Skylights look to turn the tables on Saints, Argos

They needed en overtime thriller to do it, but after back-to-back Frontier Conference losses, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights put themselves right back in the heart of the Frontier Conference title race, after beating Montana Tech last Saturday night.

Now, the No. 18 Skylights (3-3, 14-4) are looking to stay there. And to do that, they want to defend their home court, starting with back-to-back home games against the Carroll College Fighting Saints and University of Providence Argos. Northern hosts Carroll tonight at 6, and Providence Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium.

“They’re big games against two teams we just played,” Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. “This league is so difficult, especially playing each other three times, and both teams we’re playing this week, they’re very, very good. We know that as well as anybody.”

The Skylights do know it.

It was just two weeks ago that Northern lost at home to Carroll on a Tuesday night, then fell short against the Argos two nights later in Great Falls. Now, Northern gets a second chance at both, starting with tonight’s game against the No. 17 Saints (5-1, 13-5), who boast star guard and former Havre Blue Pony Dani Wagner, All-American Christine Denny and talented post players Emerald Toth (6-3) and Maddie Gertiz (6-3). Carroll also brings a stifling defense to Havre, one that really forced the Skylights to struggle two weeks ago.

“We have to get off to a better start, can’t fall behind 17-2 again,” Mouat said. “Beyond that, we need to be more aggressive offensively this time, and we need to handle their pressure better. Carroll is very good defensively, and we need to handle that better, and as a result, execute much better offensively.”

Against the Argos (2-4, 11-7), who beat the Skylights 68-64, in a game that went down to the wire, Northern will also want to get off to a better start, as well as defend star guard Emilee Maldonado, who put up big numbers in the meeting in Great Falls. Forward Parker Esary is also a handful on the interior, while UP is an outstanding 3-point shooting team, and a fast-paced offense that certainly tests Northern’s traditionally stingy defense.

“Again, we didn’t get off to a very good start in that game either,” Mouat said. “And we had way too many turnovers. So in both games, we need to play better, not dig ourselves these big holes, and we have to take care of the ball. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

Northern is plenty capable of doing just that. With point guard McKenzie Gunter, Hailey Nicholson and Tiara Gilham leading an offense that also gets plenty of help from Sydney Hovde, Peyton Kehr, and a surging Allix Goldhahn, who has averaged 13 ppg over her last four contests, the Skylights have the firepower, and one of the top defenses in the country, and that means, they can contend with anybody, including both Frontier rivals they play this week.

“We’re excited to be at home,” Mouat said. “We just played three really tough road games, with all three of them going down to the last possession. So that shows where we’re at, our kids are playing really well, and they’re putting us where we want to be at the end of games. Now, we just need to finish a little more consistently, and we certainly want to do that on our home floor, against two really good teams.”

Tonight’s game in the Armory Gymnasium between Northern and Carroll tips at 6, as does Thursday night’s tilt between the Skylights and Argos.

#18 Skylights (3-3, 14-4) vs #17 Carroll College Fighting Saints (5-1, 13-5) tonight at 6 p.m; vs Providence Argos (2-4, 11-7) Thursday at 6 p.m.

In Armory Gymnasium

Radio: 92.5 KPQX

Streaming: golightsgo.com

Twitter: HavreDaily

Skylights Projected Starters

G McKenzie Gunter, 5-5, Jr., 12 ppg

G Allix Goldhahn, 5-8, So., 8 ppg

G Peyton Kehr, 5-10, Jr., 10 ppg

F Hailey Nicholson, 5-11, Sr., 10 ppg,

F Sydney Hovde, 6-0, Jr., 8 ppg, 8 rpg