Skylights aim for some senior day magic against Tech

Senior day is always emotional in the Armory Gymnasium, And though the Montana State University-Northern Skylights are a young team this season, Saturday's game against Montana Tech will be very emotional.

Senior guard Abigail Keltner, a former Chinook standout, along with former Havre Blue Pony Abbey Morse (manager) will be honored for senior day for the Skylights, who tip off against the Orediggers at 2 p.m.

"Abbey Morse has been with us as a manager for the past four seasons," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "To say she's been helpful is an understatement. She does so much for our program and doesn't get near the credit she deserves for being such a valuable part of all that we do.

"Abigail Keltner has been a great leader in our program. She does things the right way and has a very high maturity level. She worked extremely hard at the game this off-season and has had some great moments in a Skylight uniform. Her work ethic is second to none," he added. "Both of these ladies are impressive in the classroom and are set for great things in life. Both are set to graduate in Integrated Health Sciences, and Abigail Keltner has been accepted into physical therapy school at the University of Montana."

Saturday will also be emotional because it will be Northern's final home game of 2023, and the young Skylights' (7-20, 0-14) last chance to win this regular season. It's been a tough year for Northern, which has lost twice to Montana Tech this winter. But the Skylights, with leading scorers Ryley Kehr, Briaunna McCullough and Shyan Krass, have battled hard all season long, and they plan to battle a tough Montana Tech (7-17, 3-11) team right down to the very end Saturday.

"Montana Tech is a very athletic team and they are loaded with talent," Mouat said. "They play really hard and will mix things up defensively. Tavia Rooney is a returning All-American for them and she is one of the best athletes in the league. Dani Urick is a returning All-Conference player in her fifth year and she's done great things during her career. We are going to need to focus on taking care of the ball and winning on the boards. Tech is a good rebounding team and they are very long across the board. We will also need to do a better job of handling full and half-court pressure. They play hard and have a number of kids who can really shoot it. Aubrie Rademacher is one of the most improved post players in our league and she can hurt you at the rim as well as from the 3-point line."

The Skylights will meet the Orediggers in their regular season finale Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the Armory Gymnasium.