Saturday’s regional sports briefs

Lady Griz fall at Christmas City Classic

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Four players scored in double figures and two finished with double-doubles Saturday evening as host Lehigh University roughed up Montana 80-53 in the opener of the Christmas City Classic at Stabler Arena.

Lexi Martins and Kerry Kinek led the way for the Mountain Hawks (6-0). Martins tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds, while Kinek drained 15 and grabbed 10 boards. Elizabeth Jordan also had 15 markers while Kayla Burton tossed in 10.

Lehigh held the Lady Griz (3-2) to just under 26 percent from the floor in the first half, outscoring Montana 27-10 in the second quarter. The Lady Griz outpointed Lehigh by two points in the third, but the Mountain Hawks blew the game open with a 22-13 run in the final stanza.

Lewistown native McCalle Feller paved the road for the Montana offense with 13 points, while Kayleigh Valley added 11. Alycia Sims pulled down 11 rebounds for the Lady Griz.

The Lady Griz wrap up their portion of the two-day tourney Sunday morning at 10 Mountain Time against Drexel.

Orediggers lose lead, game to The Master’s

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Montana Tech struggled down the stretch and fell 79-74 to The Masters College Saturday afternoon at the Westminster College Holiday Classic.

The Orediggers (5-4) led 42-32 at halftime and by as much as 17 points in the second half before the Mustangs made their comeback.

Montana Tech’s Jalen Coates led all scorers with 26 points while Paul Engstrom and Lukas Vining added 17 and 13 points respectively.

Sadiq Inuwa grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and scored six points for the Diggers. Flemming Okeke scored eight points and grabbed seven rounds.

Montana Tech shot 41 percent from the field but outrebounded the Mustangs 46-32 in the contest.

The Orediggers open up Frontier Conference play in Helena when they take on Carroll College at the PE Center Thursday night at 7:30.

Cal Poly’s strong second half stymies Cats

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Montana State squandered a halftime lead and were outscored 46-29 in the final two periods as they dropped a 66-57 decision to host Cal Poly Saturday evening at the Cal Poly Holiday Classic at the Mott Athletics Center.

Riley Nordgaard’s double-double led the Cat women, as the 5-10 junior scored 12 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds before fouling out in the final quarter. Peyton Ferris added 11 markers for the Cats (4-2), while Jasmine Hommes finished with 10.

Beth Balbierz led all scorers with 16 for Cal Poly (3-3), while Lisa Marie Sanchez tossed in 15.

Montana State led 28-20 at the break, but was held to just 27 percent from the field (9-of-33) in the second half. Cal Poly, on the other hand, rebounded from a dismal-shooting first two quarters to hit at a 42 percent clip in the second, while making 43 percent of their 3-pointers.

The Cats gained a split of the two-day tournament, defeating Evansville 81-55 Friday night.

Hashley leads Carroll women past Firestorm

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Former Glacier Wolfpack star Cassidy Hashley drained 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday night to lead Carroll College to a 51-46 win over Arizona Christian in nonleague basketball action.

Katie Estey added 10 markers and Baylee Watson led all rebounders with 14 as the Saints remain undefeated at 10-0 heading into their Frontier Conference opener Thursday against Montana Tech at the Carroll PE Center.

ACU’s Madison Austin had 17 points to lead all scorers.

Wyoming outruns Montana State in Laramie

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Wyoming used a 7-2 spurt coming out of halftime and never looked back, topping Montana State 82-68 in Laramie on Saturday. The Bobcats had topped UW just six days earlier in Billings.

Wyoming outscored Montana State by 11 from the free throw line and out-rebounded the Bobcats 35 to 33, beating MSU 82-68 in Laramie on Saturday. Wyoming drew 23 Bobcat fouls while being whistled for just 15, and MSU wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunities that came its way at the line. The Cats hit just six of their 13 free throw tries. UW finished 17-for-22 from the charity stripe.

The Cowboys rode a hot hand throughout the second half, hitting their first five shots and finishing 57 percent from the floor and 47 percent from the three-point circle after the intermission. That reversed the first half trend, which saw the Cats shoot 57 percent from the floor and hold a 40-36 lead at the half.

The Bobcats jumped out to a quick start. When Marcus Colbert hit a jumper nine minutes into the game, the Cats led 19-8. Wyoming scored eight straight to answer, though, and MSU never held a lead bigger than five points the rest of the way.

Six days after scoring 36 points against the Bobcats, Wyoming’s Josh Adams scored 25 points on Saturday. Jason McManamen scored 16, while Jason James and Hayden Dalton each scored 11.

Wyoming raises its record to 4-2 on the season, while the Cats fall to 3-3. MSU continues its road trip at Utah Valley on Tuesday night.

Three goals in third doom Americans

BOZEMAN – The Bozeman IceDogs rallied with three goals in the third period to bounce back from a 3-1 deficit after two stanzas to take a 4-3 win over the Frontier Division-leading Great Falls Americans Saturday night at the Haynes Pavilion.

Nicholas Thompson, Gunnar Mogck and Dylan Michaud each tallied power play goals for the IceDogs (12-3-3) in a span of 4:14 in the final period after an Americans player was slapped with a major penalty for making contact to an opponent’s head and ejected from the game.

Arseny Ivanov, Tanner Congdon and Austin Krantz scored the goals for Great Falls, and Casey Gobel got Bozeman on the board in the second frame.

Americans goalie Lauren Massie saved 29 of the 33 shots he faced, while winning goalkeep Stephen Frank had 32 saves in 35 chances.

The Americans (16-6) hold a five-point lead over the Yellowstone Quake (12-5-3) and the IceDogs in the Frontier Division of the NA3HL. The Americans will take to the ice once this week, hosting Helena Friday night at the IcePlex at 7:30.