(Valley City, ND; Mayville, ND) (NMBI) – The MSU-Northern basketball teams headed to North Dakota to start the new year.
Both the Lights and Skylights were victorious in their matchups on Friday and Saturday.
The action started at Valley City State with the Skylights taking the court against the Vikings. Valley City State put up an early lead in the first quarter, but at 5 minutes into the second, the Skylights were back on top and held their lead, with 43-38 at halftime. The Skylights stayed on top with a narrow lead all the way to the end of the fourth quarter, defeating the Vikings 76-70 for their first road win of 2026.
Cazsas HisBadHorse lead the scoring on Friday with 23 points, followed by Becky Melcher with 17. Maddie Williamson earned 11 points, and both Lauren Gunn and Taya Trottier earned 8 points each.
The second game in Valley City saw the Lights versus the Vikings. Valley City State and MSU-Northern traded for the lead in the first 7 minutes of the game until the Lights put 8 unanswered points on the board for a 21-11 lead. After that, the Vikings came back with a 10 point run, with the Lights on top at 40-35 at the half. The Lights held a narrow lead all the way to the end of the second half, pulling out an 82-75 win for their first 2026 victory.
Leon Sayers, IV, lead the Friday scoring with 22 points, followed by Cinque Maxwell and Austin Ramos with 15 points each, and Raefe McEnroe earned 12 points.
On Saturday, MSU-Northern travelled to Mayville, ND to face the Mayville State Comets. The Skylights played the first game, and the Comets jumped to an early lead 5-0. At 5 minutes into the game, the Skylights were back on top. From that point on, the scoring opened up with a 16 point run by the Skylights, putting them at 21-7 until 2 minutes left in the first. The Skylights kept widening the lead, reaching 50-29 at the half, and won with a final score of 93-62.
Becky Melcher lead scoring on Saturday at 19 points, followed by Canzas HisBadHorse at 15 points. Both Cierra Agasiva and Addie Kiefer earned 14 points each, Lauren Gunn had 10 points, and Shania Moananu had 9 points.
The second match on Saturday saw the Lights take the court against the Comets. The Comets rushed to a 17-6 lead over the Lights at 5 minutes into the first half, but MSU-Northern clawed their way back to tie at 45-45 at halftime. From there, the game was a barn burner, tied at 84-84 at the end of regulation, tied again at 94-94 after the first overtime, and in the second overtime, the Lights showed their stamina and composure with a 110-100 win over the Comets, starting the new year with an impressive road victory.
Leon Sayers, IV, and Cinque Maxwell led the scoring with 22 points each on Saturday, followed by Luke Holecek with 21 points, Tracen Jilot with 15 points, and Austin Ramos with 14 points.
MSU-Northern will be on the road in Montana next week, facing Montana Western January 9th, followed by Montana Tech on January 10th. Join us on KPQX starting at 5 p.m. for live game coverage.
