BUTTE — The second of the Frontier Conference's three-lap regular-season circuit kicked off Thursday evening and the Montana Tech men and women hosted MSU-Northern with all four teams looking to bounce back from losses last weekend.
Here's a recap of both games:
MSU-Northern women 58, Montana Tech 55
Ryley Kehr and Savannah Toms scored 14 points apiece for the Skylights and Taya Trottier had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds as Northern held on late to hand the Orediggers their fifth straight loss while ending a two-game skid by the Skylights.
In a game that saw the two teams exchange 17 lead changes and 12 ties, Tech Liv Wangerin hit a go-ahead layup to put Tech ahead 55-54 with 1:09 remaining in the game. Northern then went to the free throw line three times where the Skylights converted 4-of-6 attempts to take a 58-55 lead with just over a second remaining.
A game-tying 3-point attempt by Tech's Ally Cleverly was off, and Northern escaped with the win to improve to 9-10 overall and 3-3 in the Frontier.
The Orediggers (10-9. 1-5) were led by a 20-point, 9-rebound performance from Aubrie Rademacher and a double-double from Wangerin who finished with 12 points and 10 boards. Kia Wasson added 8 points for Tech.
No. 8 Montana Tech men 89, MSU-Northern 54
Michael Ure was in a different zone on Thursday night.
The junior finished a career performance with 35 points — including going 8-of-9 from 3-point range — as the Orediggers responded to their first conference loss against Providence on Saturday with a blowout victory over the Northern Lights.
Ure sank all six of his 3-point attempts in the first half and then added two more after the break to help propel Tech to a 14-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play.
A total of 12 players contributed points for the Orediggers including Caleb Bellach who finished with 12, Camdyn Larance with 8 and Chrishon Dixon with 6.
Ure's first triple came with 18:49 remaining in the first half. It gave Tech a 3-2 lead and the Orediggers would increase their lead to 42-25 by halftime.
The Lights (9-10, 1-5) saw three players score in double figures with JJ Thomas racking up 14, and Xavier Bailey and Zackry Martinez adding 11.
Montana Tech will travel to Rocky Mountain College on Saturday while MSU-Northern will host Montana Western.
