DILLON — The Montana Western women and Montana Tech men extended their win streaks in the Oredigger/Bulldog rivalry during a Frontier Conference doubleheader Thursday evening at Straugh Gymnasium.
In the women's game, the Bulldogs outlasted the Orediggers 72-69 for their third straight victory over Tech in a game that saw the teams exchange 13 lead changes and 11 ties. Western's Kenzi Pedersen scored a game-high 20 points as the Bulldogs erased a 9-point second quarter deficit.
Payton Hagy added 18 points — including five triples — for Western (7-9 overall, 2-2 in Frontier Conference play) including a critical 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter that put Western up by five points. Tech would tie the game after that but never retook the lead.
The Orediggers (11-6, 2-2) were led by 17 points from Brooklyn Hankwitz — who shot 3 for 6 from 3-point range — 13 from Hadley Humphreys and 12 from Hallie Neibauer.
In the men's game, the No. 11 Orediggers extended their win streak over the Bulldogs to seven with a 69-47 victory. Tech led by 10 points at halftime and by as much as 24 after the break.
Tech (15-2, 3-1) saw four players reach double figures with Hayden Diekhans and Michael Ure each scoring 14 points. Brayden Koch added 13 and Keeley Bake had 10 with both Koch and Bake scoring three 3-pointers.
With the Carroll College men defeating Rocky Mountain College, the Orediggers and Battlin' Bears are now tied atop the league standings at 3-1 each.
Western (10-7, 2-2) was paced by a game-high 18 points from Abi Adedo and 10 from Kyle Gruhler.
Montana Tech will host Providence on Saturday while the Bulldogs will travel to Rocky Mountain College.
