Lights and Skylights hit the road for the last time
George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The final road trip of the season can be a double-edged
sword for any basketball team.
Success can mean getting a leg up on the rest of the conference, and failure
can create immense pressure to win the rest of the way out.
That is the dilemma facing both the Montana State University-Northern men's and
women's basketball teams this week, as both squads embark on the final road
trip of the regular season.
On Thursday night, the Lights and Skylights
will be in
The MSU-N women are coming off a spectacular homestand in which the Skylights
(4-5, 14-7) blew out Montana Tech on Friday night and then No. 9 UM-Western on
Saturday.
With two wins in hand, Northern will look to build upon that success and climb
back to .500 in conference play when they face the Saints (6-3, 20-4) on
Thursday night.
The last time the two teams hooked up, former Havre High standout Jolene Fuzesy
stunned the Skylights in Havre with a dramatic, game-winning 3-pointer at the
buzzer to lift the Saints to victory. The loss started a four-game losing
streak that the Skylights finally ended last weekend.
That wasn't the last time Fuzesy hit a heroic game-winning shot. The 5-9 sophomore from
Fuzesy has steadily been climbing the scoring ranks in conference play this
season, averaging 14.8 points per game. She also leads the league in 3-point
percentage, making 51 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc.
Despite Fuzesy's heroics, MSU-N senior Jaci Heny may be the league's hottest
player. The 5-8 guard is averaging 21 points per game and leads the league in
free-throw percentage. She is second in the league in steals and third in
assists. Heny is coming off a weekend in which she scored 47 points in two
games, including a 26-point outburst against Western.
MSU-N sophomore forward DeLayne Johnston isn't far behind on the list of who's
hot and who's not.
The Bears at one time were the league's surprise team. But they have dropped
three of their last four games and have slipped to fifth place in the league
standings. Northern already owns two double-digit wins over RMC, including a
16-point win last month in Havre.
Still, Rocky has been a tough opponent on its home floor and the Bears are
getting a monster freshman campaign from Josie Evans. In both meetings against
MSU-N, Evans has scored in double figures, including a 21-point, 18-rebound
outing in Havre. RMC is also getting good production from Lori Jo Neubauer and
Stephanie Neubauer, as well as former HHS star Geri Matter.
Like the MSU-N women, the Northern men will be involved in a couple of revenge
games this weekend. When the Lights take the floor Thursday night in
Meanwhile, the Lights (5-4, 16-9) were up and down at home last weekend.
Northern blew out Montana Tech on Friday night, but then got drubbed by UM-Western
on Saturday night. The split left Northern in a three-way tie for second in the
conference standings with LC State and Western.
While a win in
Northern has already lost to RMC once this season and a second loss would be
devastating to the Lights' chances of earning a top seed in the Frontier
Conference tournament next month.
That is where the revenge factor comes into play. Rocky's Chris Nickolei hit a
wild 3-pointer as time expired to beat the Lights in Havre last month. Since
that time Nickolei has been on a tear and he is among the league leaders in
scoring and rebounding.
But, the Bears didn't use that win in Havre as a springboard. RMC (4-5, 12-12)
has lost several close games as of late, and this week they are below .500 in
the conference standings for the first time all year. A second win over the
Lights, however, could get the Bears back into the hunt for a top three seed in
the conference tournament, and that is what makes Saturday's game one of the
most intriguing matchups of the week.
Thursday night's action between MSU-N and
Saturday night in