DILLON -- Montana Western and Montana State-Northern split a Frontier Conference basketball doubleheader Sunday at Straugh Gymnasium. The Western women rallied for a 74-69 win, while the Northern men pulled away for a 69-55 win.
Montana Western women 74, Montana State-Northern 69
The Montana Western women used a fourth-quarter surge to defeat MSU-Northern 74-69 on Sunday.
The Bulldogs trailed the Skylights 47-43 after three quarters but outscored MSUN 31-22 in the fourth quarter thanks to a 10-of-15 shooting performance, including a 4-for-8 mark from 3-point range, in the period.
Shainy Mack again led UM Western's offensive effort, scoring 17 points. She made three 3s in the game and added three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Brynley Fitzgerald also filled the stat sheet, recording 16 points (including four made 3s), four rebounds, five steals and one block. Sydney Sheridan (14 points) and Mesa King (12) also finished in double figures for the Bulldogs, who improved to 7-1 overall (5-1 Frontier Conference).
The Skylights were led by Peyton Kehr, who had a game-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a 5-of-11 mark from 3-point range. MSUN is 1-7 overall (0-4 Frontier).
Montana State-Northern men 69, Montana Western 55
Montana State-Northern's defense limited Montana Western to a 35% shooting day as the Lights earned a 69-55 men's basketball win on Sunday.
It was UM Western's lowest scoring output of the season, as the Bulldogs made just 9 of 30 shots in the first half and 12 of 30 in the second. MSUN, meanwhile, made 17 of 29 shots in the second half to pull away for the double-digit win. The Lights led 25-22 at halftime but outscored the Bulldogs 44-33 in the second half en route to the 69-55 win.
David Harris finished with a team-high 18 points for the Lights (2-3 overall, 1-3 Frontier Conference), who also got 15 points from Mascio McCadney and 11 from Jomel Boyd.
Western (3-3, 2-3) was led by Jalen Hodges' 19 points.
The MSUN men and women are back home for games against Montana Tech on Jan. 16 and 17, while the Bulldogs' teams will travel to Carroll College for games on the same days.
