DICKINSON, N.D. -- Montana Tech's women's basketball team began the 2024-25 season with an 80-76 non-conference road loss at Dickinson State Thursday evening.

Junior Liv Wangerin led the Orediggers with 21 points, and the Plentywood native added four assists, three steals, and three rebounds to her line. Aubrie Rademacher (15 points), Brooklynn Hankwitz (13), and Macy Mayer (12) joined Wangerin in double-figure scoring.

Montana Tech got the scoring started 61 seconds into the game with a Wangerin bucket, and the Diggers led 5-0 after Rademacher polished off a three-point play. Tech extended the lead to seven by late in the first, but a late Blue Hawks run cut the advantage to 21-20 by the end of the period.

Defense sparked a 7-2 run for Tech to start the second. Hallie Neibauer's steal set up a Hankwitz basket, and she and Brooke Badovinac teamed up to put the Diggers ahead by five. Montana Tech held onto the lead until just after the quarter's midway point, when DSU rallied to tie the game at 31-all. The Blue Hawks continued their hot shooting until halftime, entering the break with a 40-36 advantage.

It didn't take the Orediggers long to regain the lead. Montana Tech began the third period on a 7-2 run, retaking the lead on a Mayer bucket at the 8:03 mark. The two teams traded the lead for most of the quarter before Neibauer's score in the final minute capped off a 6-0 run. Tech led 59-57 headed into the final 10 minutes.

Tech held onto the lead for much of the fourth, extending the advantage to 72-64 midway through after Wangerin hit a 3 and a 2 on back-to-back possessions. The Blue Hawks quickly unleashed an 8-0 run that knotted the score again, and DSU took the lead with 1:15 to go on a pair of Tinley Pierson free throws that capped off a 12-2 binge.

Rademacher hit a pair of free throws of her own to tie the score with just under a minute to play, but the Blue Hawks went 4-for-4 from the line in the final minute to ice the victory.

Kayden Steele led Dickinson State with a game-high 23 points, and Katherine Fox added 22 for the Blue Hawks.

Hadley Humphreys led Tech on the boards with six rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass, and Tech's defense forced 21 DSU turnovers.

It was the final meeting between the two programs before DSU joins the Frontier Conference for the 2025-26 season.

Tech will continue its season-opening road trip with a visit to Multnomah Saturday, Nov. 2.

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