MSU-N's Edwards honored

The Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team couldn’t have built any more momentum heading into the 2015 Frontier Conference Tournament. And senior night couldn’t have gone any better for A’Jha Edwards.

After scoring 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a win over UGF last Saturday night in Havre, Edwards was named Frontier Conference Player of the Week for the sixth time this season. Edwards, who averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds per game, recorded her remarkable 21st double-double of the season, as the Skylights finished the regular season at 26-4 overall and 11-3 in the Frontier.

Northern will be the No. 2 seed in the Frontier playoffs, which start tonight. The Westminster Griffins won their sixth straight regular season Frontier title by going 13-1 in league play and they are the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Both Westminster and Northern have byes into Friday night’s semifinals.

The Griffins will play the lowest remaining seed and the Skylights the highest remaining seed of the teams that emerge from tonight’s first-round games. In Helena, third-seeded Carroll College hosts sixth-seeded Montana Tech tonight, while in Great Falls, the fourth-seeded Argos welcome in fifth-seeded Lewis-Clark State. UGF is hosting its first women’s postseason game in 30 years.

The Frontier women’s semifinals will be played Friday night in Havre and in Salt Lake City. From there, the highest remaining seed will host the Frontier championship game Monday night. The winner of that game will earn the Frontier’s automatic berth to the NAIA national tournament March 18-24 in Kansas City.

The men’s Frontier tourney will get started Wednesday night, and it includes the MSU-Northern Lights, who beat UGF in overtime Saturday night to get in. Despite winning seven of their last nine games, the Lights needed to beat UGF, or Montana Tech would have earned a playoff berth instead.

Now, however, the Lights have a chance to go after their fifth straight NAIA tournament berth, and that quest starts with a first-round game at Carroll College Wednesday night. Northern is seeded fifth, while Carroll is seeded fourth. Also Wednesday, third-seeded Rocky Mountain College will host sixth-seeded UGF, which still made the Frontier field, despite losing its last six games.

Via a tiebreaker, Lewis-Clark State earned the Frontier regular season title over the UM-Western Bulldogs. The Warriors are the top seed in the Frontier tourney and will host the lowest remaining seed in a semifinal game Saturday night. The second-seeded Bulldogs will also host a semifinal game Saturday night against the highest remaining seed in the tourney.

The 2015 Frontier championship game will be played next Tuesday at the home of the highest remaining seed in the tourney, and the winner will earn the league’s automatic berth to the NAIA Men’s national tournament March 18-24 in Kansas City.

Frontier Conference Men's Tournament

Seedings

#1 – Lewis-Clark State (9-5, 21-7)

#2 – Montana Western (9-5, 21-8)

#3 – Rocky Mountain (8-6, 19-9)

#4 – Carroll College (7-7, 19-10)

#5 – MSU-Northern (7-7, 18-12)

#6 – University of Great Falls (6-8, 17-11)

First Round – Wednesday

No. 6 University of Great Falls at No. 3 Rocky Mountain

No. 5 MSU-Northern at No. 4 Carroll College

Second Round – Saturday

Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Lewis-Clark State

Highest remaining seed at No. 2 Montana Western

Championship – Tuesday, March 10

Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed

Frontier Conference Women's Tournament

Seedings

#1 – Westminster College (13-1, 23-2)

#2 – MSU-Northern (11-3, 26-4)

#3 – Carroll College (9-5, 18-9)

#4 – University of Great Falls (8-6, 21-8)

#5 – Lewis-Clark State (7-7, 21-9)

#6 – Montana Tech (3-11, 11-18)

First Round – Tuesday

No. 6 Montana Tech at No. 3 Carroll College

No. 5 Lewis-Clark State at No. 4 University of Great Falls, 7 p.m.

Second Round – Friday

Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Westminster College

Highest remaining seed at No. 2 MSU-Northern

Championship – Monday, March 9

Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed.