Skylights look to remain atop
Frontier
By Ryan Divish/Havre
Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
For the Montana State
University-Northern women's basketball team, playing on the road has become
pretty much a routine.
After all, the Skylights
played 13 road games this season already, so don't think that a trip to
Billings for tonight's Frontier Conference matchup
with Rocky Mountain College has them shaking in their sneakers.
"It's something that
we're more than used to," said head coach Mike Erickson. "Not only
have we played a lot of road games, but we learned what it takes to be
successful on the road, which is big."
Of course, Erickson admitted,
a Frontier Conference road trip has a few more ramifications than a preseason
tournament in
"Conference games
obviously mean more and it makes playing on the road that much more
difficult," Erickson said. "Rocky isn't the easiest place to go in
and play."
Indeed, almost every team in
the conference is tough at home and the Bears are no different
Rocky comes into tonight's
game with a 1-1 conference record and a 5-11 record overall. Still, Erickson
isn't taking anything for granted.
"I know they are a much
better team than their record reflects," he said. "They've played
some tough teams in their nonconference
schedule."
Indeed, Rocky played a host of
DAC-10 schools along with two NCAA Division II squads and NCAA Division I
Montana State.
"This won't be an easy
game by any means," Erickson said. "We've got to come out mentally
focused and ready to play." Erickson said.
Because one thing is for certain,
the Bears, led by point guard Jenny Balgua, will. Balgua, a former Skylight, missed all of last season with a
knee injury. Now in her senior year, she is trying to make the most of it.
Her stats aren't overwhelming,
but solid. She leads Rocky in almost every category at 12.5 points, 4.1
rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 steals per game. Still, it's the intangibles that
she brings that have Erickson concerned.
"She is such a competitor
and she can't stand to lose," Erickson said. "The big thing with her
is that she makes her teammates better. If she's scoring points, that's just a
bonus."
One of the recipients of
several Balgua passes is senior Katherine Bitz.
The former Big Sandy standout
is enjoying a solid junior year, averaging 8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per
game.
"Bitz
can score either inside or out," Erickson said. "She really does a
little bit of everything for them."
Rocky also gets healthy
contributions from freshman Gretchen Wall (9.1 ppg)
and sophomore Alyssa Root (9 ppg). Former Havre High
standout Jeri Matter has also played well of late for Rocky and is averaging
5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Missing from the Rocky roster
are the
"The
Despite Wall, Matter, Root and
sophomore Mandy Norby, Rocky isn't an
inside-dominated team. The Bears prefer to bomb away from the outside to open
things up.
"They can easily attempt
30 three-pointers in a game," Erickson said "We need to get into
their shooters right away and not allow them to get going from the
outside."
Even though Northern is
comfortable living the hotel lifestyle on the road, Erickson may bring his team
back after the Rocky game to get some rest at home before heading to
If there is one team that gave
Northern fits last season, it would have to be the Saints, under second year
head coach Shawn Nelson.
Carroll, 14-5 overall and 1-1
in conference, beat Northern twice last season and currently leads the
conference in scoring at 80.7 points per game. The Saints are beating opponents
by an average of 18.7 points per game this season.
"Carroll is tough,"
Erickson admitted. "They are one of the better teams in the league for a
reason. They don't take plays off ever. They may not have a lot of size, but
they play extremely hard on every possession"
The reason for Carroll's success
is a potent scoring attack. The Saints not only put points on the scoreboard,
they are deadly efficient in doing so.
"They run their plays and
sets so well," Erickson said. "They are very
disciplined and always seem to get a good shot every possession. It's going to
a challenge for us defensively."
The Saints are a little
different on offense this year. Gone is All-American
shooting guard Tara Zoanni and her close to 23 points
per game.
Instead, Carroll is using a
more balanced attack led by junior Emili Woody, who
is averaging 15.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
"Woody always seems to be
around the ball," Erickson said. "She gets her points in different
ways and she's not afraid to do the dirty work inside."
Besides Woody, Carroll is
getting 12.7 points from former HHS all-stater and
true freshman Jolene Fuzesy.
"We know how dangerous Fuzesy is from the outside," Erickson said. "They
are going to set plenty of screens and plays for her to get open looks."
Fuzesy is second in the conference,
behind Northern's Jessi Reome, in three-pointers made with 39. She is also second
in the conference in three-point percentage at 45 percent.
Carroll also gets solid
production from junior Andrea Hall (11 ppg),
sophomore Laci High (9.2 ppg)
and junior Carly Syverson
(9 ppg).
"We have to try and keep
them out of sync on offense and keep them off balance," Erickson said.
"We'll try to mix things up a little and really pressure them."
One aspect that must change is
rebounding. Northern managed to defeat UM-Western last weekend despite getting
crushed on the boards 42-24.
"The big thing for us
against Carroll will be rebounding," Erickson said. "We have to do a
better job than we did last weekend. We can't allow Carroll to get second shots
with how solid their offense is."
With his team tied for first
in the Frontier with
"Our girls know that it
is a higher level of play for conference road games," he said. "But
our team seems to step up its level of play for big games. And in conference,
they are all big games."
The Skylights and Bears tip
off at
Copyright
© 2005 Havre Daily News