HAVRE, Mont. - The Montana State-Northern Skylights came ready to play on Friday night when they hosted the No. 18 Lewis-Clark State women's basketball team. The Skylights controlled the majority of the contest with strong defense, holding LC to single-digit points in both the second and third quarter.

In the fourth frame, the Warriors fought back with 25 points but fell just short of a comeback and dropped the game 51-50.

"Our offense was absolutely pathetic for the first 33 minutes. Unfortunately, that only left us seven minutes to overcome a double digit deficit," coach Brian Orr said. "Basketball is a game of 'makes' and we couldn't buy a basket."

The Skylights jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Warriors 7-2 in the first six and a half minutes. At the close of the first quarter, MSUN led 15-11.

The Northern defense was on full display in the second quarter when they held LC to just six points and took a 29-17 lead into the break. Another strong defensive period in the third kept the Warriors to eight points as MSUN led 40-25 heading into the final frame.

Jossilyn Blackman sparked a nine-point run with a basket at 5:55 in the fourth to bring LC within eight at 45-37. Blackman added a total of four in the span, while Cali Moscrip hit a 3 and Abbie Johnson dropped in two.

Three-straight 3-pointers by Moscrip, Jamie Nielson and Peyton Souvenir brought LC all to back to within a point of the Skylights with just 10 seconds on the clock, 49-48.

MSUN drained a pair of foul shots to keep their edge over the Warriors and took the contest 51-50.

Blackman led the Warriors with 13 points and 10 rebounds to notch her 11th-career double-double. Moscrip added nine points.

"I was really proud of our never-give-up attitude, and our efforts gave us a chance to get it to overtime, but there are no moral victories this time of year," Orr said. "We need to play every possession on both ends with a sense of urgency. That's how we need to approach tomorrow's game because it's a must win.

The Warriors conclude the regular season tomorrow at Providence. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. PT.