Skylights complete sweep of
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
When you haven't played a home game in over a month, coming out flat isn't
an option. After a month-long road trip, the Montana State University-Northern
women's basketball team made the most of a long-awaited home weekend with a
pair of wins over the
"We almost didn't know what to do being at home," joked Skylights
head coach
The Skylights didn't start off like they were excited to be at home. Northern
fell behind 13-5 to start the game, but Jessi Reome started heating up.
Reome sank her first 3-pointer of the night to cut
into the lead. It would be a sign of things to come. Northern tied the game at
21-21 on a Jena Heggem 3-pointer with nine minutes
remaining in the first half.
"We were a little rusty from a long break without games," Erickson
said. "We weren't hitting our shots initially, but we were able to stay in
the game with our rebounding and free throw shooting."
The two teams battled for the remainder of the half with some timely shooting
keeping the Skylights in the game. Northern eventually pulled ahead to take a
44-32 lead in the first half.
In the second half, the Skylights pulled away,
thanks to Reome's shooting.
The sophomore from
Reome was one off the school record, sinking seven
3-pointers in the game and finishing with a season-high 26 points.
"Jessi has been shooting the ball extremely well
all season," Erickson said. "Our players tend to feed off of her
shooting. When she started hitting her shots, our offense picked things up a
level."
Besides Reome, Megan Valgardson
had a solid game with 12 points and eight rebounds. DeLayne Johnston added
eight points and eight rebounds, while Michele VanDyke
chipped in with nine points.
"It was good to see our frontcourt have a nice game," Erickson said.
"That's as balanced as we've been in our last few games."
Northern also got a solid floor game from point guard Camille Gardner, who
dished out 10 assists and had just two turnovers.
"We did the little things like rebounding, boxing out, making our free
throws, and that kept us in the game," Erickson said.
On Saturday, Northern didn't start off the game quite as slowly, taking an
early lead and extending it with some solid play from its frontcourt.
"They actually came out with more intensity than we did," Erickson
said. "They had nothing to lose, but our post play basically kept us in
the game."
Northern led 33-29 at halftime and steadily built on the lead in the second
half to pick up a 75-58 win.
Northern's frontcourt players accounted for 42 of the
team's 75 points, led by Valgardson's 16 points and
nine rebounds.
"We've got to learn to play for a full 40 minutes," Erickson said.
"We're better every game and our confidence is growing."
With the wins, Northern improved to 7-4 on the season.
"We have a goal of only four losses in the nonconference
season," Erickson said. "We already have the four, so we really want
to keep it there. We just have to take it one game at a time. After being on
the road so much, it felt good to come home and get a couple of wins."
UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE (60)
Jessica Lynch 2-3 3-3 8; Angela Thompson 2-4 0-0 4; Candace Thompson 2-7 2-4 6;
Jen Loraas-Pletsch 4-7 2-3 10; Kim Bridge 2-7 0-0 6; Ciana Gregorio 5-7 0-0 14;Aimee Sandham
0-1 0-0 0; Lindy Lauder 1-1 2-2 4; Jenny Beckmann 0-3 0-0 0; Jamie Tschritter 0-2 2-4 2; Jordana Miltimore 2-5 2-4 6; Caitlin Anderson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals:
20-49 13-20 60.
MSU-NORTHERN (78)
DeLayne Johnston 2-7 4-4 8; Jaci Heny
1-8 3-4 6; Jessi Reome 9-14
1-2 26; Kristie Pullin 2-4
0-0 5; Camille Gardner 3-7 0-0 6; Heather Riener 0-1
0-0 0; Jena Heggem 1-2 0-0 3; Michele VanDyke 3-9 3-4 9; Ashley Trulock
1-1 0-0 2; Megan Valgardson 5-8 3-6 13. Totals: 27-61
14-20 78.
Halftime score: MSU-N 44, LETH 32. Three-point goals: LETH 7-15 (Lynch 1-1, A.
Thompson 0-1, C. Thompson 0-1, Bridge 2-6, Gregorio 4-6), MSU-N 10-22 (Heny 1-5, Reome 7-10, Pullin 1-2, Gardner 0-4, Heggem
1-1). Rebounds: LETH 30 (Lynch 5); MSU-N 39 (Johnston 8, Valgardson
8) Assists: LETH 14 (Miltimore 4); MSU-N 23 (
UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE (58)
Jessica Lynch 3-8 0-3 6; Angela Thompson 1-5 2-2 5; Candace Thompson 2-7 0-0 4;
Jen Loraas-Pletsch 0-2 0-0 0; Kim Bridge 3-6 2-2 11; Ciana Gregorio 4-9 0-0 9; Aimee Sandham
0-2 1-2 1; Lindy Lauder 0-2 1-2 1; Mackenzie Vander Woude
1-1 0-0 2; Jenny Beckmann 1-3 0-0 2; Jamie Tschritter
5-9 3-4 13; Jordana Miltimore
1-5 1-4 3; Natasha Yull 1-1 0-0 2; Caitlin Anderson
0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-60 9-17 58
MSU-NORTHERN (75)
DeLayne Johnston 4-4 6-7 14; Jessi Reome 4-10 0-1 10; Jaci Heny 2-9 6-7 10; Kristie Pullin 2-7 0-0 4; Camille Gardner 3-7 0-0 7; Heather Riener 0-1 0-0 0; Jena Heggem 0-2
2-2 6; Michele VanDyke 2-2 2-2
6; Ashley Trulock 2-3 2-2 6; Megan Valgardson 7-11 2-5 75 . Totals: 26-56 20-26 75.
Halftime score: MSU-N 33, LETH 29. Three-point goals: LETH 5-20 (Lynch 0-2, A.
Thompson 1-4, C. Thompson 0-2, Loraas-Pletsch 0-1,
Bridge 3-5, Gregorio 1-4, Sandham 0-1, Lauder 0-1),
MSU-N 3-21 (Reome 2-8, Heny
0-5, Pullin 0-2, Gardner 1-4, Riener
0-1, Heggem 0-1). Rebounds: LETH 34 (Lynch 9); MSU-N
38 (Valgardson 9,