BUTTE — With three Top 25 teams in the HPER Complex for a Frontier Conference doubleheader between Montana Tech and Carroll College, there was some drama but ultimately no upsets were delivered on Thursday.
In the women's game, No. 11 Carroll College overcame a halftime deficit to pull out a 60-48 win to move to 12-4 overall and 3-0 in the league play.
Jamie Pickens led the way for the Saints with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, Kyndall Keller added 16 points and Sienna Swannack scored 12.
The Orediggers (4-9, 0-3) led 20-17 after one quarter and 28-27 at the half before the Saints settled in and outscored Tech 17-7 in the third quarter. The Orediggers trimmed Carroll's lead to five points with 3:09 left in the game but didn't come any closer.
Still in the hunt for their first conference victory, Tech was led by a near double-double performance from Aubrie Rademacher who scored a game-high 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Tavia Rooney had eight points and eight boards and McKayla Kloker eight points as well.
In the men's game, the No. 13 Montana Tech men held on for an 86-79 win over No. 24 Carroll College in a rematch of last season's Frontier Conference tournament championship.
Tech improved to 14-2 overall and 2-1 in the Frontier while Carroll dropped to 7-7 and 1-2.
Tech's Asa Williams poured in a game-high 21 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to give the Orediggers a late six-point lead and help ice a game that saw the teams exchange 10 lead changes.
Three other Orediggers scored in double digits. Caleb Bellach 19, Hayden Diekhans scored 18 and Keeley Bake had 12, including three 3-pointers.
Brendan Temple led the Saints with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, Jonny Hillman scored 15 points and Andrew Cook had 13.
The Orediggers will now host Providence on Saturday while the Saints will travel to Billings to take on Rocky Mountain College.
