BUTTE, Mont. – At the start of the fourth quarter it looked like Lady Argo basketball would finally earn its second conference win of the season. UGF led by 15 a few minutes into the period, but a furious rally from Montana Tech forced the game into overtime where the Orediggers kept the moment and UGF lost 68-64.
 
After a 16-9 third quarter in favor of the Lady Argos, gave UGF a seemingly safe lead, but after a few made baskets from Tech started to chip into that lead, things started to unravel. UGF shot 25 percent over the final 10 minutes and committed 6 of its 11 turnovers in the period. 
 
"I thought we played a great three quarters but in the fourth quarter we stopped doing the things that were working in those first three quarters," UGF Head Coach Bill Himmelberg said. "We a big enough lead to hold onto, we just didn't do it."
 
UGF hit four of its first five shots in the game including two 3-pointers to get out to a 12-6 lead. For the rest of the first half, the Lady Argos held a lead that fluctuated between 2 and 8 points.
 
Through the first 20 minutes, UGF's offense was steady, though not explosive, hitting on 12 of 31 attempts. Junior guard Stephanie McDonagh led the way, scoring 10 points in the first half and helping the Lady Argos outscore the Diggers 18-10 in the paint.
 
UGF was also stifling on defense in the second quarter, holding Tech to just five made field goals and never sending an Oredigger to the charity stripe. That defensive effort got even better in the third quarter, which was easily UGF's best 10 minute stretch of the contest.
 
During that period, Tech made just three shots, shooting 27 percent, while UGF hit on 43 percent of its attempts. That disparity led to a 12-point UGF lead heading into the fourth quarter and that was extended to 15 by a 2-point field goal from freshman Jenna Randich with nine minutes left in the game.
 
Over the next three minutes, Montana Tech scored 8 straight points to pull within 7. After that small rally, UGF turned the ball over four times and went 1 for 6 from the floor until the end of regulation.
 
Not only did Tech keep UGF from scoring, but they also kept the team off the free-throw line. Despite holding the lead until the very end, the Lady Argos didn't shoot one free throw in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
 
"We forced our offense, we didn't reverse the ball, we didn't do the things that we did earlier in the game," Himmelberg said. "We talked about attacking their press and attacking when we had two-on-two situations and we didn't do that."
 
In overtime, both teams found a new offensive weapon. For Tech, it was the 3-point shooting of Kourtney Coverdell. Coverdell hit two huge threes in the final five minutes of play, after Tech made just one long range shot during all of regulation.
For UGF, it was an ability to get to the free-throw line and make the shots once there. The Lady Argos finished a perfect 18-18 from the charity stripe, including 10-10 in the overtime.
 
The problem for the Lady Argos was that they were dead cold from the field, making just one shot in extra time, which wasn't enough to pull out the win.
 
McDonagh filled the stat sheet for UGF, reaching the 20-point plateau for the fifth time this season. Along with her 20 points, the guard also led the team with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
 
Senior guard Nneka Nnadi was the Lady Argo's other top scoring threat. She finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Freshman guard Jenna Randich set a career high with 3 steals while also score 9 points.
 
After going 11-0 in non-conference play, the Lady Argos no longer have a winning record at 12-12 (1-12) on the year. The loss is the seventh straight for UGF with its next test coming against (2) Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho on Saturday, February 11 at 6:30 p.m. MT.