MSU-N sweeps UGF

Monday, Jan. 22

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

Montana State University-Northern men’s and women’s basketball teams’ trek south to Great Falls each year consists of half the games of the biggest rivalry that the University of Great Falls Argos has.

That’s why the McLaughlin Center is always a dangerous place for the Lights and Skylights no matter where the Argos are in the Frontier Conference standings.

But on Saturday night, both MSU-N teams calmly took care of business, sweeping UGF in a pair of critical Frontier Conference games.

In the women’s game Saturday night, the MSU-N Skylights had to face the Argos without their leading scorer and rebounder, DeLayne Johnston. The 6-0 senior from Richey missed the game due to a family emergency. But fellow senior Jayla McPherson, a former Argo, made an instant impact in Johnston’s place, scoring a game-high 16 points and pulling down a stellar 12 rebounds as the Skylights beat up on the Argos, 80-50.

“It is never the same when you’re not playing with all of your kids,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “But Jayla had an excellent night for us. She really seized the opportunity and she and Michele (VanDyke) were really clicking.

“Actually, without DeLayne, all of our posts prepared to get extended minutes,” he added. “And Michele, Jayla and Ashley Trulock really stepped up and did a great job.”

The game was a completely different story then when the Skylights and Argos met in a nonconference affair back in November. MSU-N had to come from way behind in that game to pull out a close victory. But on Saturday night, the Skylights controlled things from the opening tip. Northern led 40-26 at halftime, and then went on a quick 12-1 run to start the second half. That run put a definite end to UGF’s chances of climbing back into the game.

“We went on a nice run at the end of the first half,” Mouat said. “So we were feeling pretty good at halftime. But we talked about bracing for them to make a run at us. And we also talked about winning the first three minutes of the second half. And we did that. We got off to a really good start in the second half. And we just felt really good from there.”

MSU-N had five players reach double figures and the Skylights shot the ball extremely well from the free-throw line. But it was their effort on defense that had Mouat pleased at game’s end. Northern held Laura Keaster, the league’s leading scorer, to just 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Keaster had been averaging 20.1 points per game coming in.

On the other end, the Skylights got 12 points form VanDyke, as well as 11 points apiece from Chelsie Searle and Trulock. Jena Heggem pitched in with 10 points.

“I felt like we went down there and improved,” Mouat said. “We played a pretty complete game. We shot the ball well, we made free throws and we never let their scorers get going. It was just a pretty complete game by our kids.”

The win over the Argos improved the Skylights’ conference record to 3-2. UGF slipped to 0-5 in league play. Both the Argos and Skylights are on the road this weekend at Montana Tech and UM-Western.

While the Skylights completely dominated UGF on Saturday night, things weren’t that easy for the MSU-N Lights. Still, Northern found a way to overcome a second-half shooting slump and pull out a 70-64 road victory.

“The game was one of those situations where we had the lead the whole game even though the shots weren’t really falling for us,” Lights head coach Shawn Huse said. “So I really credit our kids for staying focused and staying patient and finding a way to win even though things really weren’t going our way.”

Free throws became critical in a game that saw MSU-N lead 42-35 at halftime. The Lights only shot 37 percent from the field while the Argos shot 47 percent. And in the second half, the outside shots just weren’t falling for MSU-N.

And UGF nearly exploited that when former Big Sandy star Jay Jamieson drilled a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in the contest. The shot pulled the Argos to within four points. But UGF missed free throws late and Delvaughn Tinned’s critical made free throws became the difference. For the game UGF made just 9-of-23 foul shots while MSU-N shot on 20-of-28 attempts.

“I think that was definitely the difference,” Huse said. “We made our free throws and they didn’t. UGF is a very good team and they played well. But credit our kids for making some clutch free throws at the end.

“I also felt like we took care of the ball really well,” Huse added. “And that made a big difference. We didn’t turn the ball over and even though the shots weren’t falling, we did execute our offense well.”

