The Keyano Huskies Women's Basketball team lost a 74-55 battle against the Montana State University Northern Skylights Thursday night in Havre, Montana to begin a two-game exhibition swing south of the 49th parallel.
"We played really well," Head Coach Dwayne Vigilance said. "We're playing without Maja (Besic), playing without Kaylynn (Tucker), and that showed down the stretch, but I think our kids really battled for us being a small college and playing against a NAIA school.
"I'm very happy with their effort."
The Huskies edged the Skylights 21-20 in the first quarter, but the hosts came back with an 18-8 second quarter to carry a nine-point lead into the half. While MSU posted back-to-back 18-point quarters in the second half, the Huskies kept things close with 15 points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth.
"The one thing we said is 'just be competitive' and making their possessions tough. I think we did that most of the time," Vigilance added.
Leading the Huskies was Zera Lynn Panesa, who posted 20 points along with two rebounds, one steal, and one assist.
"She's been playing well all first semester," Vigilance said of Panesa. "Playing at this level against a really good guard from Montana Northern shows that she belongs at this level."
Joy Victor and Jaylynn Twin each had 11 to round out a trio of Huskies in double digits. Twin led the Huskies with seven rebounds. Kayla Lutterodt had seven points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Overall, the Huskies shot 35 percent from the field (21-60), knocking down four of 14 three-point attempts. They also made 47.4 percent of their free throws (9-19).
Vigilance noted it took his team time to adjust with the longer shot clock, something they hoped to improve upon for the following game.
"The longer shot clock I think is a little troublesome for us," Vigilance said. "We played some great defence for 20-24 seconds and then that extra six seconds.
"Learning that and taking that into the next game will help us."
The Skylights took advantage off of turnovers, outscoring the Huskies 19-8 in that facet of the game while also winning the battle down low, outscoring the Huskies 44-26.
The Huskies will now move onto Butte, Montana for tomorrow's clash against the Montana Technological University Orediggers. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
