BUTTE — The top seeds held serve — one of them barely — on the first day of the Frontier Conference women's basketball tournament, which started Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
No. 1-seeded Dakota State (S.D.) opened the postseason tournament with a 106-77 win over No. 8 Bismarck State (N.D.) in the first quarterfinal. Second-seeded Montana Tech followed with a narrow 60-57 win over No. 6 Providence.
Both Dakota State and Montana Tech will next play in the semifinal round on Sunday. Their opponents will be determined Saturday, as Rocky Mountain College faces Montana State-Northern in the No. 4-vs.-No. 5 game and Carroll College and Montana Western meet in the No. 3-vs.-No. 6 matchup.
Montana Tech 60, Providence 57
Liv Wangerin sank four clutch free throws in the final seconds, and second-seeded Tech escaped with its first Frontier Conference tournament win since 2022.
The Orediggers and Argos played a close game throughout with Tech ultimately taking a 54-47 lead on a Wangerin basket with 3:30 to play. Providence, which had won the past two conference tournaments, responded with an 8-0 run to take a 55-54 lead with less than two minutes to play.
Wangerin broke the UP run with another bucket to give Tech a 56-55 lead, but two McKenna Reggear free throws gave the advantage back to the Argos with less than a minute remaining.
Trailing by one point, Wangerin drew a shooting foul with nine seconds to play and calmly made both free throws to put the Diggers back in front. Providence turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, and Wangerin made two more free throws to secure the win.
Wangerin, a senior from Plentywood, was 12 for 12 from the free throw line. She finished with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Halle Haber added 13 points for Tech, and Hadley Humpherys had 12.
Providence was led by Brooke Dial with 14 points, Reggear with 13 and Madi Reibel with 10.
The teams were an identical 16-of-49 shooting (32.7%). Providence made two more 3-pointers, but Tech had a five-point advantage at the free throw line.
Tech (23-4) will next play a Sunday semifinal game. Providence sees its season come to an end with a 15-14 overall record.
Dakota State 106, Bismarck State 77
Top-seeded Dakota State had five players score in double figures as the Trojans rolled to the lopsided win in the first game of the tournament.
Hamtyn Heinz led the Trojans with 20 points off the bench. She was 7-of-8 shooting, including 6 for 7 on 3-point attempts. Caitlin Dyer (17 points), Tabor Teel (15), Mackenzi Simmons (13) and Cierra Watkins (11) also finished in double digits. Teel was named the Frontier Conference player of the year on Thursday.
It took Dakota State a good portion of the first quarter to take control. The teams were tied 14-14. The Trojans went on a 6-0 spurt on 3s by Bria Wasmund and Dyer, and they wouldn't trail the rest of the game.
Dakota State led 27-24 at the end of the first quarter, 53-37 at halftime and 89-58 after three. As a team, the Trojans made 19 3-pointers in the game. Heinz made a team-high six 3s, followed by Dyer with four and Simmons and Wasmund with three each.
Dakota State (25-4) will next play in a semifinal game on Sunday.
Bismarck State, which got a game-high 30 points from Kennedy Stormer, will end its season with a 9-19 overall record.
