Orediggers Overtake Cavs in Non-Conference Clash
PORTLAND, Ore.— Led by 20 points from Jessie Depell, Montana Tech defeated Concordia 69-51 in non-conference women’s basketball action on Saturday night.
With the win, Montana Tech improved to 10-2 on the season while Concordia dropped to 8-7.
The Orediggers never trailed in the game after Depell opened the contest with five straight points, including a three-point strike as the game’s initial score.
The Cavs would stay close for the first 10 minutes, getting to within a basket after a Sarah Eischen jumper at the 11:17 mark to make the score 14-12. From there, however, Montana Tech mounted a 17-4 run to claim a double-digit lead before heading into the locker rooms with the score 35-26.
A Mariah Ladd layup with 17:49 to play in the second closed the gap to 35-32 in favor of the road team, but the Orediggers reeled off seven straight points to put distance on the Cavs. With both teams shooting below 40 percent in the second, the deficit would prove too much for the Cavaliers as Montana Tech would go on to claim the 18-point victory.
Besides Depell, Montana Tech had two other players reach double figures in the scoring column with Taesha Higbee adding 15 and Danni Devenny posting a 10-point night.
Eischen led the Cavs with 12 points after hitting 6 of 11 shots from the field. Danielle Clauson registered 10 points on a 5 of 9 night. Coming into the game with 998 career points, Clauson surpassed the 1,000-point plateau early in the first half to become the 16th player in school history to reach the mark. The junior forward also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and created a team-best three assists.
Concordia returns to action on Jan. 8 when it travels to Northwest Christian for a 5:30 p.m. match in Eugene, Ore.