Skylights slow the Pronghorns

One afternoon matinee was all that stood between the Montana State University-Northern Skylights, and the beginning of a rigorous Frontier Conference schedule.

So, the No. 3 Skylights needed to make sure they took care of business against the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns Sunday afternoon inside the Armory Gymnasium. And they did just that. Thanks to a stifling defensive effort, and a hot-shooting third quarter, Northern wrapped up non-conference play with a 67-39 win.

"It's always good to get a win," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "That being said, I thought we shot the ball pretty poorly. We missed some good looks at 3-pointers we have been making. After a long trip (to Phoenix), I wasn't shocked by that, but we certainly need to do a better job offensively going forward."

Jacy Thompson opened Sunday's game with a 3-pointer, but, the Skylights did only shoot 29 percent from the field in the first half. However, Northern's defense was its usual stingy self, and the Skylights held Lethbridge to just seven first-quarter points.

The Pronghorns did hit a couple of 3-pointers in the second stanza to close the gap, but, late buckets by Sierra Richards and Rachelle Bennett gave MSU-N a 29-20 halftime edge.

And while Northern may have been a little shaky in the first 20 minutes, the Skylights were anything but in the second half.

MSU-N opened the third quarter on an 11-2 run, capped by another three from Thompson. She would also go on to make a runner in the lane late in the period to give the Skylights a 52-32 lead with 10 minutes left.

From there, Northern continued to smother the Pronghorns on the defensive end, as well as on the boards in a runaway. MSU-N out-rebounded Lethbridge 51-31 and held the Horns to just 19 points and 26 percent shooting in the second half.

"The second half, we did a better job," Mouat said. "I thought we attacked their zone really well, we shot much better and we really put the clamps on them defensively. And that's what you want, you want to finish games strong, and I thought we did that today."

Thompson paced Northern with 16 points and four triples, while Bennett tallied 12 points and Natalee Faupel grabbed a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Richards also chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds, as the Skylights improved to 12-1 overall.

And with the win over the Pronghorns in the books, and non-conference play officially over, the Skylights can now turn all their attention to chasing a Frontier championship. And it starts with two huge home games this week. MSU-N plays nationally-ranked rivals UGF on Thursday night and Carroll College on Saturday.

"I like how we finished the game today," Mouat said. "That's what we need to do going into conference play. Our league is going to be really tough, it's going to be a gauntlet."

Skylights 67, Lethbridge 39

Lethbridge 7 13 12 9 – 39

Northern 16 13 23 15 – 67

LU – K. Keith 1-6 2-4 4, D. Fritzke 2-8 0-0 6, M. Miller 1-4 2-3 4, E. Buie 2-5 4-5 8, K. Lee 2-5 0-0 6, E. James 1-2 0-0 2, M. Bruno 3-8 0-0 9. Totals: 12-46 8-12 37.

MSU-N – Sierra Richards 2-8 3-6 7, Jacy Thompson 6-15 0-0 16, Natalee Faupel 2-9 7-8 11, Rachelle Bennett 3-11 5-5 12, Molly Kreycik 1-4 0-0 2, Kate Fetterer 0-1 0-0 0, Brandy Lambourne 1-7 1-2 4, Peyton Filius 1-5 1-2 4, Jessica Anderson 3-5 1-1 7, Cydney Auzenne 2-4 0-2 4. Totals: 21-69 18-26 67.

3-pointers: LU 7-20 (Fritzke 2, Lee 2, Bruno 3), MSU-N 7-31 (Thompson 4, Bennett 1, Lambourne 1, Filius 1); Rebounds: LU 31 (Fritzke 9), MSU-N 51 (Faupel 13); Fouls: LU 21, MSU-N 10; Fouled out: None; Technical Fouls: Lethbridge Coach.