BUTTE — Montana Tech and Montana Western split their Frontier Conference doubleheader on Friday evening at the HPER Complex in the Orediggers' conference home opener.
In the women's game, Hallie Neibauer piled up a game-high 20 points and Liv Wangerin had a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) to help lead No. 25 Tech to a 68-54 victory over the Bulldogs.
Hadley Humphreys added a near double-double for the Orediggers (6-1 overall, 2-1 in league play) with 18 points and eight boards.
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The Orediggers led 15-9 after one quarter and 37-28 at halftime; 12 of Neibauer's points came on four 3-pointers.
Western (4-3, 2-1) was led by a game-high 24 points from Isabella Lund and 12 from Gio Horner.
The men's game saw the No. 23 Bulldogs upend unbeaten No. 4 Montana Tech 82-80 in overtime. Western picked up its second top-5 victory in November after toppling then top-ranked College of Idaho at home.
Western (8-1, 3-0) led 36-34 at halftime and in the second half built a 10-point lead before Tech swung back. Ethan Venema hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:05 remaining to force OT with the game tied 69-69.
With 1:31 left in overtime, Kyle Gruhler hit a go-ahead 3 to put the Bulldogs up 78-77 and Western never relinquished the lead from there.
Western was paced by a 22-point outing from Emanuel Steward, 13 from Kolter Merritt,12 from Jacob Ankeny and 11 from Gruhler.
Tech (8-1, 2-1) was led by Hayden Diekhans with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Karson Peffer with 16 points and 12 points from Brayden Koch.
The Orediggers will host Rocky Mountain College on Dec. 5. while the Bulldogs will host Carroll College.
