BILLINGS -- The 13th-ranked Montana Tech women's basketball team could not overcome an early deficit Saturday, dropping a 64-50 Frontier Conference matchup at No. 23 Rocky Mountain. 

The Orediggers got 14 points and four rebounds from Liv Wangerin, while Brooke Badovinac added 12 points, six rebounds, and four steals to the Tech cause. 

Things started off well for Montana Tech (16-4, 12-4 Frontier). Badovinac knocked down 3-pointers on the Orediggers' first two possessions of the game, and the visitors led 9-7 midway through the first period. 

But then Rocky Mountain (15-7, 12-4) put together a 12-1 run that ate up the rest of the quarter, and the Battlin' Bears never looked back. Tech shot just 18 percent in the first half and trailed 34-19 at halftime. 

The third quarter was more of the same. The Orediggers made just two of 14 field goal attempts in the period and trailed 54-31 by the end of the third. 

The Orediggers rallied in the fourth, cutting the lead under 20 on back-to-back 3s by Wangerin and Rachel Van Blaricom early in the period. They continued to shrink the deficit late as Van Blaricom hit another 3-pointer at the 2:28 mark, but it was too little, too late.  

Paige Wasson and Isabelle Heggem both tallied double-doubles for the Battlin' Bears. 

Hadley Humpherys snagged a career-best 16 rebounds for Montana Tech in the losing effort. 

The Orediggers return home to Valley Bank Arena for the first time in nearly a month next weekend. Tech will tip off the homestand with a 5 p.m. matchup against Dickinson State Friday, February 6. Friday's game day experience will be presented by Valley Bank. 

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