Rocky tops Tech women

By Pat Ryan - 02/16/2008

The Montana Tech women suffered a tough 76-64 Frontier Conference loss Friday at the hands of Rocky Mountain College Friday at the Tech HPER Complex.

Save a few short scoring runs by the Bears, however, and it’s a different game.

Jessie DePell hit 5-of-8 attempts from 3-point land in scoring a whopping 30 points, easily leading both teams Friday.

But her counterpart from Rocky, Liz Lewis, also drained five treys in scoring 20 points for the Bears. Lewis hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the first half to help Rocky finally begin pulling away from the pesky ’Diggers.

Jessie DePell connectted on a longball in an effort to spark a comback midway through the second half, but Lewis again strung together a pair of quick threes to effectively put the game out of reach.

Coach DePell had high praise for player DePell.

“It’s fun to watch her when she’s on,” said Kerie DePell of her sister-in-law Jessie. “It’s exciting because she still has two more

See WOMEN, Page B4

years (of eligibility) and she’s just figuring out that she can score on anyone.”

Adrea Thomas was a force in scoring 14 points and five rebounds, while Kimber Peters had 10 points, five boards and four assists. Natalie Shaw grabed eight rebounds for Tech.

Gretchen Wall and Emmelie Lundgren each netted 10 for Rocky.

At this point in the season all but the top three Frontier Conference teams are within one win of each other.

“There’s more parity this year than ever,” said Rocky Mountain head coach Brian Henderson. “That’s saying something because there’s always been a lot. On any given night, anyone can beat anyone.”

“It’s good because people respect how tough our conference is,” DePell said. “It’s bad because all we do is beat each other up.”

The Orediggers get another chance to spar Saturday at 6 p.m. when they play host to Carroll (8-2 20-3) at the HPER Complex.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN (4-6 11-15)

Sarah Madinger 3-9 2-5 8, Keri Siewert 2-5 0-0 5, Liz Lewis 7-15 1-4 20, Gretchen Wall 3-6 2-2 10, Emmelie Lundgren 4-7 2-2 10, Shaylynn Conroy 4-7 0-0 9, Josie Evans 2-5 0-2 4, Jenna Sawyer 3-5 4-4 10. Totals 28-59 11-19 76.

MONTANA TECH (3-6 10-13)

Jessie DePell 11-19 3-3 30, Kimber Peters 4-6 1-4 10, Adrea Thomas 6-11 0-1 14, Stephanie Langford 0-5 2-2 2, Natalie Shaw 0-1 0-0 0, Jenessa Todd 2-6 0-0 4, Becky Roll 0-3 0-0 0, Teresa Merrill 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 25-54 6-10 64.

Halftime score n RMC 36, MT 29. 3-point goals n RMC 9-20 (Madinger 0-1, Siewert 1-4, Lewis 5-9, Wall 2-4, Conroy 1-2), MT 8-18 (DePell 5-8, Peters 1-1, Thomas 2-3, Langford 0-2, Shaw 0-1, Todd 0-1, Roll 0-2). Rebounds n RMC 37 (Sawyer 6, Siewert 4, Lewis 4), MT 31 (Shaw 8, Langford 6, Peters 5, Thomas 5). Fouls n RMC 15, MT 20. Fouled out n none. Assists n RMC 13 (Madinger 6, Lewis 3), MT 18 (Roll 6, Peters 4). Turnovers n RMC 13, MT 16. Blocks n RMC 4 (Sawyer 2), MT 2 (Langford 2), Steals n RMC 3 (Lewis 2, Siewert 1), MT 3 (Todd 2, Thomas 1).