BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Brooke Badovinac took over Saturday evening, headlining a 73-57 win for the No. 12-ranked Montana Tech women's basketball team at Bellevue. 

Badovinac, a redshirt sophomore from Butte, totaled a career-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds, five blocks, and five steals as she led the Orediggers to victory. Liv Wangerin added 17 points, and Olivia Nielson scored 12 and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds for Montana Tech (15-2, 11-2 Frontier Conference). 

Badovinac scored 10 of her 23 in the first quarter as the Orediggers stormed out to an early lead. 

With the game tied, 9-9, Wangerin sank a pair of free throws with 3:31 remaining in the opening quarter to spark an 8-0 Tech run. The Orediggers led the rest of the way. 

Tech pushed the lead to as many as 10 in the second and cruised into halftime with a 37-30 lead. 

After the break, Bellevue trimmed the lead to five before Montana Tech came up with another run. The Orediggers scored the final five points of the third to open the game back up and stretched the lead to double digits down the home stretch. 

Wangerin chipped in seven rebounds and six assists for Montana Tech, while Joy Beran led the Bruins (8-10, 4-9) with 18 points and seven rebounds. 

Montana Tech will hit the road again Friday as the Orediggers look to finish the season sweep of rival Montana Western at 5 p.m. in Dillon. 

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