GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- Montana Tech's women's basketball team will have to wait another season to end its Frontier Conference tournament championship drought.

The fourth-seeded Orediggers fell Sunday in the first round of the conference tournament, 76-73, to No. 5-seeded MSU-Northern.

Hadley Humphreys, Hallie Neibauer, and Aubrie Rademacher each scored 16 points to lead the way for Montana Tech (18-11).

The Orediggers led by nine points with 7:32 remaining, but Northern had a late charge. The Skylights pulled off an 8-0 run over the next 3 minutes to climb back into the game. MSUN took the lead with 1:32 to go on a three-point play by Canzas HisBadHorse and never relinquished it.

Early on, the game was a dogfight. The two teams traded the lead four times in the first quarter, including just before the horn sounded, when Neibauer sank a 3-pointer to put Tech on top, 20-19. The teams continued to trade blows in the second period, but the Skylights had the last blow, a Lynnea Moran bucket that gave Northern a 38-36 advantage at the break.

Neibauer took over the third period, scoring 10 of her 16 in the frame, including a pair of 3s. Tech led 54-48 with 10 minutes to play.

After the Orediggers stretched the lead to nine and MSUN reeled it back in to take a late lead, the Diggers weren't quite done. Liv Wangerin sank a 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to a single point, but MSUN's Taya Trottier made both free throws on the other end. Wangerin's long-range attempt at the buzzer rimmed out, and the Orediggers were eliminated from tournament play.

HisBadHorse led Northern and all scorers with 19 points.

Montana Tech will hope to see its season continue when the NAIA announces its 2025 tournament field Thursday live on NAIA.org.

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.