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Skylights host Diggers,
Bulldogs
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
There will be a little
different look to the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball
team. No, the Skylights don't have new hairdos or new uniforms.
Instead, they will have a new lineup when they take to the floor tonight
against Montana Tech to open a home weekend of Frontier Conference games.
Head coach Mike Erickson has decided to go with a smaller, quicker starting
lineup, consisting of senior Anna Bateman, sophomore Kristie Pullin, freshman
Jessi Reome, junior Brettney Vermandel and senior Khadiga Mohamed.
"We're going with the smaller lineup to force them to play an uptempo
style of game," Erickson said. "They like to slow it down and pound
it inside."
However, Erickson's lineup may change again because of injury. Bateman has
been nursing her surgically repaired foot and has practiced sparingly.
"Anna's in some serious pain," Erickson said. "We've tried to
keep her off it as much as possible. We'll use her if she can go, but if not
we need someone to step up and fill in for her."
Last week in a win over Great Falls, Bateman played
sparingly. Northern overcame her absence with a solid night from its bench,
which scored 51 points.
If Northern can go with its intended lineup, it will should be able to play
at the tempo Erickson wants to play at.
"We're going to come out and get after them right away," Erickson
said. "We are going to make them play our style not let them dictate
it."
Northern hopes to counter the potent inside attack by playing full-court
pressure defense and forcing the quicker tempo on the Diggers, who would much
rather play in half-court slow-down style.
The Diggers are led by 6-0 senior Melissa Ritter and 6-0 sophomore Marcie
Alzheimer. The duo combines to average 23 points and 16 rebounds per game.
They are complimented by the strong outside shooting of Kaila Fowler, who is leading
Tech at 12 points per game.
"We can't let them get going on the inside," Erickson said.
"We also have to know where Fowler is at all times. She's going to get a
few shots off, but you better not give her too many good looks or it will be
a long night."
On Saturday, Northern will host the hottest team in the Frontier Conference
in the UM-Western Bulldogs. Western has won its last seven games after losing
to Lewis-Clark State on January 10. The Bulldogs sit in second place in the
Frontier with a 7-2 record and are coming off an impressive home sweep of LC
and Westminster College.
"Right now, I think Western is playing off its experience and
tradition," Erickson said. "They're playing the smartest, most
intense basketball in the conference."
But the Bulldogs aren't doing it in a flashy way. Rather, they are finding
ways to win, playing a solid fundamental style with getting points from
different players on different nights. Western doesn't have a player in the
top 15 of the conference scoring leaders, but does have all five of its
starters averaging in double figures led by sophomore center Katherine
Sunwall at just under 12 per game.
Two players that are surging of late is former Havre High standout Alyssa
Matter and Jamie Buell. Matter has been scorching the nets from three-point
range and Buell has a knack for hitting big shots.
"Matter is shooting the three better than I have ever seen her
shoot," Erickson said. "Buell is close to 26-years-old and she
plays with a lot of experience."
Northern has dropped two games to Western already this season, but Erickson
hopes that third game will be the proverbial charm.
"We know that we lost a pair of games to them that we should have
won," he said. "We knocked them off here in Havre last year. I know
the girls from last year's team have been talking about doing it again this
year."
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