Off and running: Skylights split with Calgary and Regina

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

When you play in the NAIA, the basketball season is definitely a marathon and not a 100-yard dash. And this weekend, the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team stepped over the starting line in a split with the University of Calgary and the University of Regina.

Northern, coming into the season fresh off an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament’s “Sweet 16” last March, dropped its season-opener to Calgary on Saturday night at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse before rebounding to defeat Regina on Sunday afternoon.

In both games, the new-look Skylights fell behind by large deficits early in the first half. The difference in the two games was the Skylights were only able to come all the way back in one of them. But that comeback and victory pleased MSU-N second-year head coach Chris Mouat.

“Out of all the things that happened to us this weekend, I am most pleased with how we responded to the loss to Calgary,” Mouat said. “Even though we fell behind, we had a much better effort to start the Regina game than we did against Calgary. The kids really came back against Regina and played well and showed a lot of character to not get down on themselves.”

Sunday’s game was one of momentum.

A talented Regina team jumped out to an early 12-4 lead behind a series of fast-break layups. Later, the Cougars ripped off a 10-2 run to lead 25-13. They maintained that lead until the eight-minute mark of the first half, when Northern went on a 15-4 run sparked by the play of reserve forward Jayla McPherson, who scored 16 points in only her second game back from a severe knee injury she suffered more than a year ago.

“It feels good to be back playing with this team. These girls are great teammates and great friends, and they have been very supportive,” McPherson said. “I am starting to get my rhythm and my feel for the game back, and I feel good physically. Today I felt good, and I am just glad I was able to help us get a win.”

Northern’s late first-half run was only the beginning of a furious comeback by the Skylights. They grabbed the lead for the first and last time with two minutes to play in the half when DeLayne Johnston converted her sixth straight point, as the Skylights finished the first half on a 12-3 run to lead 47-41.

“I think the biggest difference in the two games is today we were able to get fresh legs and quality minutes out of our bench in the first half,” Mouat said. “We also got our inside-out game going and we got to the free-throw line. Those were all big factors in our ability to come back, because Regina is a very good team and they were shooting the ball extremely well early.”

Northern continued its fine play in the second half despite losing Johnston — who eventually scored a game-high 20 points and earned her first double-double of the season with 10 boards — to a vicious cut over her eye from an errant Regina elbow.

The Skylights only trepidation in the half came late when, down by 13 points, Regina tried to make a furious rally. Eventually, however, MSU-N was able to hang on for its first win of the young season.

“This was a nice win for us,” Mouat said. “I think it gives our team a lot of confidence, especially after the way we lost on Friday night.”

Johnston and McPherson paced the Skylights on Sunday. Northern also got nine points and eight boards from Michele VanDyke, and Becky Sorenson and Jena Heggem chipped in with eight points apiece. As a team, the Skylights outrebounded the Cougars 43-35 and made 11 more free throws than Regina.

On Saturday night, the University of Calgary Dinos spoiled MSU-N’s season debut with a resounding 78-63 win.

Northern’s start did the Skylights in, and turnovers and extremely poor free-throw shooting only made matters worse. The Skylights fell behind by as many as 21 points at 41-20 in the first half, and along the way they committed 31 turnovers, including 13 in the first half.

“The first half against Calgary was as bad as we have played in a really long time,” Mouat said. “They are a very good basketball team and we just weren;t prepared for some of the things they came out and did against us.

“But I have to credit our kids,” he added. “They fought the whole way and never hung it up. And I think as a result, we started to play better in the second half.”

Indeed, Northern did have its chances to claw back into the contest in the second half. The Skylights cut the Dinos lead to 65-56 on a pair of Sorenson free throws with 4:13 left in the game. But the Dinos never ran out of gas and were able to regain their double-digit lead en route to the 15-point victory.

Junior Ashley Trulock gave the Skylights a strong game off the bench, scoring a game-high 16 points. Johnston added 15 points and Chelsie Searle scored eight points in her first game back after missing almost all of last season with injuries. Northern missed 14 free throws on the night and also got outrebounded 44-37.

“I still think the game against Calgary was good for us,” Mouat said. “Yes, I would like to be 2-0 and have won both games by big margins. But the reality is, they are a really good team and the way they played against us was kind of a slap in the face as far as intensity is concerned. I think we will be better in the long run for having played them.”

The Skylights (1-1) will return to the court on Oct. 27-28 when they host the 2006 Northwest Energy Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Dinos 78, Skylights 63

UC — Whitney Haswell 6-11 0-2 12, Jane Meadwell 3-13 4-4 11, Lindsay Maundrell 2-9 5-8 9, Juli Gonzalez Mulido 2-4 0-0 4, Michelle Wilson 5-6 2-4 12, Becky Heninger 0-1 2-2 2, Courtney Coyle 3-9 0-0 7, Alexandra Gordichuck 1-1 0-0 2, Celeste Clark 1-2 0-0 2, Ashley Hill 1-7 1-2 3, Jamie Morck 6-6 2-2 14. Totals: 30-69 16-24 78.

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 3-11 0-0 8, Becky Sorenson 2-3 2-4 8, DeLayne Johnston 3-6 9-15 15, Jena Heggem 0-4 1-2 1, Michele VanDyke 1-6 3-6 5, Kylee Starr 1-1 0-0 2, Amanda Hovey 1-1 2-2 4, Jayla McPhresron 1-4 1-2 3, Mandee Caroll 0-1 1-2 1, Ashley Trulock 5-7 6-6 16. Totals: 17-45 25-39 63.

Halftime: Calg 48-29. Three-pointers: Calg 2-14 (Meadwell 1-4, Maundrell 0-1, Gonzalex 0-2, Coyle 1-3), MSUN 4-10 (Searle 2-5, Sorenson 2-3, Heggem 0-1, Carroll 0-1). Rebounds: Calg 44 (Wilson 15), MSUN 37 (VanDyke 6); Fouls: Calg 27, MSUN 17. Fouled out: Haswell, Meadwell, Maundrell, Johnston.

Skylights 73, Cougars 66

UR — Rebecaa Schmidt 4-10 0-0 9, Carmen Stewart 2-4 1-3 5, Danny Ash 5-7 0-0 15, Chelsea Cassano 3-4 0-3 6, Megan Cherkas 0-6 4-6 6, Gabrielle Gheyssen 2-11 2-3 7, Leann Phillips 1-4 0-2 2, Meryl Jordan 1-2 6-7 8, Maja Kralovcova 3-6 0-0 7. Totals: 22-58 13-24 66.

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 1-5 1-2 4, Becky Sorenson 2-5 2-2 8, deLayne Johnston 5-11 10-13 20, Jena Heggem 3-5 0-0 8, Michele VanDyke 1-3 7-13 9, Amanda Hovey 0-3 2-2 2, Jayla McPherson 7-10 2-2 16, Ashley Trulock 3-7 0-1 6. Totals: 22-50 24-35 73.

Halftime MSU-N 47-41. Three-pointers: UR 9-19 (Schmidt 1-2, Ash 5-7, Kivela 1-1 Gheyssen 1-2, Kralavcova 1-2), MSU-N 5-10 (Searle 1-2, Sorenson 2-3, Heggem 2-3). Rebounds: UR 35 (Cassano 7), MSU-N 43 (Johnston 10, VanDyke 7). Fouls: UR 27, MSU-N 22. Fouled out: Stewart, Kralovcova.