Skylights score a pair of sloppy wins over Grant MacEwen College

Montana State University-Northern women's basketball coach Mike Erickson knew it wasn't going to be pretty. First games of the season never are, but even he wasn't prepared for what transpired this weekend.

The Skylights fought through a mountain of turnovers, some first-game nerves and a few rough spots to pick up a pair of wins over the Grant MacEwen College Warriors.

In two games, Northern and Grant MacEwen combined for a whopping 143 turnovers, which rivaled the number of points scored on the weekend.

"It was a fiasco at times," Erickson said. "You kind of expect a few turnovers, but this was beyond that. Our inexperience showed. We came out trying to put everything into one game. The ladies were just trying too hard. They made good decisions on passes, but the timing was off."

With a host of new players, Erickson knew it would be a feeling-out process on offense, but the Skylights rarely got into their offense.

Northern pushed the tempo to a track meet pace and converted several easy opportunities, jumping to an early lead.

While the offense was anything but consistent, Northern's defense was. The Skylights channeled some of that first-game energy on the defensive side, forcing Grant MacEwen into a horrible shooting night.

The Warriors shot an icy 26 percent from the field, including 22 percent in the first half, while committing 40 turnovers.

"Defensively, I was very happy with the way we played," Erickson said. "We never relaxed at all, even when we were up by 20."

Despite committing 34 turnovers of their own, the Skylights steadily pulled away to pick up a 79-39 win.

Megan Valgardson led Northern with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. The Skylights got solid bench production from sophomore Kristal Lohse and freshman Sheena Darlington. Lohse scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds while Darlington had an impressive debut with 10 points and six rebounds.

"With the up-tempo style we were playing, there are going to be turnovers. Hopefully we can create more turnovers for them," Erickson said. "But we also need to learn when we don't have the fast break and slow it down and set up our half-court offense."

The number of turnovers bothered Erickson enough that he commanded his team to slow the tempo of play in Saturday's rematch with Grant MacEwen.

"I told them not to fast break on Saturday," Erickson said. "I wanted them to get into half-court offense and work on it."

Erickson thought that the half-court style would eliminate some of the turnovers, and it did to a point. The Skylights committed one less turnover - 33 than the night before.

Northern even found itself trailing early in the first half. However, freshman guard Jessi Reome got hot from the outside to get the Skylights going offensively.

Reome sank seven of nine shots, including three 3-pointers for a game-high 20 points.

"Jessi got us going," Erickson said. "She played well. In fact I thought all of our freshman played well."

Northern also got 14 points and eight rebounds from Megan Valgardson and 12 points apiece from Michele VanDyke and Khadiga Mohamed.

Besides his team's defense, Erickson was pleased with its rebounding. The Skylights outrebounded Grant MacEwen 48-38 and 35-26 in the respective games.

"Rebounding is going to be our identity this year," Erickson said. "We really got after it on both the offensive and defensive boards."

Despite the ugly play, Erickson was still happy to get a pair of wins, especially since last year it took 10 games for the Skylights to get their first win.

"Winning is still what you shoot for," Erickson said. "And we'll take these wins."

Northern has a week off before heading to North Dakota for the Minot State University tournament.

"I am looking forward to this week to work on some things and get ready for our first road trip," Erickson said.

GRANT MACEWEN COLLEGE (39)

Jill Talbot 5-15 3-6 13; Megan Campbell 2-7 1-3 5; Jessy West 1-4 1-3 5; Emma Rowbotham 1-4 0-0 2; Ashlee Pigford 0-8 1-2 1; Rebecca Hansen 1-2 0-0 2; Jolene Stang 2-8 0-2 5; Janet Hatfield 4-8 1-2 9. Totals: 16-61 6-18 39.

MSU-NORTHERN SKYLIGHTS (79)

Kristie Pullin 3-5 0-0 7; Khadiga Mohamed 2-5 3-3 7; Brettney Vermandel 2-4 0-0 4; Michele VanDyke 0-1 0-0 0; Megan Valgardson 8-14 3-7 19; Laura Keaster 1-1 0-0 2; Jessi Reome 3-10 2-2 8; Kristal Lohse 3-7 5-6 11; Chasi Buffington 2-8 2-2 7; Jenna Heggem 1-4 1-2 4; Sheena Darlington 4-5 2-3 10. Totals: 29-64 18-25 79.

Halftime: MSUN 39, GMC 15. Three point goals: GMC 1-9 (Talbot 0-4, Stang 1-2), MSUN 3-13 (Pullin 1-3, Reome 0-3, Buffington 1-5, Heggem 1-2). Rebounds: GMC 38 (Stang 5, Hatfield 5); MSUN 48 (Mohamed 9, Valgardson 8) Assists: GMC 8 (Pigford 3); MSUN 21 (Heggem 5). Total fouls: GMC 24, MSUN 19. Fouled out - VanDyke; Technicals - none.

GRANT MACEWEN COLLEGE (49)

Rebecca Hansen 4-9 0-0 8; Jill Talbot 1-4 5-8 7; Jessy West 1-3 0-2 2; Janet Hatfield 2-4 2-2 6; Brittany Hardman 2-9 4-7 8; Megan Campbell 4-8 2-2 10; Sacha Kirkland 3-6 0-0 6; Ashlee Pigford 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 18-51 13-21 49.

MSU-NORTHERN SKYLIGHTS (84)

Kristie Pullin 0-1 0-0 0; Khadiga Mohamed 6-12 0-0 12; Brettney Vermandel 1-2 2-2 4; Michele VanDyke 2-6 8-12 12; Megan Valgardson 5-8 4-4 14; Jessi Reome 7-9 3-3 20; Kristal Lohse 3-5 1-2 7; Chasi Buffington 2-6 0-0 4; Jena Heggem 1-1 1-2 3; Sheena Darlington 3-4 2-4 8. Totals: 30-54 21-29 84.

Halftime: MSUN 42, GMC 26. Three point goals: GMC 0-6 (Talbot 0-2, West 0-1, Stang 0-1, Hardman 0-1, Pigford 0-1), MSUN 3-9 (Pullin 0-1, Mohamed 0-1, Reome 3-4, Buffington). Rebounds: GMC 26 (Hatfield 7); MSUN 35 (Brettney Vermandel 5, Kristal Lohse 5, Jena Heggem 5) Assists: GMC 11 (Talbot 5); MSUN 19 (Pullin 6, Valgardson 5). Total fouls: GMC 26, MSUN 22. Fouled out - Hardman; Technicals - GMC coach 2, Hardman.