DILLON -- Montana Western used a big second-half surge to notch a 66-52 win over the University of Providence in Frontier Conference women's basketball action at Straugh Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Bulldogs trailed 31-29 at halftime but outscored the Argos 17-7 in the third quarter and 20-14 in the fourth to secure the double-digit win and improve to 8-3 overall and 6-3 in Frontier Conference play.
Paige Holmes, Brynley Fitzgerald and Shainy Mack spearheaded Western's second-half run, finishing the game with a combined 50 points. Holmes finished with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, Fitzgerald had 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting (and a 5-of-5 performance at the free throw line) and Mack scored 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Sydney Sheridan also filled the state sheet for the Bulldogs, recording seven points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals. As a team, Western swiped 14 steals in the game, with Holmes (four), Mack (three), Mesa King (two), Jenni Weber (two) and Fitzgerald (one) also getting takeaways. Providence had 24 turnovers in the loss.
Parker Esary had another double-double for the Argos, recording 11 points and 10 rebounds. Emilee Maldonado (14 points), Maddy Dixon (10) and Kenedy Cartwright (10) also finished in double-figure scoring.
The teams will play the second game of their weekend doubleheader at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Providence and Western men's teams were also scheduled to play this weekend, but those games were canceled due to COVID-19.
