Northern women's basketball goes 0-3 at the Cactus Classic in Phoenix

The Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team played three games in three days at the Cactus Classic this past week in Phoenix.

The Skylights opened the tournament on Tuesday with a 62-43 loss to Rust College. The first quarter started slow, as Rust was up 12-7. Rust College had a big second quarter, scoring 23 points to Skylights’ nine. Rust just extended the lead in the third quarter scoring 18-8. The Skylights outscored Rust College 19-9 in the fourth. The Skylights were led by Rachel Van Blaricom, who had eight points and four rebounds. Briaunna McCullough added eight points and six. Shyan Krass added seven points.

Northern then had to turn right around and play No. 20 Eastern Oregon on Wednesday. And the Mountaineers defeated the Skylights 68-42. The Skylights went down in the first quarter 18-7. The Mountaineers extended the lead going into half time 36-16. Eastern Oregon kept a steady lead the rest of the game. The Skylights were led by Briaunna McCullough, who had 11 points and six rebounds. Shyan Krass added nine points and five rebounds. Ryley added eight points and six rebounds.

MSU-N wrapped up the road trip in Phoenix on Thursday. The Skylights fell to San Diego Christian 62-51. Northern trailed by just one point at halftime, but a 17-6 run in the fourth quarter by the Eagles helped them pull away. Shyan Krass scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the loss. Savannah Toms added 11 points.

The losses in Phoenix dropped MSU-N to 4-8 overall. The Skylights will re-start their season with three homes games next week to wrap up non-conference play.