Monday, Oct. 30

Skylights make the most of coaches vs cancer tourney

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

Taking advantage of playing at home is always a critical part of any basketball team’s success. And even though it is still early in the 2006-2007 season, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights can feel very good about holding serve on their home court this weekend during the Coaches vs Cancer Classic at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse.

The Skylights (3-1) earned a pair of hard-fought victories over two quality opponents in the University of Lethbridge and Northwest College over the weekend.

“We got two really good tests this weekend,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “Getting wins is always nice, because the alternative isn’t very much fun.

“I really liked our effort both nights,” he added. “We’re finding out some nice things about this team and about ourselves, and I feel like we improved from two weeks ago. That is what this part of the season is all about.”

One thing that has plagued the Skylights in the early going has been the first five minutes of the game. And it happened to the Skylights again on Friday night against Lethbridge.

MSU-N turned the ball over on its first five trips to the offensive end of the floor, and as a result, Lethbridge went ahead early, 11-6.

But the Skylights responded, especially in the paint, where they got an early lift from Jayla McPherson off the bench. DeLayne Johnston also got going midway through the first half, and by the 3:55 mark, Johnston put the Skylights ahead for the first time, 24-23. Johnston scored nine points in the first half as the Skylights led, 32-30.

“We didn’t get off to a good start either night,” Mouat said. “The turnovers really hurt us, and it is frustrating because most of them came when we were in the middle of executing our offense. We have to be better than that and that is something we are going to have to work hard on. Our kids have to understand that we can’t wait that long to start playing good basketball.”

But the Skylights did play good basketball against Lethbridge, especially in the second half. Johnston continued to play well, and both Ashley Trulock and Michele VanDkye had moments where they took over the game in the paint, which ultimately led to a hard-fought 78-71 MSU-N win.

“That is something that was nice to see,” Mouat said. “Obviously we have four very good post players, and they all had at least one point in the game when they went on a run that really helped our team out. I was really proud of that.”

Johnston finished with a game-high 18 points, while Trulock added 14 points off the bench. Becky Sorenson chipped in with 10 points, and McPherson and VanDyke added eight points a piece.

“That was a tough win to get,” Mouat said. “Lethbridge is a very good team and they are so quick. The kids had to gut that one out, and I am proud that they hung in there and found a way to get it done.”

On Saturday afternoon, the Skylights squared off against fellow NAIA member Northwest College, and this time it wasn’t just MSU-N that started slow. Both teams struggled on offense early on. Eventually, however, Northern’s guards, in particular, Chelsie Searle, got the Skylights off an running.

Searle exploded for a game-high 22 points, including three 3-pointers as MSU-N built on a 12-point halftime lead, and cruised to a 87-60 win. The Eagles struggled to handle MSU-N inside and that opened things up for the Skylights guards, and they took advantage.

“I can’t say enough about our guard play against Northwest,” Mouat said. “Chelsie Searle and Jena Heggem really got going and we shot the ball very well from the outside. I think in one game, we really improved, and we found ways to not make the same mistakes that we made on Friday night.”

Like Searle, Heggem and Sorenson also paved the way for MSU-N on Saturday. Heggem scored 10 points and hit two trey’s, and Sorenson scored eight points and racked up seven assists. Trulock and VanDyke paced MSU-N on the inside with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

“This was a nice weekend for us,” Mouat said. “We played better and I think we improved and that is all you can ask for.

“We know we have work to do,” he added. ‘we’re turning the ball over way too much and we have to be ready to get off to a better start each night. But we’re happy with these two wins and we continued to learn a lot about ourselves. It was a good two games for us.”

The Skylights will host Dickinson State and Minot State this weekend at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse.

Skylights 78, Pronghorns 71

LC — Ashley Hilton 9-18 0-0 18, Ciana Gregorio 6-18 2-4 17, Candace Thompson 3-7 0-1 6, Jordana Miltimore 3-7 3-4 10, Kim May 1-4 0-0 3, Clair Nesbitt 1-1 0-0 2, Stephanie Elford 4-6 0-0 9, Karen Bridge 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Campbell 2-4 0-0 4, Kenzie Sheen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 30-67 5-9 71.

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 2-5 0-0 6, Becky Sorenson 3-8 4-4 10, DeLayne Johnston 7-10 4-5 18, Jena Heggem 2-5 1-1 6, Michele VanDyke 4-10 0-0 8, Kylee Starr 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Hovey 3-5 0-0 8, Jayla McPherson 4-6 0-0 8, Ashley Trulock 5-7 4-4 14. Totals: 30-57 13-14 78.

Halftime: MSU-N 33-30. 3-pointers: LC 6-17 (Gregorio 3-11, Thompson 0-1, Miltimore 1-2, May 1-1, Elford 1-2), MSU-N 5-10 (Searle 2-4, Sorenson 0-1, Heggem 1-2, Hovey 2-2). Rebounds: LC 35 (Thompson, Miltimore 6), MSUN 31 (VanDyke 8). Fouls: Leth 20, MSU-N 10. Fouled out: none. Assists: LC 18 (Elford 6), MSU-N 24 (Sorenson 8). Turnovers: LC 27, MSU-N 26.

Skylights 87, Eagles 60

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 8-10 3-3 22, Becky Sorenson 1-6 6-7 8, DeLayne Johnston 3-8 3-6 9, Jena Heggem 3-7 2-2 10, Michele VanDyke 5-9 0-0 10, Kylee Starr 1-1 1-2 3, Amanda Hovey 0-2 0-0 0, Amanda Quartuccio 2-2 0-0 6, Jayla McPherson 3-7 0-0 6, Ashley Trulock 5-6 3-4 13. Totals: 31-58 18-24.

NW — No Stats Available

MSU-N stats: 3-pointers 7-14 (Searle 3-4, Heggem 2-4, Quartuccio 2-2). Rebounds 47 (VanDyke 9). Assists 26 (Sorenson 7), Blocks 5 (VanDyke 3), Steals 2 (Johnston, McPherson). Fouls 13. Fouled out: none. Dead ball rebounds 1.