montana's
tandem of Bobbi Suhr and Misty Covington in check. Those two
players were ranked second and third, respectively, in the
Frontier in scoring.
Covington had 15 points to pace the Bulldogs, and Suhr
added just 14 five points off her season average.
Suhr was 6-for-8 and Covington 6-for-10 from the floor to
lead Western Montana's shooting efforts. But their teammates
were unable to find their shooting touch, finishing
13-for-41 (31.7 percent).
Havre native Julie Sherrill scored 10 points for Western
Montana.
The Skylights made 15 of 29 attempts from the field in the
first half and finished the game 29-for-60 (48.3 percent).
Northern was 6-for-20 from three-point range. Western
Montana was 6-for-19.
MSU-NORTHERN 81, W.MONTANA 69
MSU-NORTHERN (81) Fabatz 4-6 4-5 14, Quintyne 6-13 1-2
13, Hjorth 8-12 3-3 20, Munson 1-3 0-0 4, Shoemake 1-2 3-4
5, Balgua 1-3 0-0 3, Knox 0-2 1-2 0, Young 1-2 0-0 3,
Rasnick 2-3 0-0 5, Burgmaier 3-6 1-2 7, Owens 2-8 4-4 8.
Totals 29-60 17-22 81.
WESTERN MONTANA (69) Jones 6-9 0-1 14, Tait 0-6 2-4 2,
Burlingame 3-7 0-0 7, B. Suhr 6-8 1-1 14, Covington 6-10 3-6
15, Sherrill 2-11 4-4 10, J Suhr 0-4 0-2 0, Williams 2-3 3-4
7, Vosen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 13-22 69.
MSU-Northern
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