BUTTE — The Montana Western women and Montana Tech men's basketball teams extended win streaks over their rivals during a Frontier Conference doubleheader Thursday evening at the HPER Complex.
The Bulldog women earned their fourth straight win over the Orediggers, with Tech's last regular season victory in that series coming in 2022.
The No. 8 Oredigger men posted their third straight victory against the Bulldogs. The last Western victory over Tech was on Dec. 3 2022 in Dillon. The last time the Bulldogs earned a win at the HPER Complex was Feb. 1 2018.
Tech will play at Providence on Saturday while Western will host Rocky Mountain College.
Here's a look at both games:
Montana Western women 75, Montana Tech 55
Jordan Sweeney piled up a team-high 19 points for the Bulldogs and Shainy Mack added 18 as Western rode a big third quarter to pick up its second conference victory while handing Tech its third straight loss.
Mack scored four 3-pointers and Sweeney knocked down three triples.
Western (10-7, 2-2 Frontier) built a 30-26 halftime lead and then outscored Tech 28-14 in the third frame to take a 58-40 into the fourth quarter.
Maddy Moy added 12 points for the Bulldogs, Joelnell Momberg scored 11 and Isabella Lund added 10.
Tech (10-7, 1-3) suffered its third straight conference loss after opening Frontier play with an upset victory over a ranked Rocky Mountain College squad. The Orediggers were led by a game-high 21 points from Aubrie Rademacher, 15 from Ally Cleverly — who had three 3-pointers — and 10 from Liv Wangerin.
No. 8 Montana Tech men 81, Montana Western 76
Caleb Bellach led the Orediggers with 19 points — including four 3-pointers — and Asa Williams scored 16 as the Orediggers outlasted the Bulldogs in a game that saw the teams exchange four ties and 12 lead changes.
With 6:21 remaining in the game, Keeley Bake scored a triple to put Tech ahead 62-59 and the Orediggers never trailed after that.
Hayden Diekhans scored 13 points for the Orediggers (14-3, 4-0) who are undefeated in conference play. A win at Providence on Saturday would give the Orediggers a victory over each Frontier team after the first stretch of conference play.
Chrishon Dixon added 10 points for Tech, and Bake and Michael Ure scored eight apiece.
Western (8-9, 1-3) was led by a 23-point outing from Jalyn Stepney, 15 points including four 3-pointers from Michael Haverfield and 14 from Abi Adedo.
