Skylights roll into Frontier season opener
George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
To say the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team is on a
hot streak right now would be terribly understating the obvious. Northern took
a five-game winning streak into a pair of difficult games in
The Skylights (10-2) will take on UM-Western tonight at 6 and they will also
visit Montana Tech in
Heading into last weekend's tournament in
The triumphs in
But the Bulldogs will present a whole different challenge, as will the rest of
the Frontier schedule. UM-Western was predicted to battle Carroll College and
Lewis-Clark State for the conference championship, and so far all three teams
have lived up to the billing.
The Bulldogs enter conference play with a 13-2 overall record. As good as
Western was last year, the addition of
The 6-1 O'Neil has thrived in the paint for Western this year, averaging 16
points and nine rebounds per game. She, along with 6-1 junior Katherine
Sunwall, give the Bulldogs one of the strongest front lines in all of NAIA
women's basketball.
Western isn't just an outside team. The Bulldogs also have one of the most
dangerous guards in the conference in Great Falls native Megan Schmitz. The
junior is averaging 15 points per game, and she is a dangerous threat from the
3-point line.
Northern post players like Johnston, VanDyke and Ashley Trulock will have their
hands full with Western's front line tonight, and they will again on Saturday
when they visit Montana Tech. The Orediggers might have a less-than-impressive
4-11 record this season, but one thing they have going for them is size.
Tech is led by 6-1 Johanna Fryer and 6-0 Marcie Alzheimer. The Orediggers also
get help from 5-9 Stephanie Baertsch. Still, the Skylights' fast-pace attack
should offset the Orediggers' inside presence.
Heny's numbers continue to rise, and she is now averaging more than 20 points
per game. Fellow senior guard Camille Gardner also leads the team in assists
and she is scoring in double figures, just like Johnston and VanDyke.
The MSU-N men will have somewhat of an opposite weekend than their female
counterparts. The Lights (11-5) stumbled a bit in their final nonconference
game, barely beating the University of Lethbridge in Havre last Saturday.
However, tonight in Dillon, Northern should have less of a difficult task than
the MSU-N women. The UM-Western Bulldogs (6-10) have struggled this season
against much of the same competition the Lights have faced.
The Bulldogs and veteran head coach Mick Durham lost three seniors from last
year's successful team, including the conference's leading scorer, Matt Ludke.
Still, Western is very talented with the likes of Ty Palmer and Jeff Feenstra
back this season as well as former MSU-N and Chester High School standout Jeff
Graham. Western is also getting solid contributions from Rocky Mountain College
transfer Wes Morales and true freshman Charlie Cox.
Palmer leads the team in scoring at 19 points per game. Cox is having a
tremendous freshman campaign, averaging 15 points per game and five assists.
On Saturday night, the Lights will travel to Butte to take on Montana Tech.
Like Western, Tech (8-6) has faced many of the same teams played by the Lights,
but has fared well during the nonconference season.
Tech's size will also play a factor in the matchup. The Orediggers dress six
players over 6-5 and they are paced by 6-11 center TJ Scarborough. He will be a
load for Lights center Yanif Ducreay to handle. Tech also gets good scoring
production from 6-5 swingman Maurice Williams and 6-1 guard Luke Harman.
As the Frontier season begins, the Lights have three players averaging in
double figures, led by senior Jordan Matthews (18 ppg). Cory Brothers and
Ronnie Simpson are also averaging double digits.
Tonight's games in Dillon between MSU-N and UM-Western begin at 6 with the
women's game. The men will play at 8. Tipoff for both games in Butte on
Saturday night are scheduled for the same times.