Skylights beat Griffins; fall to No.4 Warriors

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

Victories in the Frontier Conference are never easy to come by. That is why Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball coach Chris Mouat will gladly take the home split he got this weekend.

Mouat and the Skylights planned on two hard-fought games against visiting Westminster College and Lewis-Clark State at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse this weekend, and that is exactly what the Skylights got.

On Friday night, MSU-N defeated Westminster, 68-55, but the Skylights dropped a tough decision to No. 4 LC State on Saturday night.

“We made a point all week that we had to beat Westminster,” Mouat said. “We needed to get off to a good start and we did. We felt like we could beat Lewis-Clark State too, but Friday night was the one we thought we absolutely had to have.”

If getting off to a good start was the gameplan, then MSU-N certainly accomplished that mission on Friday night against the Griffins.

The Skylights opened the game with three straight 3-pointers to take a shocking 9-0 lead. MSU-N would never trail in a game that saw the Skylights go 9-of-15 from beyond the arc and get 18 and 17 points from guards Chelsie Searle and Becky Sorenson, respectively. Searle connected on four treys and Sorenson nailed three long-range bombs.

“We wanted to go to the three right away, and you couldn’t ask for a better start against anybody,” Mouat said. “Our guards played exceptionally well and we knew that they would have to going in. Credit Chelsie and Becky for really knocking down big shots, especially early on.”

Behind the hot outside shooting, MSU-N led by as many as 17 points in the first half, and had the Griffins down 34-20 at halftime.

In the second half, Northern continued to shoot the ball well, but the Skylights got careless with the basketball late and that allowed Westminster to rip off a 13-0 run that cut the MSU-N lead to 53-42 with four minutes to play in the game. However, MSU-N’s lead was big enough that the Skylights were able to hold the Griffins off in the final minutes and preserve the win.

Northern’s finish was the only disappointment in an otherwise good victory, according to Mouat.

“I thought we just didn’t finish the way we should have and that is disappointing,” Mouat said. “We had a chance to really put them away and in this league, you have to do that when you have the opportunity.

“But I am still pleased with the way we played for the most part,” he added. “Westminster is a very good team and we were able to control them most of the way. I am especially happy with how we playe don the defensive end of the floor.”

MSU-N’s defense held the Griffins to a dismal 30 percent shooting form the field. The Griffins also missed 19-of-25 three’s which aided MSU-N to victory.

Searle was everywhere for MSU-N. Aside from her game-high 18 points, the senior guard pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and dished out six assists. The Skylights also got 13 points and seven boards from DeLayne Johnston.

Westminster was paced by Elisa Leader’s 18 points. Shannon Evans and Janae Hirschi added 11 points each in the loss.

On Saturday night, the Skylights turned their attention to LC State, and for just the second itme in two years, MSU-N lost a Frontier Conference game on its home floor as the Warriors outlasted the Skylights, 67-59.

In a game that featured as many as four All-American-type post players, the Skylights couldn’t overcome 23 turnovers and 18 offensive rebounds to LC State, despite limiting LC State to 67 points just one night after the Warriors put up 101 points at the University of Great Falls.

“I was really happy with how we played defensively,” Mouat said. “They are a potent offensive team, so to hold them to 67 points, I couldn’t have been mor epleased with our kids.

“But the difference was the turnovers and the 18 offensive rebounds,” he added. “Against a team that can already score the ball like they do, you just can’t give them that many second chances.”

Indeed, the Skylights did give LC State one too many oppertunites to keep control of a game that MSU-N worked diligently at to stay in. The Skylights overcame a six-minute scoring drought to only trail LC State 32-27 at halftime. And then they survived a furious second half by LC State’s Aundrea Morrison to only trail by seven points with three minutes remaining in the contest.

Morriosn scored all 14 of her points in the second half, and she was dominant on the offensive glass. That after sitting out most of the first half.

Still, MSU-N had its chances, especailly after the Skylights quickly cut a 13-point LC State lead down to seven points thanks to some timely shooting by Jena Heggem and strong wrk inside from reserve forwards Jayla McPherson and Ashley Trulock.

