Jason Walker, University of Providence Sports Information 

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - It took the full 40 minutes, but in the end, the University of Providence women held off MSU-Northern 66-59 Thursday night in the Frontier Conference lid-lifter for both teams.  

Providence started out strong with the Argos jumping out to an 11-1 lead before MSU-Northern answered closing the quarter on a mini 6-3 run to trail by just six after the opening period. In the second quarter, Maddy Dixon and Brooklyn Harn each scored five points to give the Argos a 39-22 lead at the half.  

The third quarter saw Briaunna McCullough and Shyan Krass combine for 11 points, cutting the lead to 55-40. The Argos would build a 21-point lead late in the 3rd, only to see the Skylights flip the script defensively along with McCullough scoring eight of her game-high 22 points as MSU-Northern closed to within four thanks to a 14-0 run over the course of four minutes. With the score 61-57, graduate student Reed Hazard hit a deep three to end the drought for the Argos with 1:15 remaining and scoring again on a layup a minute later to give UP the cushion it needed to hang on for the win.  

McCullough finished 6-18 from the field but was 8-10 from the line for the Skylights (3-3, 0-1) with Krass and Sydney Hansen each scoring 10 off the bench. MSU-N was out-rebounded by the Argos 40-26 with Krass grabbing 10 rebounds to give her a double-double.  

"Our experience helped us in the end, and we made some good shots," according to Argo Head Coach Bill Himmelberg. "They are a good team. Chris (MSU-N head coach) had them prepared and they threw some stuff at us there in the second half." 

Hazard scored a team-high 18 adding five rebounds, with Dixon scoring 14 points with 8 rebounds. Kenedy Cartwright added 12 points and five boards. Brooklyn Harn scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds with McKenna Reggear chipping in nine points and seven rebounds. Alicia Oatis also pulled down seven rebounds off the bench. But it was the big shots by Hazard in the final 75 seconds that Himmelberg was a fan of, "Reed kind of took over the game there at the end and did a good job. They were focused on Brooklyn, and Reed handled us down the stretch hitting some big shots. 

"These types of games are good learning experiences for us." 

Providence (7-1, 1-0) continues Frontier Conference play Saturday afternoon traveling to Rocky Mountain College which was a 59-42 winner at Montana Tech Thursday. MSU-Northern plays host to Frontier preseason favorite No. 9 Carroll College Saturday.  

The Providence at Rocky game Saturday begins at 2 PM and can be watched live at www.upargos.com.