Havre, Mont.-  Good teams overcome adversity. Mature teams know how to handle a tough loss. And the Montana State University-Northern Skylights showed exactly that on their home floor against a very good UM-Western squad.

After a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Rocky Mountain College Friday night, the No. 11 Skylights rebounded in a big way, knocking off a dangerously good Western squad, 67-50 Saturday night inside the Armory Gymnasium.

The Skylights got off to a great start following Friday night's defeat, and rode the wave of a huge, 27-point, 14-rebound double-double from Sierra Richards to a much-needed win.

"The kids were ready tonight, they were very focused," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "I trust our senior leadership, and we have a lot of experience on this team, and those things paid off tonight. It was just a great response to what was a really tough loss last night. So credit to our kids for that."

The response came in the form of a spectacular 15-0 first-quarter run by Northern. The Bulldogs, who had lost just twice all season, and thrashed nationally ranked UGF one night earlier, matched the Skylights early as the two teams traded the lead six times in the first four minutes. But when Molly Kreycik knocked down a triple that gave Northern a 13-11 lead, a lead the Skylights would never give up, MSU-N was off and running.

Natalee Faupel and Katie Fertterer combined for 10 points as the run grew to 15-0 by the end of the first period, and Richards laid in a shot to start the second stanza to give the Skylights a 27-11 lead. Kaye Bignell finally ended an eight-minute scoring drought for the Bulldogs, but Northern kept pushing as Kreycik hit another three and Richards scored 10 points in the second as MSU-N took a 42-26 advantage into halftime.

"We came out with a lot of energy," Richards, who notched her seventh double-double of the season, said, "and we needed to. We did not want to lose on our home court again. We know we should win every game on our home floor, and tonight, we played together and played really well.

"Sierra was big tonight," Mouat added. "She's had some big games already this season, and I expect her to. But she's also raised the expectations for herself. She's worked really hard and it's showing because she is playing really well for us right now. And our guards all did a great job of getting her the ball. And she had a great game."

Richards had an impact the rest of the way, too, eventually going 9-for-9 from the free-throw-line, pulling down key boards as Western tried to chip away at the lead, and playing great defense on Bignell, Western's top scorer. And defensively, the Skylights were stout. Western shot just 40 percent from the field and 18 percent from beyond the arc, while Northern held a big edge on the boards.

And even when the Bulldogs did threaten, like when they cut the lead to 10 early in the fourth stanza, Northern, and Richards in particular, answered. She scored on an and-one, and Jacy Thompson buried a triple two minutes later. The Skylights were back ahead by 16 points, and Western never threatened again.

"Defensively, I thought we were really good all night," Mouat said. "Western is really, really good. They've beaten some really good teams this season. They have really good players. So for us to hold them down like we did, and win on the boards, that was big. I thought Jacy (Thompson) did a great job defensively guarding Aniese Palmore tonight, and really, the whole team just played very consistent defense and that was big."

Richards finished 9-of-13 from the field, while Faupel scored 12 and Thompson added 10. Fertterer continued her fine play off the bench with 10 rebounds, while Britt Cooper paced the Dawgs with 16 points.

And with the big win, Northern was able to keep itself in second place in the Frontier standings, and, Richards was a big reason why.

"We just played together tonight," she said. "We didn't start out with the mindset to go inside, but when we realized we had an advantage there, we took advantage of it. It just kind of flowed that way, but this was a team effort. Everybody did their job and it was an important win for us."

STORY BY GEORGE FERGUSON, Havre Daily News