Signature Win: Skylights take down nationally-ranked Saints

The Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team plays a lot of really good teams during its non-conference schedule every year. The Skylights just don't get to play many of them at home.

And that's why Saturday night's NAIA showdown with Our Lady of the Lake, a perennial power from Texas, was so big. But, what made the game even more special was, the Skylights pulled off an incredible win in what was the biggest non-conference game to hit the Armory Gymnasium in a long, long time.

With a furious second-half rally, the No. 22 Skylights beat the No. 17 Saints 73-64 Saturday, improving to 9-4 overall heading into the remainder of Frontier Conference play.

"This was a special opportunity for our kids, and they embraced it," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "We really appreciate Our Lady of the Lake for coming up here and playing us. We don't get these types of games in our gym very often, so we're just really appreciative to Coach Minner and his team for being up here. It was a fun game. They (Saints) are a really, really good basketball team. And that's one of the many reasons I'm just so proud of our kids for what they did tonight."

The win also showed just how far the Skylights have come. Northern's rigorous schedule included playing two nationally-ranked squads in Jackson, Tennessee back in November, and in both games, the Skylights came up short. But on Saturday night, they weren't going to be denied the opportunity to knock off one of the NAIA's best.

"They (Saints) are a really athletic and talented team, and they're very well coached," Northern senior Jacy Thompson said. "So being able to win this game, it shows that we're getting better, that we're playing together, that we can put a really good game together for all four quarters against a really good team, and that we can finish it. So, it's big, especially knowing how many more really good teams we're going to be playing in the Frontier (Conference) from here on out."

There's no question how good the Saints, who beat the University of Providence on Friday night, are. They quickly seized control of the game via some hot shooting and pressure defense, which forced the Skylights into five early turnovers, and ultimately led to a 13-4 OLLU lead midway through the first period.

Thanks to some heady inside play by Jessica Curl, Northern closed the gap to 17-13 at the end of the first, but the Saints came right back with two 3-pointers from Julia Rendon to lead 29-19 in the second. Northern would march right back again, with a 9-0 run that included buckets from Kealani Sagapolu, Thompson and Brandy Lambourne, and when the first half came to a close, the Skylights trailed just 35-30, against a Saints' team averaging close to 90 points a game, which is tops in the NAIA.

"Their pressure defense is so tough," Mouat said. "And they really got to us early. But I just thought, if we can withstand some of that, if we can handle a few of the turnovers and not let it get away from us, we would be OK. And I thought our kids did that in the first half. They did turn us over, they forced us into some mistakes, but we hung in there."

The Skylights kept having to hang in too. Rendon hit another triple with 5:18 left in the third quarter, and the Saints were back up by nine points just like that. But, the Skylights ripped off an 11-2 run, including a key triple from Peyton Filius, and though Rendon hit a three at the buzzer, Northern tailed just 54-52 with 10 minutes left.

From there, things got even better for the Skylights. Shiloh McCormick, playing in her first game in more than a month, twice got offensive rebounds to tie the game, and Sagapolu did the same with 5:19 to play. Then, Lambourne hit a jumper to knot the game up at 64-64, and from that point on, the Skylights would rip off 11 straight points, and the Saints wouldn't find the bottom of the net again. McCormick had another key bucket during the run, while Thompson made a huge steal, hit four free throws, and Lambourne scored a running shot in the lane with 1:37 to go to put the Skylights ahead by six, and essentially, ice the game.

"Everybody made big plays for us tonight," Mouat said. "Peyton Filius was sick all week, and she goes out there and gives us everything she's got. It was an incredible effort by her. Jacy was so strong on both ends all night, Shiloh had a great game and is such a difference maker, and our posts, Kealani and Jessica, I thought they were huge with their rebounding and the way they finished around the rim. And then Brandy, she showed tonight why she's our point guard. She led us all the way. No matter what went wrong, or what was happening in the game, she led us. I'm just so proud of our entire team."

