Payback: Skylights crush Blue Hawks

Revenge might not have been the motivating factor ahead of the Montana State University-Northern Skylight's Sunday matinee in the Armory Gymnasium. But that emotion didn't hurt either.

In front of a big afternoon crowd in Havre Sunday, the Skylights avenged a November loss to the Dickinson State Blue Hawks, and they did it in style, blowing out DSU 71-47 in the first game of the two-day Duck Inn Corporation Classic. The win was Northern's second straight, pushing their record to 5-5 on the season.

"We had a tough game down there (Dickinson)," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "But I think we learned a lot from that game, and tonight, there were a lot of positives. It's a nice win for our kids and I'm proud of their effort, and for how well they played."

The Skylights did play well. Especially on the defensive end where they put together one of their best performances of the year. They held DSU to 41 percent shooting, forced 15 turnovers and out-rebounded the Blue Hawks 30-13.

"Defensively, we were really solid, pretty much or all 40 minutes," Mouat said. "It wasn't perfect, but we were very solid, and that was big for us. We got some turnovers, and we won on the boards. Those things were key."

So was taking care of the ball on the offensive end. In last month's loss to the Blue Hawks, the Skylights turned it over 25 times, but they committed 11 less miscues Sunday, and that led to much better offense.

Northern would shoot 55 percent from the field and when Peyton Kehr drilled a 3-pointer to end the first quarter, MSU-N had went on an 11-2 run and led 17-6. Kehr would add six more points in the second stanza, and when Allix Goldhahn and Sabin Keo scored the last six points of the first half, the Skylights had a 35-20 lead.

But, as good as the Skylights played in the first 20 minutes, they weren't done. Keo and Goldhahn went back-to-back from three to open the third quarter, while Sydney Hovde and Jessica Curl both went to work in the paint. Northern led 53-30 at the end of the third quarter, and the Skylights cruised home from there.

"I thought we were very efficient on the offensive end," Mouat said. G (Gokce Aslan) had a great all-around game for us. She really moved the ball well, we knocked down shots, and out posts finished around the rim. It was really nice to see our kids play so efficiently on that end of the floor, and everybody scored. It was just a really efficient, team win."

Every Skylight did score, with Hovde leading four in double figures with a game-high 17 points. Kehr knocked in two triples and scored 16, while Goldhahn added 11 and Curl scored 10 off the bench. Aslan added 10 assists, while the Blue Hawks got 16 from Ashlie Larson. Former Havre Blue Pony Lacey Waid chipped in with five.

Now, MSU-N will get right back to work when the Skylights host Alberta-Augustana at 6 in night two of the Duck Inn Classic. It's Northern's last home game before Frontier Conference play resumes in January.

"Our kids came out with great energy and were excited to play at home today," Mouat said. "Moving forward, we need to do that same thing tomorrow, so that we can keep improving. We just want to continue to learn and grow."

Skylights 71, Dickinson St. 47

Dickinson 6 14 10 17 - 47

MSU-Northern 17 18 18 18 - 71

DSU - Lacey Waid 2-5 1-2 5, Ashlie Larson 6-9 2-4 16, Brooke Janz 1-4 0-0 2, Rojin Karahan 1-4 0-0 6, Caleigh McClenahan 1-3 0-0 2, Natalee Hafer 1-4 0-0 2, Riley Helmick 4-5 0-0 11, Kyley Verploegen 0-3 0-0 0, Danielle Wallace 1-4 0-0 0. Totals: 18-44 5-9.

MSU-N - Sydney Hovde 6-6 5-5 17, Gokce Aslan 2-6 0-0 4, Sabin Keo 2-9 0-2 5, Allix Goldhahn 4-5 2-2 11, Peyton Kehr 6-12 2-2 16, Petra Sellin 1-2 0-0 2, Jada Nicholson 1-1 2-2 4, Jessica Curl 5-6 0-0 10, Lily Hilderbrand 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 27-49 13-15.

3-pointers: DSU 6-12 (Lasron 2, Hafer 1, Helmick 3), MSU-N 4-14 (Keo 1, Goldhahn 1, Kehr 2). Rebounds: DSU 13 (Karahan), MSU-N 30 (Goldhahn). Fouls: DSU 18, MSU-N 14. Fouled out: None.