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Northern's Savannah Toms goes for a shot against Rocky Mountain College at Armory Gymnasium last week. This week, both the Northern men's and women's basketball teams look to make headway in the Frontier Conference as they go on the road to play Montana Tech and Carroll College.
After both teams suffered a pair of losses to open 2023, both the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams are back at it with a pair of road games this weekend. Both the Lights and Skylights head to Butte tonight to face Montana Tech before heading to Helena Saturday to play Carroll College.
The Skylights will get the action started tonight with their game against the Orediggers in Butte. The Montana Tech women's basketball team enters the game with a 5-9 record and are 1-3 in the Frontier Conference. While they have a losing record, the Orediggers have many athletes that can give the Skylights problems.
Tavia Rooney leads the team averaging 13.1 points a game on 37 percent shooting from the field. She is also strong in the post averaging 8.2 rebounds a contest. Aubrie Rademacher can also score as she averages 10.5 points a game on 41.1 percent. However MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat believes Tech's defense will be the biggest obstacle for the Skylights.
"They play fast and they pressure a ton, so I expect to see full court pressure," Mouat said. "They've got some great players, great athletes and they're really long across the board."
The Lights will then start their weekend with a game against Tech right after. The Orediggers are a formidable foe as they are 15-2 and 3-1 in the Frontier Conference. They are also 10-0 at home this season and are riding a six-game winning streak.
Many dynamic players have led the way for Tech this season. Caleb Bellach is hot, averaging 17.1 points a game on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 78.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Keeley Bake is averaging 13.0 points a game while both Michael Ure and Asa Williams both average about 12 points a game this year, so the Lights will have to pick their poison when it comes to slowing down the Orediggers.
Northern basketball will continue in Helena Saturday afternoon with the Skylights playing Carroll College. The Fighting Saints have a 12-5 record and are 3-1 in the Frontier Conference this season. They may be coming off a loss, but the Saints will be a formidable foe for the Skylights.
Mouat expects Jamie Pickens to be a problem as she is averaging 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds a game this season. Addi Ekstrom is also playing well with 12.0 points a game on 62.5 percent shooting. Kyndall Keller and Maddie Geritz are both averaging north of 10 points a game, so the Skylights will have their hands full Saturday.
"They're big and physical inside," Mouat said. "We know they have plenty of talent and they do a good job mixing up their zone pressure and their man and they're good in both, so we're going to have to execute like crazy and get stops and limit them to one shot because they're just a very physical, offensive rebounding team."
The Skylights enter the weekend with a 7-10 record and are 0-4 to start Frontier Conference competition. If the they're going to pick up their first conference win this season, the Skylights will need their best players to show up. Briaunna McCullough leads the Skylights with 13.6 points on 31.7 percent shooting. Ryley Kehr and Shyan Krass are both averaging about 11 points a game, so they will need to have strong games this weekend.
"We just want to keep growing and play well and put our best foot forward because these are two tough places and two very good teams to play," Mouat said. "We know we're just going to have to continue to grow and play better and everybody's going to have to step up to help get that done."
The Lights wrap up their weekend with a game against the Saints in Helena Saturday afternoon. The Saints head into the weekend with an 8-7 record and are 2-2 in conference play.
Andrew Cook leads the Saints averaging 16.9 points a game on 53.9 percent shooting from the field and 43.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line. Brendan Temple is also a threat down low averaging 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a game, so the Saints have the players to threaten the Lights this weekend.
The Lights are 12-5 this season but are 1-3 in the Frontier Conference. If they want to get on track this weekend, the Lights need their best players to do well on the court. Jesse Keltner leads the Lights with 12.9 points and 7.3 rebounds a game this season for the Lights. The Lights then have a balanced attack where players such as C.J. Nelson, Tanner McCliment-Call and Dae'Kwon Watson average about nine points a contest, but these players will need to do better than that to help the Lights move up the conference standings.
In Butte tonight, the Skylights will play Tech at 5 p.m. and then the Lights will play the Orediggers at 7 p.m. Then in Helena Saturday, the Skylights will play Carroll College at 2 p.m. and then the Lights will play the Saints at 4 p.m.
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