By Montana Tech Sports Information.
DILLON, Mont.- It may have taken a few minutes for the wheels to get turning, but once they did, the Orediggers were able to take down the Blue Hawks of Dickinson State 65-64.
Dickinson jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, going 3-3 from the three-point line in the first two minutes. Liv Wangerin got the Diggs in the scoring column with a layup, 4:20 into the first quarter. Once the lid was knocked off the rim, the baskets started to fall. Dickinson shot 50% in the first quarter; Montana Tech was right with them at 47%. The Blue Hawks led after 10 minutes, 24-21.
The hot shooting cooled off greatly In the second quarter, as the teams combined for 17 total points, Montana Tech accounting for 12 of those. Montana Tech went into the locker room with a 33-29 lead.
Ally Cleverly accounted for 11 points in the first half for the Diggs. Kayden Steele led the Blue Hawks and all scorers with 21 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
The teams battled through the second half, with neither squad able to get the upper hand. Montana Tech led by four with 2:47 left to play. The teams exchanged empty possessions until Hannah LaBree knocked down a three for Dickinson, trimming the Oredigger lead to one. Neither team could make anything happen until Kayden Steele rolled in a layup with :47 remaining, giving the Blue Hawks the lead 63-62.
Tech would miss a pair of shots over the next 20 seconds, forcing the Orediggers to foul with 10 seconds left to play. Samantha Oase would go to the line shooting two. She would miss the first, but drain the second, giving the Blue Hawks a 64-62 lead.
The Orediggers would call an immediate timeout.
On the inbound, Ally Cleverly would find Brooklynn Hankwitz for the open look, and the ‘new’ Oredigger would bank in a deep 3-pointer with :06 seconds left to play, giving the Orediggers a one-point lead that would hold until the horn.
“This team battled and never got rattled. We answered all of their runs.” Head coach Jeff Graham ” We were able to play 10 kids and every kid contributed.”
The Orediggers would shoot 37.9% from the floor, and 38.5% from the arc. They finished with 4 blocked shots (Challis Westwater with 2). They finished with 10 turnovers on the night, but they would pressure the Blue Hawks into 18 turnovers.
Montana Tech was led by Aubrie Rademacher with 20 points on the night, Brooklynn Hankwitz and Ally Cleverly would each finish with 11 points.
Dickinson State’s Kayden Steele was the leading scorer on the night, finishing with 25 points.
Montana Tech is back on the floor tomorrow at noon to face off with Bushnell University.
