BUTTE — The Montana Tech women and men's basketball teams earned Frontier Conference victories over Montana Western on Thursday evening at the HPER Complex in the second-to-last regular seasons games.
The Orediggers women pulled past the Bulldogs for an 80-67 win as Tech won its series against the Bulldogs 2-1 and improved to 18-9 overall and 9-5 in league play. The nine Frontier victories are the most the Orediggers have amassed since the 2016-17 season.
Liv Wangerin led Tech with a game-high 23 points, Aubrie Rademacher scored 14 and Kia Wasson had 11. The Bulldogs (7-19, 2-12) were paced by 16 points apiece from Isabella Lund and Keke Davis.
The Rocky Mountain College women lead the league at 10-4 in Frontier play while Tech, Carroll College and Providence are all at 9-5. Tech and Providence will face off in Butte on Saturday and win over the Argos by the Orediggers would ensure Tech receives the second seed and a first-round bye at the upcoming Frontier Conference Tournament.
The men's game saw the Orediggers use a strong second half to storm past the Bulldogs 80-61 as No. 15 Tech ended a four-game skid, completed the regular season sweep over Western and remain undefeated at home.
Tech (21-6, 9-5) is tied with Providence atop the Frontier standings and Saturday's game in Butte will determine the regular season champion and the tournaments top seed. The Orediggers are looking to win their fourth straight regular season and tournament titles.
Tech's Hayden Diekhans led all scorers with 25 points and Keeley Bake and Michael Ure each had 17. The Orediggers led 30-26 at halftime before outscoring the Bulldogs by 15 points in the second frame.
Western (15-12, 7-7) was led by 13 points from Clarence Martin and 8 from Kevin Bethel, Kolter Merritt and Billy Carlson.
The Bulldogs will host Rocky Mountain College on Saturday.
