Havre, Mont.-  Speaking of close games, the MSU-Northern women didn't need to beat the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears in the Frontier Conference regular season finale Saturday night. But, on senior night, Northern wanted to beat the Bears.

So they did.

In another tight battle, Northern sent its seniors out in style with a 53-49 win over the Bears, a team that had beaten the Skylights twice this season. Behind 28 points and eight rebounds from Natalee Faupel, the Skylights scratched out yet another hard win, improving to 12-6 in the Frontier and securing a solo second-place finish.

"We were focused tonight," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "That is how much respect we have for Rocky. They beat us twice. Wes (Keller) does such a great job with that program. But, yes, our girls wanted to win tonight. They wanted to win on senior night. They wanted to get that 22nd win. They are always ready to compete and always excited to play, and they were tonight."

Rocky is good, and the Bears have been especially tough against the Skylights, but it didn't start out that way. Northern may have been tired after its hard-fought win over Western just 24 hours earlier, but Faupel came out on fire, and the Skylights ripped off a 16-4 run to start the game.

Rocky, though, was never going away, and the Bears went on an 8-0 run, and, despite a huge half from Faupel and a key three by fellow senior Molly Kreycik, Northern led just 30-24 at the break.

From there, it was nothing short of another battle.

Faupel hit a three to start the third, but Rocky answered with a 7-0 run, and, with just 10 minutes left, the Skylights lead was just 42-40. Things stayed close, and several times in the fourth, Rocky had the game down to one possession. But the Skylights weren't about to buckle on senior night. Senior Cydney Auzenne banged in a three, Kreycik hit a key shot, and Auzenne made a big free throw and also grabbed a key board to keep the Bears at bay.

And, fittingly, Faupel made four free throws in the final :30 to seal the exciting win.

"Credit Rocky, they just wouldn't go away," Mouat said. "They made a great run at us, and it was just a real dogfight down the stretch. And we're glad we made enough plays to hold on."

Faupel was again incredible. Just one night after scoring 25 points, she hit four three's and went 9-of-15 from the field, as well as a perfect mark from the foul line. Kreycik added seven, senior Sierra Richards had six and 11 boards, and Auzenne hit the big three and foul shot to help Northern win on the night when the foursome of seniors were honored for their incredible run as Skylights.

"Tonight was special," Mouat said. "Senior night, and this group has done so much in their great careers here. So, for them to come out and get that one last win in the regular season, it was special to watch them do that."

Now, Northern will look to the postseason, which, will begin Friday night in the Armory Gymnasium. MSU-N (22-7) will host a Frontier semifinal game, against the highest remaining seeded team left from Tuesday's quarterfinal. With a win, the Skylights would advance to their second conference title game in four years. That game would be played either at Lewis-Clark State or in Havre next Monday.

STORY BY GEORGE FERGUSON, Havre Daily News