Lights, Skylights travel to Frontier powers

For the Montana State University- Northern men's and women's basketball teams, October began a season of two teams searching for a new identity. Now, the Lights and Skylights start a new journey as Frontier Conference play begins tonight in Salt Lake City. The MSU-N women kick off the Frontier schedule tonight at 5:30 against the No. 20 Westminster College Griffins. Westminster (11-4) is the defending Frontier regular season champion having gone a perfect 14-0 in league play a year ago. Included in that run was two wins over Northern (9-7). But the Grif- fins lost plenty to graduation and return just one starter, guard Keisha Catten. The Skylights started the year in similar fashion, returning just two starters from a year ago in Samm Schermele, the Frontier's leading scorer at 18 points per game heading into league play this season, as well as fellow junior point guard Taylor Keller. "It is similar in that a lot of faces have changed for them this season," MSU-N women's coach Chris Mouat said. "But they are still the same team. They are so well coached and they have a lot of talent on this team. It's new talent, they are young, but they are executing what they do and it seems like they haven't missed a beat." And what Westminster does and will want to do against the Skylights tonight is score. The Griffins scored over 100 points 14 times last season, and they love to move the ball in the half court until they find the open 3-point shooter, and they also love to get going in transition. "You can't stop them from scoring," Mouat said. "But you have to play really sound defense and limit what they do in transition. And you have to do your best to contest their looks from the three, and then you have to find ways to score yourself. If we do those things, then we'll be competitive against them. If we don't execute those things, as we've seen before, nights in Salt Lake City can get really long." And if the first half of the road trip isn't difficult enough, the Skylights move on to Lewiston, Idaho on Saturday for a matchup with defending Frontier champion and No. 11 Lewis-Clark State (14-2). The Warriors were a national tournament team a year ago, and despite key losses to graduation, they haven't missed a beat so far this season. With the likes of 6-2 Alyssa Fierro and 6-2 Kirsi Voshell returning in the paint to go along with guards Nikki DePeel and Jasmine Stohr, LC State appears loaded and ready for a run at another Frontier title. And with their size as big as ever MSU-N's Zivile Gaizutyte, who is averaging close to a double-double will play a key role against the Warriors. LC and MSU-N split a year ago, each winning on its own home floor. "LC State is very, very good again this year," Mouat said. "They are big and experienced inside, but their guards are really what makes them go. They really do have it all, and again, our defense will be key against them. If we play well defensively, well have a chance." Also tonight in Salt Lake, the MSUN men begin a new conference season against No. 12 Westminster (10-4). Tonight's matchup between the Lights (12-4) and Griffins is a game between two national tournament teams form a year ago, both of which lost plenty of talent to graduation. Despite that fact, both teams are red hot coming into tonight's game. Northern won its last eight nonconference games and Westminster has won nine of its last 10 outings heading into league play. "Westminster is playing very good basketball," MSU-N's Shawn Huse said. "They are still a very patient team on offense and with their mixing defenses, can force you out of your comfort zone if allowed. We need to concentrate, defend, then rebound well, while being very selective on offense." The Griffins graduated five seniors and four starters from a year ago, including NAIA Player of the Year Geoff Payne. Northern and Westminster split in the regular season last season, each winning on its own home floor. Tonight's game features a Westminster team led by 6-4 Blaire Prowse and 6-7 transfer Ben Walker, as well as point guard Michael Stockton. The Lights are led by Andrew Sellars and Justin Dennis, who combine to score almost 30 points per game. Point guard Eric Tisby is second in assists and first in steals in the Frontier heading into league play, and forwards Clay Greenland and Walynn Burgess each average six rebounds per game for the Lights. On Saturday, Northern will be back in action at LC State. The Warriors (9- 5) are much improved this season after winning just four games in league play a year ago. The Lights beat LC State three times last season, including winning in Lewiston for the first time since LC joined the Frontier. "LC State has unbelievable size and a great deal of athleticism," Huse said. "Their bigs can step away well from the basket as well, and they possess a good combination of shooters with pure scorers in the backcourt. We will need to deal with their size and strength if we are going to have a good chance in their gym." Tonight's women's game between MSU-N and Westminster tips off at 5:30 in Salt Lake. The men's game is set to begin at 7:30. Saturday's women's game between Northern and LC State is slated to begin at 6 p.m. and the men will play 8 p.m. All four games can be heard locally on 92.5 KPQX FM.