Mouat indeed had plenty to be proud of. The Skylights had an incredible second half offensively, and defensively, they held the Saints to 24 points below their season average, limiting star guard Quintianna LeShore to just 9-of-22 shooting. For the game, the Skylights held the Saints to 33 percent from the field, while they shot 55 percent themselves. They also won big on the boards, out-rebounding the extremely athletic Saints 43-26.

McCormick's return was big as she finished with a double-double, 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Sagaplou did the same, scoring 15 and grabbing 10 boards. Curl added 14 points and Lambourne finished with 10 points, while Thompson added nine. Thompson and Lambourne also went the distance playing all 40 minutes, while Filius played 37.

"They gave us everything they had tonight," Mouat said. "They showed a lot of grit, every single one our kids just gave their souls in this game tonight. So they deserve to be proud of this, I know I'm very proud of them.

"This is a big win for our program, because Our Lady of the Lake is a very, very good basketball team," he added. "They are so tough with their speed and athleticism, and the way they get after you defensively. So it was really good for us to play against a totally different style than we see in the Frontier, and again, it was a fun game, and I'm just so grateful to Coach Minner for coming up here to play us. It was a great night, and I'm just really proud of our kids. We've been through a lot, with injuries and sickness, and tough road games, so give our kids credit, they played a great game tonight."

The Skylights got yet another signature win under Mouat. Mostly, those wins have come away from Havre, either in road games, or in the national tournament. But, on Saturday night, they got one on their home floor, and it took toughness and heart to get it done against a true powerhouse in Our Lady of the Lake.

"I think toughness and composure, those were the keys to this win," Thompson said. "We just kept fighting, kept playing hard, and kept chipping away at it. Our posts played so huge tonight, and it just all came together for us down the stretch. It was a really fun game."

The Skylights won't get a break however, as they return to Frontier Conference play tonight when they take on Providence (1-1, 11-2) at 6 inside the Armory Gymnasium. The Argos come to Havre off a loss to the Saints, but have had a strong leadup to conference play. They're led by star guard Steph McDonagh, who leads the Frontier in scoring at 19 ppg, and they have a deep and talented roster. Tonight's game is the first of two league games for the Skylights this week. They'll head to Butte on Thursday to play Montana Tech as well.

Skylights 73, Our Lady of the Lake 64

Our Lady of the Lake 17 18 19 10 – 64

MSU-Northern 13 17 22 21 – 73

OLLU - Julia Rendon 5-15 3-3 17, Francesca Patrick 2-3 3-3 7, Nakia Page 1-6 0-0 3, Rachel Baity 1-2 0-0 2, Kasey Saldana 0-2 0-0 0, Quintianna LeShore 9-22 3-5 21, Destinee King 3-6 0-0 6, Lena Wilson 2-11 0-0 6, Regina Sheffield 1-2 0-0 2, Brianna Henson 0-2 0-0 0, Alexis Oaks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-71 9-11 64.

MSU-N - Jacy Thompson 1-5 7-10 9, Brandy Lambourne 3-6 3-4 10, Jessica Curl 6-7 2-2 14, Peyton Filius 2-8 0-0 5, Shiloh McCormick 8-15 2-2 18, Lily Hilderbrand 1-1 0-0 2, Kealani Sagapolu 7-9 1-4 15. Totals 28-51 15-22 73.

3-pt FG: Our Lady of the Lake Univ 7-24 (Rendon 4-11, Page 1-4, Saldana 0-1, LeShore 0-1, Wilson 2-7), Montana State University- 2-8 (Lambourne 1-1, Filius 1-4, McCormick 0-3). Rebounds: Our Lady of the Lake Univ 26 (Baity 6, King 6), Montana State University- 43 (McCormick 10, Sagapolu 10). Fouls Our Lady of the Lake Univ 22, Montana State University- 8. Fouled out: none.