But LC State seemed to have the answer for every Skylight run. Katya Yancheva hit a 3-pointer at the 3-minute mark to put LC State back up by 10 points. Then, just seconds after Heggem drilled a long three to pull the Skylights to within five points, Jade Fulbright returned the favor, and stuck a three-point dagger in the Skylights’ heart.

“It was hard-fought game. This is a very tough place to play and to win,” LC State head coach Brian Orr said. “They played a great game. But we hit some really big shots at critical moments late in the game, and fortunately, we did enought o get the win. I am really proud of our kids for hanging in there and surving what was agreat game.”

Said Mouat: “We had some chances at the end. We cut the lead down to five, but we just couldn’t hit enough shots when we really needed them. I am proud of our kids. They gutted it out against a really good tea,. We got a great lift from Ashley Trulock and Jayla McPherson tonight. But in the end we just came up short.”

Heggem and Johnstn led the way for MSU-N with 12 points each. McPherson gave the Skylights 10 points and seven rbeounds off the bench, and Truclock added eight points and four boards before she left the game with an ankle injury. Morrison and Fulbright paced LC State with 14 points a piece.

The weekend split leaves MSU-N at 2-2 in conference play and 13-5 overall. Northern will travel to Great Falls on Saturday night fr a meeting with UGF.

Skylights 68, Griffins 55

WC — Shannon Evans 3-16 4-6 11, Alicia Haberle 2-5 0-0 6, Janae Hirschi 5-16 1-5 11, Elisa Leader 5-13 6-6 18, Mara Hoskins 2-8 0-2 5, Tiff Dodge 1-2 0-0 2, BreAnne Haslam 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-63 11-19 55.

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 6-10 2-2 18, Becky Sorenson 5-7 4-6 17, DeLayne Johnston 5-8 3-3 13, Jena Heggem 1-4 0-0 3, Michele VanDyke 2-6 0-1 4, Amada Hovey 1-3 0-0 2, Amanda Quartuccio 1-1 0-0 3, Jayla McPherson 2-3 2-3 6, Ashley Trulock 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 24-25 11-18 68.

Halftime — MSU-N 34, WC 20. Three-point goals — WC 6-25 (Evans 1, Haberle 2, Leader 2, Hoskins 1), MSU-N 9-15 (Searle 4, Sorenson 3, Heggem 1, Quartuccio 1). Rebounds — WC 40 (Hoskins 9), MSU-N 34 (Searle 9, Johnston 7). Total fouls — WC 21, MSU-N 16. Fouled out — Leader.

Warriors 67, Skylights 59

LCS — Katie Hart 2-6 0-0 5, Ashley Baker 6-16 1-3 13, Janeen Nelson 0-8 2-2 2, Jade Fulbright 6-12 0-1 14, Aundrea Morrison 6-13 1-4 14, Terri Wittmer 0-1 1-3 1, Kim Preston 0-1 0-0 0, Katya Yancheva 3-6 3-4 12, Vanessa West 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Mendezona 0-1 2-2 2, Mandy Troutt 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 24-66 12-21.

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 0-6 5-6 5, Becky Sorenson 2-8 2-4 8, DeLayne Johnston 2-3 8-10 12, Jena Heggem 3-5 3-6 12, Michele VanDyke 1-5 0-0 2, Kylee Starr 1-1 0-0 2, Jayla McPherson 2-5 6-6 10, Ashley Trulock 3-5 2-2 8. Total 14-39 26-34.

Halftime — LCS 32, MSU-N 27. Three-point goals — LCS 7-23 (Hart 1-3, Fulbright 2-4, Morrison 1-2, Yancheva 3-5), MSU-N 5-17 (Sorenson 2-7, Heggem 3-5). Rebounds — LCS 39 (Baker 12), MSU-N 39 (Heggem 8). Total fouls — LCS 24 (Fouled out — Baker), MSU-N 17 (Fouled out — none).