Warriors, Dawgs pull away from Skylights

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights did everything they could to break their six-game losing streak Friday night in the Armory Gymnasium. Northern played great defense, they battled one of the most talented and tenacious rebounding teams in the country, and they made a plethora of clutch 3-pointers.

It still wasn't enough.

Friday night in Havre, the Skylights succumbed to a late 3-pointer by Lewis-Clark State's Delaney Henerey, and the No. 23 Warriors walked out of the Armory with a 55-50 victory.

"Our kids played extremely hard tonight," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "So proud of the effort, and for the way we played for much of the game. Ultimately, the final two to three minutes was the game. Credit LC, they hit some huge shots, and in that last few minutes, we stopped answering. And we made some mistakes that really hurt ourselves.

"I couldn't be more proud of the way our kids continue to fight and battle," he added. "We just have to do a better job of finishing games because we're right there."

The Skylights did indeed battle. They had to overcome a tough 28 percent shooting night, but only losing the rebounding edge 42-40, holding the Warriors to just 36 percent shooting and forcing 11 first-half turnovers was certainly a recipe for success.

While LC started quick, threes from Shiloh McCormick and Peyton Filius helped MSU-N grab an early lead, and ultimately trail just 11-10 after the first quarter. Northern would also snap an 8-0 LCSC run with McCormick, Filius and Brandy Lambourne each making a triple in a two-minute stretch. Four more points by McCormick staked the Skylights to a 25-23 halftime lead.

"I thought we were very good defensively tonight," Mouat said. "I thought we did a much better job on the boards, and that was big because they (Warriors) are such a great rebounding team. And we hit big-time shots throughout the game."

From there, it was a test of who would blink first. The two defensive-minded squads traded leads six times in the third quarter, with the Warriors leading 34-33 at the end of a gritty period.

Then, Filius opened the final stanza with a trey, her third of the game, and when McCormick hit a step back three with 5:23 left, it gave Northern its largest lead at 42-38. LC nosed back in front on an Abbie Johnson three, and while Lambourne answered right back with a trey off a hustle board from Kealani Sagapolu, Henery's bomb from the corner with :22 left put the Warriors up three and the Skylights couldn't recover.

"We turned it over a couple of times down the stretch, and they (Warriors) made some huge shots," Mouat said. "That last couple of minutes really decided the game, because up to that point, we had battled back and forth all night. So it's tough. It's tough for kids, it's tough for me, but we'll just keep fighting and battling."

McCormick had a huge night for the Skylights, scoring a game-high 20 points, including three triples. Filius also hit three bombs and scored 13, while Lambourne finished with 11, and Jessica Curl grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Defensively, Northern held LC to just five threes and 36 percent shooting, but LC's threes were all crucial. Freshman point guard Peyton Souvenir was the only Warrior to reach double digits, finishing with 11 points.

Dawgs bite Skylights

While Northern had a great opportunity to beat LC State Friday night, the UM-Western Bulldogs never gave the Skylights the same chances Saturday.

Western used big runs in the second and third quarters to top the Skylights 67-51 Saturday night in the Armory. It was MSU-N's eighth straight loss in conference play ahead of four straight games coming on the road.

"Western came out and played really, really well," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "They really ripped our zone apart, shot it very well and beat us in transition. On our end, I thought we came out a little flat and continued to hurt ourselves with little things. Those things are fixable, but we've got to come out more ready and match them from the start. Because they came in here hot, and we needed to match that intensity right from the start of the game, and I don't think we did that tonight."

The Dawgs did play great. One night after blowing out 14th-ranked Providence in Great Falls, Western used a 10-0 run in the second quarter, sparked by two 3-pointers from Tori Anderson, to build a 35-21 halftime lead. The Skylights had hung tough in the first quarter, with Brandy Lambourne scoring seven points in the final two minutes of the period, as Northern trailed just 13-10.

However, Alexa Welch and Brianna King combined for eight straight points early in the second, as Western outscored the Skylights 22-11 in the period. And the Dawgs kept shooting it well in the third quarter.

Paige Holmes opened the second half with a three, and by the time Peyton Filius drained a top of the key trey, Western was ahead 55-35, and the Dawgs never looked back, as they improved to 7-3 in the Frontier. Western shot 44 percent from the field and made seven three's, with King and Britt Cooper each scoring 14 points. The Dawgs also held a decided, 34-22 edge on the boards.

