Skylights glad to be home; host Tech and Western
George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
It has been almost a month since Havre fans last saw
the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team. It has also been
that long since the Skylights last tasted victory.
Tonight at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse, the Skylights
(2-5, 12-7) will try to snap a four-game losing streak when they host the
Montana Tech Orediggers. Northern will also host
UM-Western on Saturday night.
Even though the Skylights' conference record looks less than impressive, and
they are tied for fifth place with the
“This is a group of kids who are very positive
and they have remained that way,” Mouat said. “They also know that in order for
us to get this turned around in the second half of the season they are going to
have to be better in certain areas.”
Those areas are simple. The Skylights have to find a way to avoid being outrebounded, and they have to pick up their effort on the
defensive end of the floor.
Despite possessing two quality post players in DeLayne Johnston and Michele VanDyke, the Skylights have had all kinds of problems in
the rebounding department. Some if it is the opponents Northern has faced in
the last two weeks. Trips to
Still, Mouat isn't making any excuses.
“We understand that we simply have to do a better job rebounding
the basketball,” he said. “And against both teams we play this weekend we will
have to be better on the glass or things might not go our way again. It is
pretty simple.
“We also have to pick our effort back up on defense,” Mouat added. “I just felt
like we weren't there defensively against
Offensively, Northern has had little trouble keeping up with anybody. The
Skylights are one of the highest scoring teams in the league and one of the top
free-throw shooting teams as well. Most of that is due to the play of senior Jaci Heny, who averages 19 points
per game and leads the league in free-throw percentage. Northern also gets
double-digit scoring from
Tonight, the Skylights will look to end their tough luck when they host Montana
Tech (1-6, 5-17). The Orediggers are in last place in
the Frontier standings, and MSU-N already owns a 98-54 win over Tech, which
came last month in
Despite their record and the lopsided victory the first time they faced the Orediggers, Mouat remains steadfast in his belief that Tech
will come to Havre more than capable of handing the Skylights a fifth straight
loss.
“The first time we played was a long time ago and you might as well throw it
out,” Mouat said. “Tech is very much improved the last month and they will come
in here a totally different team than the one we saw in
The Orediggers have some offensive weapons that could
give the Skylights trouble. Included in that group is former Box Elder star
Tami Infante. But the one that has Mouat concerned is
guard/forward Kyle Cook.
“Kyle Cook has been playing great basketball lately,” Mouat said. “She is
really stepping to the front for them.”
On Saturday night the Skylights will go back to the daunting task of facing a
team with dominant post players as they welcome No. 9 UM-Western (6-1, 19-3).
The Bulldogs have been one of the league's top teams all season and they start
two of the league's premier players in the 6-1 tandem of Katherine Sunwall and Becky O'Neil. And while Mouat knows that
containing the two big girls will be crucial, it is Western's guards, led by
former Great Falls High standout Megan Schmitz, who have him concerned.
“Western is a very good, talented team,” Mouat said. “And they have two
tremendous players in Katherine Sunwall and Becky
O'Neil.
“But their guards are equally as talented,” he added. “They have three seasoned
guards in their backcourt and they all handle the ball well and shoot it well
from the perimeter. They are just a great all-around team.”
One can look at the Skylights' season in many different ways. Northern has lost
three of its last four games by a combined seven points. The Skylights also
lost to Western on opening night, 59-56, so if things had gone the other way,
Saturday night's showdown might be for first place in the league standings.
But Mouat and the Skylights can't afford to look back, and he said the game
against Western will once again come down to rebounding and defense.
“We got off to a really bad start against them the first time we played and if
we hadn't, things might have been different,” Mouat said. “So getting off to a
good start is crucial.
“But it's just like any other night from here on out. In order to be successful
we have to rebound the ball better and we have to play really hard-nosed, solid
defense.”
The Skylights are more than capable of doing both, especially at home, where
they are very excited to be after being on the road for the last three weeks.
“We're really excited to play at home this weekend,” Mouat said. “We had
tremendous support in
Tonight's game between the Skylights and Orediggers
will get under way at 6. Saturday's game between MSU-N and UM-Western will also
tip off at