GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The first Frontier Conference win of the season finally came for (13) Lady Argo basketball, in a confident 71-55 win over Rocky Mountain College (10-8, 2-4). Senior Nneka Nnadi and Darah Huertas-Vining each scored 17 points and UGF led by double-digits for all but 20 seconds of the final 12 and a half minutes of the game.
 
The first quarter was an offensive nightmare for both teams, with neither side breaking the 10 point mark in the first 10 minutes of play. Things changed dramatically in the second quarter, particularly for the Lady Argos.
 
Junior guard Stephanie McDonagh scored 6 straight points for UGF to start the period, and both she and Nnadi finished the quarter with 8 points. Those two found their points by driving into the lane, and finishing in the paint. They converted through traffic at a high rate of success and the Lady Argos finished the quarter shooting 50 percent from the field and perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line.
 
The Lady Argo defense also did a good job of pestering the Rocky Mountain offensive. While UGF only came away with 3 steals in the half, they forced the Battlin' Bears into 10 turnovers and only allowed 8 made field goals.
 
UGF's ability to score in the paint in the first half dictated a defensive adjustment from Rocky in the coming out of the locker room. That adjustment backfired when the Lady Argos found a rhythm from behind the 3-point arc.
 
Led by Huertas-Vining, UGF shot 42 percent from three in the third quarter and 50 percent from three in the fourth. The outside shooting combined with a consistent scoring in the paint grew the Lady Argo lead to 16 with just under seven minute left in the game.
 
A 7-0 run in the final few minutes of the third quarter established the first double-digit lead of the game for UGF and that lead only increased over the next 12 minutes. Part of building that ever increasing lead was a defense that only allowed one 3-point field goal in the second half and held Rocky to 34 percent shooting from the field.
 
While McDonagh was a big factor in the first half, and Huertas-Vining was a deciding factor in the second, Nnadi was consistently effective throughout the game. The senior guard finished with 17 points off 7-13 shooting, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.
 
Hitting three threes in the second half helped Huertas-Vining to her highest point total since October 28. Her shooting not only led to 17 points, but it was also efficient with a shooting percentage of 54.
 
McDonagh finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds and a team leading 6 assists.
 
The win was the first for UGF since December 28, breaking a three-game losing streaking and giving the Lady Argos their first conference win of the season. The team's record now stands at 12-5 (1-5). Next for UGF will be a tough test against (2) Lewis-Clark State College at home on January 20 at 5:30 p.m.