Lights, Skylights travel to UGF
George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
It is hard to believe, but, when the Montana State University-Northern men's
and women's basketball teams travel to Great Falls on Saturday night to take on
the University of Great Falls Argos, it will mark the halfway point of the 2005
Frontier Conference season.
And Saturday's games won't just be the renewal of an old rivalry. It will be
more about two games in which all parties involved are searching for a
much-needed win.
The MSU-Northern women come into Saturday night's contest losers of three
straight games, none of which were easy to swallow. In their last three
outings, the Skylights lost on a last-second shot to
The three-game slide leaves the Skylights
sitting at 2-4 in the Frontier Conference standings and 12-6 overall. While it
would seem obvious to most that Northern is in dire need of victory against
UGF, MSU-N head coach
“That is our main priority on Saturday night,” Mouat said. “We need to go in
there and play as well as we can and as hard as we can.
“We need to bounce back and respond to the loss to LC State,” he added. “If we
can do that, we will be in good shape.”
Northern and UGF have already hooked up once this season, but the game was a
nonconference tilt in Havre back in December. In that game, the Skylights
thrashed the
Mouat isn't counting on a repeat of that score this time around.
“That game is way in the past for both teams,” Mouat said. “I think UGF has
grown up a lot since then and I know we have.
“They are a team that packs a lot of scoring punch and they have a lot of very
capable, talented players. Plus this is a rivalry game on their home floor,” he
added. “So we are going down there expecting a tough, hard-fought game from
UGF.”
The
“Laura is having a great season,” Mouat said. “She is definitely a player who
can score in bunches and she is doing it against everyone in our league. She,
along with Megan Shwantes and Jessica Smith, give UGF a lot of scoring power,
and we're going to have to do a good job on them defensively.”
Playing defense is something the Skylights have done well all season. However,
Northern has gotten outrebounded by four straight opponents. That, along with
getting the ball inside more often, will be crucial on Saturday, Mouat said.
“We have to get back to moving the ball inside and then out,” he said. “Because
of the teams we have faced the last couple of weeks, we have gotten away from
that a little.
“That has also caused us to not get to the foul line as much,” he added. “So we
need to get our offense headed in that direction again, because when we attack
the basket and we are aggressive, I think that is when we are most dangerous.”
Despite the losing streak, the Skylights still have four players in the top 10
in the conference in scoring, led by senior Jaci Heny (19.1 ppg). DeLayne Johnston
(14.4 ppg), Michele VanDyke (12.6 ppg) and Camille Gardner (11.8 ppg) are also
among the league leaders in points.
Like the women's game, Saturday night's tilt between the MSU-N and UGF men will
also be a battle of two teams trying to right the ship.
The Lights come to Great Falls having suffered two bad road losses at
Westminster and LC State. In the game against the Warriors, Northern's usually
potent offense took a hiatus, and the Lights wound up scoring under 50 points
for the first time this season.
If things are going to turn around against the Argos, the Lights will have to
have help for leading scorer Jordan Matthews, who is fifth in the league at
16.4 points per game. Northern had been getting steady double-digit scoring
from sophomore Cory Brothers and junior Ronnie Simpson, but both players
struggled on the Lights' most recent road trip.
A player who has been heating up for the Lights is sophomore Cody Gillespie.
The reserve forward and former Great Falls High all-state player will be making
a homecoming on Saturday night, and will no doubt be hoping to help the Lights
return to their winning ways.
While the Lights will look to regain their offensive swagger on Saturday night,
they will also have to play solid defense if they are to get out of Great Falls
with a much-needed win.
Despite being winless in Frontier Conference play this season, the Argos (0-6,
7-14) possess two dangerous offensive threats and a host of talented athletes.
UGF has the conference's third leading scorer in 6-4 junior Tyrone Witherspoon.
The lanky swingman is averaging 17.1 points per game and seven rebounds.
Witherspoon is also second in all of NAIA basketball in field goal percentage,
averaging a hefty 64 percent from the floor.
UGF also has the nation's leading assist man in sophomore point guard
In all, the Argos have six players scoring in double figures, and as a team,
they are averaging about 85 points per game. There is no doubt the game could
come down to who executes on offense and who can get a critical defensive stop
in the second half.
Saturday night's game between the MSU-N and UGF women will tip off at 6 p.m.
and the men will get under way at 8 p.m. All of the action will take place at
the McLaughlin Center on the UGF campus in Great Falls.