GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A masterful third quarter that saw UGF outscore MSU-Northern 18-7 led the (25) Lady Argos to a 60-45 victory over the (15) Skylights. The win is UGF's fourth straight and moves the team from a tie with Northern for third place in the Frontier Conference standings to a tie for second with Carroll College.
When to two teams last faced, UGF suffered a disheartening 20-point loss to the Skylights up in Havre, Mont. This time the Lady Argos made it clear throughout the first half that such a result would not repeat itself.
"I think it was big for us to come out strong but every weekend is the biggest weekend of the year," said UGF sophomore Stephanie McDonagh. "Beating another top-25 team was big for us."
Each team held a slim lead for about five minutes in the first quarter but a bucket from UGF senior Erin Legel with three second left put the Lady Argos up five. In the second quarter, UGF extended the lead to as much as nine but the Skylights brought it back to five at the half.
It was in the third quarter that McDonagh and company separated themselves from their opponent. Six straight points for UGF to start the second half, four of which came from junior Nneka Nnadi, gave the team the first double-digit lead of the night. Not only did the team spread the ball well offensively, receiving strong score performances from Nnadi, McDonagh and junior Morgan Grier, but they held MSUN to just seven points in the quarter.
"We played with confidence, we communicated well and we worked on a lot of the things we've gone over in practice," Nnadi said about the third quarter run. "Last time against them it was obviously a defensive breakdown, so this time we played good defense."
That better defensive effort put UGF in possession of a 16 point lead heading into the final ten minutes and they never let the game get any closer than 12 points from there. In the second the Lady Argos gave up a total of 15 points over 20 minutes and forced seven turnovers.
From a scoring standpoint, the second half surge was led primarily by Nnadi and Grier who scored 16 of UGF's 25 second half points. Nnadi, the leading scorer in the Frontier Conference, finished with a game high of 22 points off of nine for 16 shooting. Grier finished 13 points and led the team with eight rebounds from the shooting guard position while McDonagh finished second on the team in points with 15.
The 15 point victory and four game winning streak has been a strong answer for UGF after starting conference play with a 2-3 record including the 20-point loss to Northern. It also legitimizes the team's re-entry into the top-25 in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Poll.
"It was huge for us. We really wanted to redeem ourselves from our last game against them," Nnadi said. "Northern is a great team but we've definitely improved since then. We're just going to try and carry it over to our next game against Carroll."
The win puts the Lady Argos at 15-6 (6-3) after a stretch of six straight home games. That home stand will end with their next game, a road trip to (10) Carroll College on Friday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m.
