Box Score Havre, Mont.-  The Montana State University-Northern Skylights were hyped up for their huge showdown with the Lewis-Clark State Warriors. But the Skylights in no way were looking past the Montana Tech Orediggers.

Friday night, MSU-N dominated the first three quarters, then had to hold off a furious Tech rally in a 56-52 win inside the Armory Gymnasium.

"We got sloppy in the fourth quarter, but we weren't looking past Tech at all," Northern junior Jacy Thompson said. "We were very focused on just this game. Tech has really good scorers, and they started to make shots, and we didn't execute well at all in the fourth quarter. But I thought because we were as focused as we were, we played really well for a lot of the game. But that fourth quarter, we can learn a lot from that going forward."

Not looking past Tech was a big priority for Northern, and it showed early on, as the Skylights got a quick four points from Natalee Faupel, then took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Molly Kreycik. Jacy Thompson would add a triple of her own, as the Skylights led 19-15 after one.

Then, Northern really took control. Kreycik and Katie Fertterer would connect on back-to-back shots midway through the second stanza, capping a 10-0 run. And when Cydney Auzenne hit a running shot at the buzzer, Northern found itself ahead of the scrappy Orediggers 35-21. Things would get even better for the Skylights in the third period. Northern came out of halftime like gangbusters, going inside to Sierra Richards over and over, in what ended up being an 14-7 run - a run which left Northern with a commanding 49-34 edge with 10 minutes to go. The lead was certainly sparked by Richards, who scored eight points in a four-minute stretch.

"I thought for three quarters, we executed really well on both ends of the floor," Northern head coach Chris Mouat said. "I thought we defended really well, we rebounded well, and we finished. But in the fourth quarter, I felt like we tightened up, we started to turn the ball over and miss some shots and some free throws that we should have, and normally do make."

Tighten up the Skylights did, but they couldn't know that Richards' hoop with 7:06 left would be their last field goal of the contest. Leading 51-38, the Skylights watched as Tech outscored them 18-7 in the period, and 3-pointers by Martha Dembek and Monica Landdeck helped cut the Northern lead all the way down to 55-52 with :11 seconds left. A Molly Kreycik free throw and some good defense would end up being the difference, but there was no doubt it was a nerve-racking ending to a game Northern seemed to have full control of.

"All the credit to Montana Tech," Mouat said. "We had a comfortable lead, but they never stopped playing. They are an explosive team, and you saw that with what they did in the fourth quarter. I'm proud of our kids for finding a way to hang on there at the end, but take nothing away from Tech. They never went away, they kept fighting, and they made it a real fight there at the end."

Richards was a big part of that fight, and she had another big night with 17 points and seven boards for the Skylights. Faupel added 11 and Thompson chipped in with 10 as Northern was even on the boards and held Tech to just 32 percent shooting for the night, even with the incredible fourth-quarter comeback. Dembek, the Frontier's leading scorer, finished with 15 points for the Orediggers.

Northern moves to 5-2 in the Frontier and 15-3 overall.  The Skylights host No. 2 Lewis-Clark State College tomorrow night with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 PM. 

STORY BY GEORGE FERGUSON, Havre Daily News