Fourth-seed Northern ready to run tonight
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
Run your own race.
Head coach
If they only worry about the things they can control, then they will be fine at
the end.
Well, the finish line is near in the Skylights' race, and a few obstacles still
remain as they open the Frontier Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
tonight with the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears at 6 p.m. at the Maroon
Activity Center in Butte.
Thus far, the Skylights' race has gone pretty smoothly, with a 9-5 record in
the conference and a 23-9 overall record, good enough for fourth place in the
conference.
"That tells you how tough the top teams are because in a lot of years, 9-5
is good enough to finish one or two," Erickson said.
There were a few bumps along the way, including
a 72-67 loss to Rocky in
"Obviously, we know we can beat them," Erickson said. "And we
certainly had more than a few opportunities to win the first game. We played
them very tough and just had some mistakes down the stretch. I think we should
be very confident going in."
Confident, but not overconfident. Rocky is still a very dangerous team. The
Bears come into the tourney as the fifth seed, finishing fifth in the
conference with a 7-7 league record and an 11-18 record overall.
"We can't just walk in there and expect Rocky to roll over for us,"
Erickson said. "They have a solid team with some very good
individuals."
The Bears start and end with point guard Jenny Balgua. The 5-7 senior and
former Skylight is one of the most competitive players in the league. She
simply cannot stand losing and has a tendency of playing her best in the
biggest games.
"She's their emotional and physical leader," Erickson said. "She
can carry them with her competitiveness alone."
There is more than just a competitive fire to Balgua. She has plenty of talent.
She leads Rocky in scoring (13.6 ppg), rebounding (4.3), assists (3.2) and
steals (2.8).
In Rocky's win over Northern, Balgua had 22 points, six assists and two steals
in the win. But more than anything, it's mentality. When Balgua is playing
well, the Bears are playing well.
"She has the ability to make everyone around her better," Erickson
said. "They really feed off her confidence. We did a better job of slowing
her down in Havre and will have to be even better defensively in
Although it may not seem like it at times, there is much more to Rocky than
Balgua. The Bears also have a solid supporting cast in Rae Dawn Lei, Gretchen
Wall, Alyssa Root, Sarah Bills, Jeri Matter, Katherine Bitz and Jamie Graham.
Wall and Root combine for close to 19 points per game and have the potential to
score points in bunches. Lei is a solid all-around player, while the trio of
Hi-Line standouts Matter, Bitz and Graham has given Rocky solid minutes all
season.
The wild card may be the 6-4 Bills. She is one of the tallest players in the
conference and is a difference-maker on both ends of the floor.
"She is so big and she has really long arms, which makes her play even
taller," Erickson said. "She didn't play much the first time we
played them, but
she is starting to play more and more, which is only going to make her
better."
Bills is averaging 7.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, but she leads the
conference in blocks at almost three per game and a whopping 82 on the season.
"She's a defensive presence just by standing in the middle of the
key," Erickson said. "She changes how you do things. What we need to
do is attack her and try and get her into foul trouble."
Northern also had success running past Bills and Rocky. In their win, the
Skylights had a myriad of fast-break buckets and really pushed the tempo into
their favor.
"We want to get out in transition and get some easy baskets,"
Erickson said. "We haven't been the greatest scoring team on the road, and
getting some easy baskets early will help our confidence."
Erickson hopes his team can play offensively the way it did in a 98-88 road win
over Great Falls.
"We executed so well and were making the extra pass," he said.
"That makes a big difference."
But the difference to Erickson is defense. He quickly admitted that his team
must play well defensively to offset any early nerves and sluggishness
offensively.
"Defense is the key for us," he said. "We have to play the same
type of aggressive, physical defense that we're capable of. It has made us a much
better team."
How many members of the team will be suited up remains to be seen. Erickson sat
down senior center Megan Valgardson for the final game of the season because of
disciplinary reasons. Earlier this week, he still hadn't decided whether she
will suit up for the tournament, but he admits her presence (11.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg)
on the floor is big.
Northern did put up 98 points without her, and has plenty of weapons. Sophomore
Jessi Reome is leading Northern in scoring at 14.6 points per game. She also
leads the Frontier in 3-pointers made, with a whopping 92. Recently, she fought
off a bad back to score 25 points on 9-10 shooting against UGF and was named
the Frontier Conference women's basketball player of the week.
"She's still hurting," Erickson said. "We hoped to get her more
rest against UGF, but she is such a competitor, it's tough to keep her off the
floor. She won't be 100 percent this weekend, but you won't get her off the
floor."
Northern also has the solid guard tandem of transfers Jaci Heny and Camille
Gardner. The duo combines for 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per
game. The Skylights are also getting close to 10 points and five rebounds per
game from junior Michele VanDyke and solid play from reserves Kristie Pullin,
DeLayne Johnston and Jena Heggem.
"It's tournament time and we need players to step up and raise their level
of play," Erickson said. "We need to have everybody continue to
contribute in some way."
Early in the conference season, Northern had positioned itself for a possible
at-large bid for the NAIA national tournament. However, some key losses have
erased that hope. Now, the Skylights must win the conference tourney to
continue their season.
"I don't think there is any reason why we can't win this tournament,"
Erickson said. "We have beaten every team in the league besides Carroll
and we had our chances to do that. We know we can play with any team.
"We just have to stay focused at all times on the court and maintain our
intensity the entire game."