Beavers battle back in Skylight's home debut

The Montana State University-Northern Skylight's home opener might have been an exhibition game, but it didn't have the feel of one, that's for sure.

On Sunday night, the Skylights made their Armory Gymnasium debut with a battle against NCAA Division II Minot State, and while the game didn't count on Northern's record, it did for the Beavers, who were playing their season-opener.

While Northern got off to a fast start, it was the Beavers who finished strong, pulling out a 55-45 victory in Havre.

"We came out and we were dialed in right away; we were ready to go," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "We played really well, in the first quarter especially. Our defense and our rebounding was really good and we hit shots. So I was very proud of how hard our kids worked and prepped for this game, they were into it, and that showed with how good of a start we got off to."

The Skylights did come out firing. And when Peyton Kehr hit a 3-pointer at the 7:44 mark of the first period, Northern led 7-0. Allix Goldhahn added a triple later in the quarter, and after 10 minutes, Northern led 14-9.

The Skylights wouldn't give up the lead in the second quarter either, as Kehr scored four points early and Sam Caruth drilled a triple late in the period to help Northern take a 26-24 lead into intermission.

Northern extended that lead to 28-24 on a Kehr bucket to start the second half, but that's when the Beavers came roaring back. Minot ripped off a 10-1 run and when Kari Clements hit a bomb with :22 left in the third, the Beavers had turned a four-point deficit into a 41-32 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

"We went through a stretch in the third quarter and another one in the fourth where we shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers and mental mistakes," Mouat said. "credit Minot. They pressured us, they are very physical and athletic, and very good defensively, and we didn't handle that well. Those two stretches is where the game got away from us."

Northern didn't go quietly though. Sabin Keo opened the final stanza with a layup and Caruth hit another triple, and when Kehr added a three of her own, the Skylights trailed just 43-40 with 6:46 left. The Beavers responded with a 6-0 run, however, and from there, the Skylights were playing catch-up the rest of the way.

"There were a lot of positives tonight," Mouat said. "Defensively, I thought we were very good tonight, and we out-rebounded them, which is big for us. We were also without Hailey (Nicholson) and T (Tiara Gilham) tonight, and that's not easy. But we had kids step up and fill those roles, and they did a really good job. For the better part of the game, we played pretty well."

Indeed, the Skylights were missing two double-digit scorers in Nicholson and Gilham, but Northern responded with Kehr scoring a game-high 19 points. Caruth and Keo combined for 11 points off the bench, while Sydney Hovde tallied a game-high 12 rebounds. MSU was paced by Mariah Payne's 14 points, while the Minot defense forced Northern into 17 turnovers.

And while the win was key for the Beavers, who hadn't played a regular season game yet, the loss won't hurt the Skylights. In fact, with Northern set to take on two NAIA powerhouses this weekend in Great Falls, Mouat said Sunday night's game will be a great way to go into games against Arizona Christian this Friday and Westmont Saturday.

"I'm glad we played this game," Mouat said. "This was the perfect challenge for us. It was a perfect game to learn from and grow, and going forward, that's what it's about, it's about us growing and getting better. That's everything to us right now, and this game will help us do that."

Minot State 55, Skylights 45

Minot State 9 15 17 14 - 55

MSU-Northern 14 12 6 13 - 45

MSU - Madison Wald 5-12 1-1 12, Mariah Payne 5-15 2-2 14, Calli Delsman 4-7 0-0 8, Whitney Molina 1-4 2-2 4, Haley Hildenbrand 1-3 0-0 2, Kari Clements 4-7 0-1 9, Gabby Wilkinson 1-1 0-0 2, Anna Counts 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 23-55 5-6 55.

MSU-N - Lilli Hilderbrand 1-1 0-0 2, Sydney Hovde 1-3 3-4 5, Gokce Aslan 0-6 0-2 0, Allix Goldhahn 2-5 1-2 6, Peyton Kehr 6-16 4-4 19, Sam Caruth 2-6 0-0 6, Sabin Keo 2-5 1-2 5, Petra Sellin 0-0 0-0 0, Jada Nicholson 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 15-45 9-14 45.

3-pointers: MSU 4-20 (Wald 1, Payne 2, Clements 1), MSU-N 6-15 (Goldhahn 1, Kehr 3, Caruth 2). Rebounds: MSU 25 (Wald 8), MSU-N 28 (Hovde 12). Fouls: MSU 17, MSU-N 12; Fouled out: None.