MSU-Northern women earn hard-fought split

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor [email protected]

The Montana State University- Northern women's basketball team is in a tough stretch of nonconference games right now. And throw in the fact that MSU-N was without its point guard, senior Becky Sorenson, and this weekend's games at Dickinson State University got even tougher. B u t d e s p i t e N o r t h e r n ' s shortcomings, the Skylights did manage a split in Dickinson this weekend, falling to Minnesota- Crookston on Saturday night, and beating Dickinson State University on Sunday afternoon. MSU-N's weekend began on Saturday with a gutwrenching 78-73 loss to Minnesota-Crookston. In that game, the Skylights, who were without Sorenson, played admirably against a hot-shooting Golden Eagles team that drilled 10 3-pointers on MSU-N. The Skylights did hold a 33-32 edge at halftime, but the Golden Eagles shot the ball too well in the second half, and Northern's 21 turnovers were just too many miscues to overcome in the fivepoint loss. Kaylee Shaw did her best to pace the Skylights, scoring 20 points on 7-of- 16 shooting. The Skylights also got a solid 12 points from freshman Samm Schermele who started in place of the injured Sorenson. Leading scorer Dana Ball added 15 points while senior Amanda Quartuccio came off the bench to score 10 points. The Eagles had four players in double f igures, led by Kel sey VanAckernen's game-high 23 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the 3-point-line. And although the loss to Crookston was disappointing, Northern showed some grit on Sunday afternoon, beating DSU 66-57. The story for the Skylights was junior Stacie Barker, who scored a season-high 27 points on an amazing 12-of-14 from the floor. Barker also had her fifth double-double of the season by grabbing 13 rebounds, all while forcing 5 blocked shots on defense. While Barker's game was huge for MSU-N, she also got some help on Sunday. In her second start of the weekend, Schermele was again outstanding, scoring 12 points, including three trey's. Shaw also had another strong game for MSU-N, scoring 10 points, eight coming by way of the free-throw-line. The win over DSU moved MSU-N's overall record to 6-3 on the season. The Skylights will now host Olivet College and DSU in the AmericInn Class on Friday and Saturday at the MSUNorthern Fieldhouse.