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Skylights cage Bears in the Armory

Northern beats RMC twice at home

They need wins like this. After struggling to keep up with the University of Providence last Wednesday, the Montana State University-Northern women responded. And they responded in a big, big way.

Finishing up a five-game home stand, the Skylights took care of business with a doubleheader sweep of Rocky Mountain College.

The action started Saturday night in the Armory Gymnasium, as the Skylights rolled to a 73-58 win over the Battlin' Bears. And the win came as a result of the Skylights heating up offensively.

Northern led just 19-18 after the first quarter, then, Peyton Kehr went off in the second, hitting 3-pointers and making driving layups, as she scored 11 points and helped the Skylights to a 40-32 halftime lead. And it only got better from there.

"Rocky shot it really well in the first half," Mouat said. "So for us to be up eight at halftime, I think that speaks to the job we did on the boards, and the fact that we made some big shots, especially in the second quarter."

In the third quarter, it was McKenzie Gunter's turn. She scored nine points in a six-minute span, sparking a 16-4 run that ended with back-to-back buckets from Allix Goldhahn, as Northern led 59-47 after three, and, the Skylights would grow that lead to as many as 17 points in the fourth as Sydney Hovde got buckets on the inside, and Kehr kept hitting shots on a night when she scored a game-high 21 points,. Including four three's.

"We didn't have a lot of time to get ready," Mouat said. "So for us to come back after playing so poorly on Wednesday, and to play as well as we did, I was just really happy for our kids. They deserved it."

It was a good win for Northern, which shot 46 percent from the field, and on the other end, dominated on the boards. Hovde would add 14 points and Gunter scored 12.

"McKenzie played really well, gave us a big lift tonight," Mouat said. "That was really nice to see. But again, I think a lot of our success tonight came from how well we shared the ball, how unselfish we were, and the job we did on the boards. So it was a really nice team win, and our kids needed it."

And as proud as Mouat was of his team on Saturday night, the Skylights weren't done.

Back in the Armory on Sunday afternoon, Northern got off to another strong start and took care of Rocky 65-56 for a weekend sweep.

This time around, MSU-N made three early triples, and took an 18-11 lead. Rocky tightened things up in the second period, then got within six points at 47-41 at the end of the third, and that's after Northern had led by as many as 14 points. However, the Skylights went on a solid run in the fourth to keep the Bears at bay.

"Today was a battle form start to finish," Mouat said. "Full credit to Rocky. They played so hard, they hit some big shots. But I thought at the end, we responded really well. We made big shots, we won on the boards, and we stayed composed down the stretch. That was huge for us. I'm just really proud of the kids because that was a great Frontier Conference battle.

The rematch was a defensive slugfest, as both teams shot just 36 percent from the floor. However, the Skylights made five second-half three's and got 19 points and 15 rebounds in a huge double-double from Gilham. Peyton Kehr added 11 points while Gunter and Goldhahn combined for 18 more as the Skylights completed their first sweep of the season, while also improving to 3-6 in the Frontier and 4-9 overall.

"We close out the game in a good way," Mouat said. "So I'm just really proud of the kids. They were resilient this weekend. These were two good wins against a really good Rocky team, and out kids earned."

This weekend's wins completed a five-game home stand for Northern. The Skylights take to the road this weekend with games at Providence on Saturday and Sunday.

Skylights are 3-6 in Frontier, 4-9 overall; Next: at UP

Saturday-Sunday

Skylights 73, Rocky Mountain 58

Rocky Mountain 18 14 15 13 - 58

MSU-Northern 19 21 19 14 - 73

RMC - Kloie Thatcher 6-12 6-9 19, Mackenzie Dethman 5-10 1-2 11, Izzy Spruit 1-2 0-0 3, Carmelita Rodriguez 0-2 0-0 0, Adonica Baca-Martinez 3-7 0-0 8, Katelyn Ostrowski 0-0 0-0 0, Camille Cunningham 1-2 0-0 2, Ruby Vander Haak 1-2 0-0 3, Shauna Bribiescas 4-10 0-0 10, Kacy Horton 0-0 0-0 0, Dominique Stephens 1-5 0-1 2. Totals 22-52 7-12 58.

MSU-N - Allix Goldhahn 3-7 2-2 9, L'Tia Lawrence 0-2 2-2 2, Ryley Kehr 3-6 0-0 6, Mckenzie Gunter 4-12 3-4 12, Peyton Kehr 8-12 1-1 21, Dulci Skunkcap 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Mason 1-2 0-0 2, Sydney Hovde 4-7 6-6 14, Tiara Gilham 3-8 1-2 7. Totals 26-56 15-17 73.

3-pt FG:Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 7-12 (Thatcher 1-2, Spruit 1-2, Baca-Martinez 2-3, Vander Haak 1-1, Bribiescas 2-4), Montana State-Northern 6-19 (Goldhahn 1-4, Lawrence 0-2, Gunter 1-5, Kehr 4-6, Mason 0-1, Gilham 0-1). Rebounds: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 17 (Dethman 4), Montana State-Northern 34 (Hovde 8). Fouls Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 19, Montana State-Northern 14. Fouled out: Gunter.

Skylights 65, Rocky Mountain 56

Rocky Mountain 11 11 19 15 - 56

MSU-Northern 18 12 17 18 - 65

RMC - Kloie Thatcher 8-19 5-9 22, Mackenzie Dethman 7-12 2-4 17, Izzy Spruit 0-3 0-0 0, Leah Gannon 1-1 0-0 3, Lauren Ryter 0-1 2-2 2, Adonica Baca-Martinez 0-6 0-0 0, Grace Estrada 0-0 0-0 0, Katelyn Ostrowski 0-1 0-0 0, Camille Cunningham 1-6 0-0 2, Ruby Vander Haak 0-1 0-0 0, Shauna Bribiescas 4-8 0-0 10. Totals 21-58 9-15 56.

MSU-N - Allix Goldhahn 2-9 4-4 9, L'Tia Lawrence 0-4 0-0 0, Ryley Kehr 4-5 0-1 8, Mckenzie Gunter 3-9 3-4 9, Peyton Kehr 4-9 0-0 11, Morgan Mason 1-3 0-0 2, Sydney Hovde 2-7 3-4 7, Tiara Gilham 7-17 1-2 19. Totals 23-63 11-15 65.

3-pt FG:Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 5-19 (Thatcher 1-5, Dethman 1-1, Spruit 0-3, Gannon 1-1, Baca-Martinez 0-2, Ostrowski 0-1, Cunningham 0-1, Vander Haak 0-1, Bribiescas 2-4), Montana State-Northern 8-22 (Goldhahn 1-5, Lawrence 0-1, Kehr 0-1, Gunter 0-3, Kehr 3-4, Mason 0-1, Gilham 4-7). Rebounds: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 35 (Dethman 12), Montana State-Northern 42 (Gilham 15). Fouls Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 17, Montana State-Northern 16. Fouled out: Cunningham.

 

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