Busy week in the Armory starts tonight for the Skylights

The Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team is trying to find its stride early in the season. The Skylights are 1-1 to start the year and will look to get in the win column when they host the University of Alberta-Augustana at Armory Gymnasium tonight. It should be a tough game as MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat believes this is one of the toughest teams from this program in recent years.

"I think it is the best team we've seen coming out of them," Mouat said. "They've got some experienced kids and they're athletic. They just do a really nice job getting up and down the floor. They shoot it well and they all attack the basket so we're going to have to be on our toes defensively to start."

The Vikings have already played many games this season. After going 1-3 in their exhibition games in September and the beginning of October, the Vikings have found their stride going 4-2 in their conference games over the past month. With more games this season, Moaut expects the Vikings to be in rhythm.

"The more experience you get, the better off you're going to be," Mouat said. "They're in the heart of their league right now which is very different from us in our preseason."

The Vikings have many players that can make an impact tonight. Tayah Fiveland is a force down low for the Vikings as she leads the team with 15.3 points and 9.2 rebounds a game. Jenessa Doctor has been lethal averaging 12.3 points a game as she shoots 36.4 percent from the 3-point line.

Mackenzie Mrazik can contribute as she averages 12.0 points a game on 33.8 percent shooting from the field. Kamryn de Klerk is also a playmaker as she leads the team with 3.7 assists a game while also averaging 11.0 points a game on 39.7 percenting. With all these players, Moaut knows the Skylights will have their hands full tonight.

"They've got a bunch of kids that do a good job there," Mouat said. "As a team, they're just very athletic and they have good length. They're bigger than any Augustana team we've ever seen."

The Skylights are 1-1 to start the season. After defeating the King's University, 75-56, to start the season, the Skylights suffered a 69-64 loss to Dickinson State University last week at Armory Gymnasium. Coming off a loss, Mouat knows there is plenty of work to do.

"We want to improve across the board. Right now, we're just trying to clean things up at both ends. Be more efficient and more effective on offense," Mouat said. "We've hurt ourselves in a lot of ways. Defensively, I think we've got to continue to look at transition and rebounding."

The Skylights will need their best players to execute tonight. Ryley Kehr leads the Skylights averaging 12.5 points a game on 40 percent shooting. Shyan Krass has been impactful down low with 10.0 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. Briaunna McCullough has also contributed with 10.0 points a game so far this season.

Mouat wants to see his team play better tonight than they did in their first two games. After a week off the court, he knows they will need to get rolling early if they want to compete with this tough Vikings squad.

Of course, Northern also has a huge game Friday night, as the Skylights host Campbelsville University-Harrodsburgh.

"It's been a while since we've played so I think you got to get the rust out right away. I think the first quarter is really important. We got to get off to a good start at both ends," Mouat said. "We want to see our shooting percentages go up. We've been working hard getting shots up and doing things at game speed so I'd just like to see things continually get better."

The MSU-N women's basketball team will tip off against the University of Alberta-Augustana at Armory Gymnasium tonight at 5 p.m.