Carroll, Providence women make NAIA Round of 16
Ashlee Maldonado scored 23 points, Keanna Salave’a had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Providence moved onto the NAIA Women’s tournament Round of 16 with an 80-69 win over Reinhardt, Ga. Saturday night.
Carroll College will join the Argonauts in Iowa, thanks to a 61-46 win over Oregon Tech Saturday night.
Not all of Montana’s Frontier Conference teams moved on: the Lewis-Clark State men pulled away in the second half to knock off Montana Tech 85-77 Saturday, on the Orediggers’ home floor.
The Warriors take a 24-8 record to the men’s Round of 16 in Kansas City, Mo.
Providence women 80, Reinhardt 69
At the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls, Maddie Doxon added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Argonauts (24-8), who built a 36-27 halftime lead, then withstood a Reinhardt rally — capped by a Niya Moon 3-pointer — that cut the gap to 73-69 with 1:46 left in the game.
Dixon scored to move the lead back to six, and Providence punched its ticket to Sioux City, Iowa, despite missing three free throws in the final 31 seconds.
Maldonado 6 of 14 from the field and hit 8 of 11 free throws. She hit three 3-pointers, and had six assists. Salave’a had seven of her points during the Argos’ 25-point second quarter.
Taliah Lee added 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench for Providence.
Ashley Woodroffe and Maria Sanchez Ponce had 17 points each to pace Reinhardt (27-4).
Providence will play Thursday at 2 p.m. Mountain against Concordia, Neb. (26-6), in the Round of 16 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux Falls.
Carroll College 61, Oregon Tech 46
At the Carroll PE Center in Helena, Jamie Pickens and Willa Albretch both scored 18 points and Kyndall Keller added 15 for the Saints, who built a 52-31 win after three quarters.
The trio — all three began their collegiate careers at the University of Montana — combined to shoot 21-for-39 from the field. Pickens also grabbed 12 rebounds, leading Carroll to a 33-19 advantage on the glass.
Flathead product Clare Converse saw two minutes of action and had a rebound and a steal for Carroll.
Olivia Sprague had a game-high 20 points and was Oregon Tech’s only double-figure scorer.
The Saints will play Loyola, La. in Sioux Falls, Iowa. At press time a time and date had not been announced.
Lewis-Clark St. 85, Tech men 77
A Michael Ure free throw had the Orediggers (27-5) up 54-53 with 14:31 left in the game, and that turned out to be their last lead at the HPER Complex in Butte..
A Gorden Boykens jumper got the Warriors back in front, and a 3-pointer from Quentin Raynor at the 10:56 mark started L-C State away from a 60-58 lead.
A layup from Jaedon Bradey gave the visitors a 69-59 advantage with 7:38 left, and Tech got as close as five once, at 76-71 on Ure’s three-point play with 1:33 remaining. The Warriors hit 7 of 8 free throws from there.
Seven players saw minutes and six reached double figures for Lewis-Clark State, led by Davian Brown’s 18 points. Sam Stockton, son of NBA great John Stockton, had 11 points and four assists. The Warriors shot 50 percent from the floor compared to Tech’s 43 percent.
Hayden Diekhans led Tech with 18 points and six rebounds. Caleb Bellach added 17 points, 12 coming in the first half, after which L-C State led 46-45. Asa Williams had 11 points and Ifeanyi Okeke chipped in 10 for the Orediggers.
College of Idaho men 74, Cornerstone 62
In Caldwell, Idaho, the Yotes put four players in double figures, led by Samaje Morgan’s 18 points, to earn a trip to Kansas City, Mo.
Great Falls High project Drew Wyman added 12 points for C of I. Butte Central’s Dougie Peoples had six points off the bench, while fellow reserves Alex Germer (Missoula Sentinel) and Caden Handran (Scobey) combined for one point.