On the other side, Lambourne had a big night for the Skylights, scoring 19 points, including three triples. Shiloh McCormick also scored 16 points, while Filius chipped in with seven. But shooting doomed Northern, as the Skylights shot just 33 percent and went 6-for-21 from beyond the arc.

The loss continued a rough stretch for Northern (9-12), which hasn't won since beating nationally ranked Our Lady of the Lake back on Dec. 30. And now the Skylights are faced with a pair of daunting road games, traveling to nationally ranked Rocky Mountain College Thursday night, and Carroll College Saturday night. Northern then travels to Western and LC State for a second time this season.

"We've got to just continue to get better," Mouat said. "We have to stay positive and work on the things we can control. We played hard tonight, the kids really dug their heels in in the fourth quarter and battled. But overall, I felt like we should have been more competitive for 40 minutes and our kids feel the same way. So we just have to go back to work and keep getting better."

Skylights are 1-9 in Frontier, 9-12 overall; Up Next: at RMC Thursday

LC State 55, Skylights 50

Lewis-Clark State 11 12 11 21 – 55

MSU-Northern 10 15 8 17 – 50

LCSC - Brittany Tackett 4-6 1-2 9, Jossilyn Blackman 1-4 2-2 4, Hailey Turner 3-10 2-2 8, Lauren Johnson 1-5 2-2 5, Kiara Burlage 2-3 1-4 5, Delaney Henery 2-5 1-2 7, Abbie Johnson 2-5 1-2 6, Hannah Burland 0-2 0-0 0, Peyton Souvenir 5-13 0-0 11, Cali Moscrip 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 10-16 55.

MSU-N - Brandy Lambourne 4-17 1-2 11, Naomi Terry 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 1-8 0-0 2, Peyton Filius 4-14 2-2 13, Peyton Kehr 0-1 0-0 0, Shiloh McCormick 6-13 5-6 20, Lily Hilderbrand 0-0 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 2-5 0-0 4, Tiara Gilham 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-60 8-10 50.

3-pt FG:Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 5-22 (Turner 0-1, Johnson 1-4, Henery 2-5, Johnson 1-1, Burland 0-2, Souvenir 1-6, Moscrip 0-3), Montana State University- 8-22 (Lambourne 2-6, Curl 0-3, Filius 3-8, McCormick 3-5). Rebounds: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 42 (Turner 9), Montana State University- 40 (Curl 14). Fouls Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 10, Montana State University- 15. Fouled out: none.

Western 67, Lights 51

UM-Western 13 22 23 9 – 67

MSU-Northern 10 11 14 16 – 51

UM-W - Darby Schye 2-3 0-0 4, Frankie Bignell 0-1 0-0 0, Britt Cooper 7-11 0-0 14, Sierra Bignell 0-2 0-0 0, Brandy Bookout 0-0 2-2 2, Alexa Welch 1-1 3-4 6, Cierra Lamey 3-8 2-2 9, Jill Jacobs 0-1 0-0 0, Savanna Bignell 0-2 0-2 0, Tori Anderson 2-5 0-0 6, Brianna King 6-13 1-1 14, Shannon Worster 1-1 0-0 2, Theresa Mac-Dangosu 0-2 0-0 0, Paige Holmes 2-4 4-6 10. Totals 24-54 12-17 67.

MSU-N - Brandy Lambourne 7-16 2-2 19, Naomi Terry 0-5 2-2 2, Jessica Curl 0-2 0-0 0, Peyton Filius 2-10 2-2 7, Peyton Kehr 0-1 0-0 0, Shiloh McCormick 5-12 4-4 16, Lily Hilderbrand 0-0 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 1-2 1-2 3, Tiara Gilham 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 17-51 11-12 51.

3-pt FG:Montana Western 7-18 (Cooper 0-1, Bignell 0-1, Welch 1-1, Lamey 1-2, Jacobs 0-1, Bignell 0-2, Anderson 2-3, King 1-5, Holmes 2-2), Montana State University- 6-21 (Lambourne 3-7, Terry 0-1, Filius 1-7, McCormick 2-5, Gilham 0-1). Rebounds: Montana Western 34 (Cooper 7), Montana State University- 22 (Filius 5). Fouls Montana Western 11, Montana State University- 19. Fouled out: none.