MSU-Northern Skylights basketball had a standalone game on Sunday afternoon to close out the MSU-Northern Classic. The result was a (68-67) buzzer beater loss on a putback layup by Vikings sophomore center Rosie Anderson.
The Skylights were lucky to be up (18-17) after one quarter. The team survived eight turnovers in the frame, which led to eight Vikings points. Northern did the complete opposite in the second quarter by not giving the ball away, but Valley City State stayed in the game on 3-point shooting, going 7-16 in the first half to be down (38-33).
The Vikings came out hot in the second half, scoring 18 points in the first 5:22 to take a (51-49) lead. Not much happened in the latter part of the quarter and the game was tied at 54 heading to the final stanza.
Both teams traded baskets and free throws throughout the fourth quarter. With 34.3 seconds left and Valley City State in possession, Vikings junior forward Ashlyn Diemert drove the lane and Northern sophomore guard Rachel Van Blaircom stood in to take a charge. The Skylights were able to run a play for forward Savannah Toms on the other end and she made a layup to put them up (67-66) with 11.4 seconds to go in regulation. After two Skylights fouls to throw off the Vikings’ rhythm, Northern tried to play defense and forced a missed layup in the closing seconds, but no one boxed out Anderson and she laid in the winning bucket as time expired.
Anderson finished with six points on the day, which was 17 points less than the game’s leading scorer, teammate Hailey Roberts. Toms led the way with 16 points for the Skylights. Ryley Kehr scored 14 first half points, but failed to score in the second half.
Northern (3-4) is back in action at home on Thursday at 10am as part of the annual “Field Trip Game”. Their opponent will be the University of Alberta-Augustana.
