BUTTE, Mont. – Montana Tech went 40-of-54 from the free throw line on the way to an 89-65 win over The College of Idaho on Saturday.
Leading 57-49 entering the fourth quarter, the Orediggers outscored the Yotes 32-16 over the final 10 minutes in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate.
C of I saw strong efforts from
Makenna Schritter and
Kiersten Rasmussen early to keep the Orediggers within reach. Schritter finished the game 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe on her way to 14 points and three rebounds, while Rasmussen had eight points on 4-of-7 shooting.
After trailing 41-34 at the break, the Yotes battled through some adversity in the third quarter to cut a 51-41 lead back down to six points thanks to four consecutive free throws from
Mackenzie Royce-Radford and Schritter. That 51-45 deficit was as close as C of I would get the rest of the way though, with Montana Tech going on a 38-20 run to close the game.
Bench scoring accounted for 28 of the 65 points for the Yotes, with Rasmussen teaming with
Lexi Mitchell and
Emma Anthony - who each had seven points - to provide a lift. Freshman
Allie Cannon had three points and four rebounds.
Multiple positives came out of the loss for the Yotes, including an 18-13 advantage in second chance points and 16 offensive rebounds on the night.
Montana Tech shot 23-of-47 from the field and 3-of-9 on 3-pointers, while C of I went 22-of-65 from the floor and 7-of-21 from distance.
The Yotes have 18 days off before returning to action again on Nov. 14 at Linfield.
