Skylight's gauntlet begins Tuesday in Missoula

Before the new season began, Montana State University-Northern head women's basketball coach Chris Mouat referred to this coming week as "the gauntlet". That's because the schedule the Skylights face resembles a very demanding obstacle course of competition indeed.

And it starts with an unusual, but exciting, yet challenging game today in Missoula.

The Skylights (1-0) will play an exhibition game against the University of Montana Lady Griz Tuesday in Dahlberg Arena. And while Northern has played plenty of games in the past against the Lady Griz, this game is unique in that, it's Montana's season-opener, and also the Lady Griz' Field Trip Game. The game is a tradition started last year in which, elementary students form all over Missoula are invited to pack Dahlberg Arena, and for the Skylights, that will be it exciting, but also a tough environment to play in.

"Going to play at Montana is always a great experience and opportunity for our kids, especially for the ones from our state," Mouat said. "They will get to play in a great environment, and this year it is their field trip game. They are expecting around 7,000 students from the Missoula area, so it will be the biggest crowd our kids will probably ever play in front of."

The crowd will be big, but so will the task for the Skylights. Though it's an exhibition game for Northern, it is a counting game for the Lady Griz, and their season-opener, so they'll be locked in and ready to go.

And after a couple of down seasons, Montana is hungry to return to the dominant Big Sky Conference team they were for nearly three decades. And with a roster that boasts talents like Madi Schoening, McKenzie Johnston, Gaby Harrington, Sammy Fatkin, former Malta star Sophia Stiles and Taylor Gologoski, the Lady Griz appear ready to ascend back to Big Sky dominance, and their first step in that direction is against the Skylights.

"Montana is good, and they have a deep and talented roster with great players," Mouat said. "They have been bitten by the injury bug for a few years but seem to be back to full strength. This game will be a great test for us, especially since we have not played for quite a while now. We will get a chance to get on the floor against a quality NCAA Division I program and work on a lot of things because I expect them to do a number of things against us defensively."

And Tuesday's game in Missoula is just the beginning. The Skylights return home to play Vanguard University Thursday night. The game against the Lions is as big as an NAIA game as the Skylights have had in the Armory Gymnasium in a long time, with the Lions coming in ranked No. 10 in the country, and having been one of the elite program's in NAIA women's basketball for a long time. Add to that, a Friday night visit from arch rival Dickinson State, and it's easy to see why this week has been known as "the gauntlet" since the schedule came out back in the summer.

The gauntlet starts with Tuesday's game at the Lady Griz in Missoula. Thursday's game against Vanguard is set for 6 p.m. in the Armory, followed by Friday's home game against DSU, which tips at 6 p.m. as well.