BUTTE, Mont. – Senior guard Stephanie McDonagh and junior post Tristan Murphy came up big with their team needed it most, guiding University of Providence women's basketball to a 73-71 win over Montana Tech that came down to the final possession. With six seconds left, the Orediggers had the ball with a chance to send the game into overtime, but Murphy made a great defensive play to end the game.
 
"We switched on that play, which put Tristan on Coverdell and that's the matchup we wanted," UP Head Coach Bill Himmelberg said. "Tristan let her go by, blocked the shot from behind, and then secured the rebound. That was a lot of fun to watch. Tristan's fighting through some injuries right now but you would never know it."
 
UP wouldn't have been ahead at that point if not for the efforts of McDonagh. The team's leading scorer on the season was cold for most of the night, entering the fourth quarter with just 6 points and 2 made field goals. She didn't increase those numbers until under four minutes left in the game and the Lady Argos trailing by 5 points.
 
She brought the score to 66-63 with a layup with 3:30 on the clock and she would go on to score 6 of the team's last 12 points including the game winner with six seconds left.
 
"Honestly, I didn't even really say anything to her. We just started calling plays for her," Himmelberg said. "She knows it's her time late in a game and she's just amazing. That's all there is to say about her. When we need her, she's there. She's amazing."
 
Along with her big block, Murphy had another key contribution in the final few minutes. Right after McDonagh's score with 3:30 remaining in the game, the Lady Argos switched to a  full court  press. Murphy initially dropped deep to stop any long pass, but right when Tech thought they saw a player open at half court, the junior broke for the ball and got there first. She got the steal and took it the rest of the way for an easy layup to pull UP within 1 point.
 
Less than 30 seconds later, a free throw from freshman post Parker Esary would tie the game at 66.
 
It wasn't long after that Parker fouled out of the game, which made her a non-factor in the final two minutes. In the previous 38 minutes, she was the biggest factor on the floor. The freshman was a monster in the post that Tech couldn't handle, particularly during a 10 point second quarter.
 
She was the game's leading scorer with 22 points and led UP with 9 rebounds and 3 steals which tied her career high. Not only did she score, but the 7th ranked player in the NAIA in shooting percentage did even better than her 56.4 percent season average, making 10-16 from the floor.
 
Murphy finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal while McDonagh had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal.

Senior Kallee Wilson played a great game off the bench, going 5-6 from the field for 10 points including a long 2-point field goal with 29 seconds left that gave the Lady Argos a 71-69 lead.
 
The game wraps up UP's regular season with the Lady Argos entering the Frontier Conference playoffs as the 4-seed with a record of 19-10 (10-8). They host Lewis-Clark State College in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday, February 28.