GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A 16-3 run in the middle of the fourth quarter sealed an otherwise close game for Lady Argo basketball against Montana Tech. The Lady Argos finished with a 63-55 win that keeps the team tied for second in the Frontier Conference with one game remaining in the regular season.
UGF entered the game as the heavy favorite, having beaten the Orediggers twice this season: both times by double digits. Tech proved to be a heartier opponent than expected and while the Lady Argos held the lead for the entire first half, turnovers and missed shots kept their lead to eight points or less.
A five point lead at the half quickly became eight with a three from junior Nneka Nnadi but resurgent Tech squad battled back and took their first lead of the game half way through the third quarter.
The game remained close until about halfway through the fourth when the Lady Argos finally found whatever they were missing from their past games against Tech. From the 5:42 mark to 1:29, UGF let up just three points and scored 16 to create unsurmountable lead.
"We got defensive stops. We started reversing the ball and then got some open looks," head coach Bill Himmelberg said. "We just started moving the ball a little bit better offensively and once we did that, scores started happening for us."
During that stretch, five different Lady Argos scored at least two points and Himmelberg's squad converted on two and-one plays, hit one 3-pointer, and scored five points off of Oredigger turnovers.
The balanced scoring in that run was a reflection of the team's scoring throughout the game. Five players for UGF finished with eight points or more and those five combined to score all but six of the team's points.
"We need to be balanced. Once a team takes someone away, someone else has to step up and that's what happened tonight," Himmelberg said.
Perfectly demonstrating that next up mentality was the play of the Lady Argo's centers. The team's usual starter, junior Whitney George, was keyed on early and only played 17 minutes due to foul trouble. Stepping up in her absence was junior Kalani Ulufale. Ulufale, playing her eighth game since returning from two and a half years of knee surgeries and rehab, posted career highs in minutes (19), points (9), and rebounds (7).
"She's starting to come along. She's getting better and better and is starting to finish more," Himmelberg said. "You can see where she's going to be a great player for us and right now she's doing a good job."
UGF's two leading scorers were Nnadi and senior guard Erin Legel, two of the Frontier Conference's three leading scorers. Nnadi finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three steals, and one assist, while Legel posted similar numbers with 15 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two assists. The other stat stuffer for UGF was sophomore Stephanie McDonagh who finished with nine points, six boards, five assists, and one steal.
Both UGF and MSU-Northern won on the second to last day of the regular season, which keeps the two tied for second place in the Frontier Conference. The Lights hold the head-to-head tiebreaker which, for now, gives them the second of two first round byes. In order steal that bye away from MSUN, the Lady Argos will have to defeat (12) Lewis-Clark State College at home on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 pm while hoping for an MSUN loss to Tech. The game will also be senior night for the Lady Argos as they send off the program's all-time leading scorer, Erin Legel.
