HELENA -- Montana Tech's women's basketball team will head into the 2025-26 season picked fifth in the new-look Frontier Conference. 

The Orediggers received 81 points and one first-place vote in the league's annual preseason poll, the Frontier office announced Monday morning. 

Montana Tech checked in behind league newcomer and favorite Dakota State, which garnered the other 11 top votes and 121 points. Rocky Mountain and Carroll tied for second with 101 points each, while defending conference champion Providence collected 91 points for fourth. 

Last season was a breakout one for Montana Tech's women's basketball program. The Orediggers went 18-12, 9-6 in the Frontier, and reached the NAIA national tournament for the first time since 2011. Head coach Jeff Graham returns a bunch of talent from that squad, led by all-conference seniors Hadley Humpherys and Liv Wangerin. 

The 2025-26 season will look quite a bit different with six new teams joining the Frontier's ranks. Among those is defending North Star Athletic Association champ Dakota State, which reached the NAIA tournament's second round a season ago with a win over Tech. Providence, Rocky Mountain, and Carroll also joined the Orediggers and Trojans in the national field. 

With 12 teams now in the fold, the Frontier will receive two automatic bids to this season's national tournament, one doled to the regular-season champion and another to the winner of the conference tournament. In the event the regular-season champion is the tournament champion, then the second berth will be awarded to the regular-season runner-up. 

Butte and Montana Tech will play host to the 2026 Frontier Conference women's and men's basketball tournaments February 27-March 2 at the Butte Civic Center. 

The Orediggers' 2025-26 campaign begins at 2 p.m. on Halloween against Southern Oregon inside Valley Bank Arena.
 

2025-26 Frontier Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Total Points
1	Dakota State (S.D.) (11)	121
T2	Carroll (Mont.)	101
T2	Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	101
4	Providence (Mont.)	91
5	Montana Tech (1)	81
6	Bellevue (Neb.)	68
7	Montana State-Northern	58
8	Valley City State (N.D.)	55
9	Mayville State (N.D.)	37
10	Dickinson State (N.D.)	35
11	Montana Western	32
12	Bismarck State (N.D.)	12

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