Cory Brothers and Leo Bullchild lifted MSU-N offensively. Brothers scored 14 points and made 6-of-8 free throws. Bullchild gave the Lights 13 points, including three treys. Ronnie Simpson came off the bench to score 13 points and Tinned chipped in with 12.

“I thought Cory, Ronnie and Leo really gave us a big spark offensively,” Huse said. “Again, the shots might not have been falling for us, but those guys really picked us up when we needed it.”

The Frontier’s leading scorer, Tyrone Witherspoon did manage to score 18 points, but he was the only Argo to reach double figures. Jamieson scored eight points and hit a pair of threes.

The Lights are now 3-2 in league play heading into a critical road trip at Montana Tech and UM-Western this weekend. The Argos fell to 0-5 on the year, and they will also be at Tech and Western this weekend.

Skylights 80, Argos 50

MSU-N — Jayla McPherson 7-10 2-2 16, Chelsie Searle 4-6 0-0 11, Becky Sorenson 2-3 3-4 8, Jena Heggem 4-8 0-0 10, Michele VanDyke 4-10 4-5 12, Kylee Starr 1-3 0-0 2, Amanda Hovey 1-4 0-0 3, Amanda Quartuccio 2-2 1-1 5, Ashley Trulock 4-10 3-4 11. Totals: 29-56 15-18.

UGF — Laura Keaster 5-12 0-1 12, Sarah Stubbs 0-5 1-2 1, Meghan Schwantes 3-7 0-0 6, Lelsy Richter 2-5 4-4 8, Jacqui Millam 3-9 1-2 7, Keyla Briese 1-2 0-0 3, Kalyn Fairbanks 2-5 0-0 5, Jen Simonds 0-0 0-0 0, Danielle Heny 0-2 3-3 3, Cali Buck 2-11 1-1 5. Totals: 18-58 10-13.

Halftime: MSUN 40-26. Three-pointers: MSUN 7-12 (Searle 3-3, Sorenson 1-1, Heggem 2-5, Hovey 1-3), UGF 4-14 (Keaster 2-4, Stubbs 0-2, Briese 1-2, Fairbanks 1-4, Heny 0-1, Buck 0-1). Rebounds: MSUN 42 (McPherson 12), UGF 28 (Buck 6). Fouls: MSUN 11, UGF 11. Fouled out: None. Assists: NA. Turnovers: MSUN 14, UGF 14. A: 700 (est).

Lights 70, Argos 64

MSU-N — Erv Sims 2-4 0-0 4, Drew Pettersen 3-7 2-2 8, Delvaughn Tinned 3-14 5-6 12, Cory Brothers 3-7 6-8 14, Brian Erickson 0-1 3-4 3, Leo Bullchild 5-7 0-0 13, Durwin Williams 0-1 1-2 1, Marcus Wilson 1-3 0-1 2, Cody Gillespie 0-5 0-0 0, Ronnie Simpson 5-10 3-5 13. Totals: 22-59 20-28 70.

UGF — Tyrone Witherspoon 9-12 0-4 18, Jason Goodman 3-5 1-1 9, Keon Polee 1-6 1-4 3, Jay Jamieson 3-7 0-0 8, Rashaun Puryear 3-7 2-3 9, Leo Ledvid 0-1 0-0 0, Royce Fulp 1-6 0-0 2, Matt Niemeyer 2-3 3-3 7, Hanif Pollock 3-8 0-3 6, Brian Erickson 1-1 2-5 4. Totals: 26-56 9-23 64.

Halftime—MSUN 42-35. 3-point goals—MSUN 6-18 (Tinned 1-4, Brothers 2-4, Bullchild 3-4, Gillespie 0-3, Simpson 0-3), UGF 3-11 (Polee 0-3, Jamieson 2-3, Puryear 1-4, Ledvid 0-1). Rebounds—MSUN 41 (Team 8, Brothers 6), UGF 41 (Witherspoon 12). Assists—MSUN 0, UGF 10 (Goodman 4). Turnovers—MSUN 13, UGF 13. Total fouls—MSUN 22, UGF 24. Fouled out—Puryear. Technical foul—Niemeyer. A—1,132.