BUTTE -- Hallie Neibauer scored a team-high 20 points off the bench, Liv Wangerin notched a double-double, and the No. 25-ranked Montana Tech women's basketball team pulled away for a 68-54 home win over Montana Western Friday night in Valley Bank Arena. 

Neibauer's 20 points matched her career-high, and Hadley Humpherys added 18 points, eight rebounds, and three assists for the Orediggers (6-1, 2-1 Frontier Conference). Wangerin totaled 11 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. She also blocked three shots. 

Montana Western (4-3, 2-1) began the game hot, taking an 8-4 lead in the opening minutes, but a pair of Neibauer free throws with 4:55 left in the first sparked an 11-1 Oredigger run to end the quarter. 

UMW cut the lead to two in the second before Neibauer took over. The sophomore knocked down three second-quarter 3-pointers to help Tech take a 37-28 lead into halftime. Neibauer had 15 points at the midway mark. 

After the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to six at the beginning of the fourth, but Neibauer again set fire to a Montana Tech run. After she hit a 3-pointer with 9:09 to play, the Orediggers outscored Western 19-11 down the stretch to seal the win. 

Isabella Lund led the Bulldogs with 24 points. 

Montana Tech will break for the rest of the weekend before returning to Frontier Conference play at home next weekend against Rocky Mountain and Carroll. Next Friday will be a 5 p.m. tipoff versus RMC. 

Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.

###