Stealing the Lion's Heart

Other than head coach Chris Mouat, and two Montana State University-Northern assistant coaches, there wasn't a single Skylight basketball player that was present for Northern's heartbreaking Sweet 16 loss to Vanguard University in the 2017 NAIA national tournament in Billings.

But that doesn't make the revenge Northern enacted Thursday night any less sweet.

In front of an excited crowd inside the Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights knocked off the No. 10 Lions 68-56. The win was the first victory MSU-N has had over a Top 10 non-conference opponent in over a decade, and there were countless other reasons why it was so special.

"Proud of our kids, very happy for them," Mouat said. "Vanguard is an excellent program. So it was an exciting opportunity for us just to play them at home. But to then go out and compete the way we did, and beat them on our home floor, it's special. It's special for our kids and huge for our program.

"It's big for us," added MSU-N junior Peyton Kehr. "None of us were there the last time we played them, but coach Mouat told us all about that game and Sierra (Richards) and Natalee (Faupel), they told us a lot about that game, and just how tough Vanguard is. So to step up and beat them, it's huge. It was a really fun game to be a part of."

A fun game indeed, and while Mouat was excited for his program, he did admit, there was something missing - rather someone. NAIA Hall of Famer and Vanguard head coach Russ Davis was unable to make the trip to Montana while recovering from surgery back in California.

"It's bittersweet because Russ isn't here," Mouat said. "He is my friend, and he's a huge difference maker for his team. All of us in the NAIA are looking forward to seeing him back on the sidelines with his team, and I really wish he could have been here tonight. He's an amazing coach and amazing person."

The Skylights were amazing Thursday night, too.

Vanguard did jump out to a 9-2 lead, but from that point on, Northern went toe-to-toe with the Lions, who were playing their season-opener. Back-to-back buckets by Allix Goldhahn and Kehr helped Northern overcome the slow start, and the Lions led just 17-15 after an entertaining first period.

From there however, the entertainment would come from a stanch Northern defense which would eventually hold Vanguard to just 30 percent shooting and just there makes from beyond the arc.

"I don't think we were worried when they got ahead of us," Kehr said. "I just think we had to adjust. We hadn't seen any film on them, and we didn't know very many of their players. So we just had to adjust, and we did. Our defense won us this game, hands down. Everybody played so hard, and we were so well prepared. We were just really good on defense tonight."

They were, and as a result, they were able to take a slight lead after back-to-back makes from Sydney Hovde and a huge spark from Jada Nicholson, which helped the Skylights go into halftime up 26-22.

But they were just getting started.

With the defensive clamps on, Northern would explode in the third stanza going on an 8-0 run with baskets from Goldhahn, Kehr and Hailey Nicholson. Vanguard stopped the bleeding momentarily, but nine unanswered points, sparked by a Kehr 3-pointer, left Northern ahead 47-35 with 10 minutes to play.

And in that moment, the game was all but over. The Lions did turn up the heat in the fourth quarter, but Northern had every answer, including six straight points from Mckenzie Gunter, which, for all purposes, put the game on ice.

"Our kids followed the game plan defensively, perfectly," Mouat said. "Vanguard has really good players, and they are a very good shooting team. So to do what we did against them tonight, that says a lot about our kids' effort and fight defensively. I felt like we got the stops we needed for the most part, and we never let them do anything that was going to break our back defensively. For the better part of 40 minutes, our kids were just really good on that end of the floor, against a really good team."

The Lions, who had two returning NAIA All-Americans, and a ton of depth, didn't just shoot 30 percent from the floor, they also shot an abysmal 11 percent from the 3-point-line, while committing 10 turnovers. On the other end, the Skylights shot 48 percent, made four key triples and outscored the Lions 42-34 in the second half. Gunter had a breakout game for the Skylights with 23 points and six assists. Kehr added 14 points, while Nicholson scored 10. Hovde and Goldhahn added 13 more collectively.

"Offensively, we made shots when we needed to," Mouat said. We shared the ball well, I thought, to shoot 48 percent against their (Lions') defense, that says something about how well we played offensively. I thought our bench was great tonight. Every one of those kids contributed and made big plays on defense, offense or both. And I thought, the biggest thing was, we executed well offensively with the lead. That was fun to watch - our kids get the lead and close it out against a really good team."

The Skylights did close out one of the biggest home wins in quite some time. Northern not only knocked off a Top 10 Thursday night, but a team that has been a thorn in the Skylight's side in the past. And while MSU-N (2-0) will have a short turnaround, playing arch rival Dickinson State tonight at 6 back in the Armory, Mouat and the Skylights will enjoy the win over the Lions - and they deserve to.

"It's a big one, it's huge," Mouat said. "That's a Top 10, one of the elite programs in the NAIA every year. And I'm just really proud of our kids, just proud of the way they played. And I'm happy for them. This one is special, no doubt."

Skylights 68, Vanguard 56

Vangaurd 17 5 13 21 - 56

MSU-Northern 13 13 21 21 - 68

VU - Estefania Giner 5-15 3-3 13, Sierra Vaglica 2-8 3-3 7, Tristen Rollon 5-14 3-4 15, Victoria Chea 6-14 1-2 14, Vanessa Murphy 2-9 0-0 4, Michaella Elad 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 21-70 11-14.

MSU-N - Hailey Nicholson 5-7 0-0 10, Sydney Hovde 3-6 1-2 7, Allix Goldhahn 2-7 2-4 6, McKenzie Gunter 7-11 8-8 23, Peyton Kehr 5-11 1-2 14, Kenya Lorton 1-3 1-2 3, Reilly Walsh 0-1 0-0 0, Petra Sellin 0-0 0-0 0, Jada Nicholson 0-0 3-4 3, Ryley Kehr 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Mason 0-0 0-0 0, Tiara Gilham 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 24-50 16-22.

3-pointers: VU 3-27 (Rollon 2, Chea 1), MSU-N 4-13 (Gunter 1, Kehr 3). Rebounds: VU 34 (Elad 9), MSU-N 35 (Hovde 6). Fouls: VU 19, MSU-N 13. Fouled out: Murphy.