BILLINGS - Tinley Pierson scored a team-high nine points off the bench, but no Blue Hawks found double-digits as Dickinson State (5-9, 0-1) fell, 96-43, to Montana Western (11-2, 1-1) to open the Green and Gold Classic hosted by Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana.

After falling behind 4-0 early, the Blue Hawks came back to take an 8-6 lead on a layup by Pierson with 4:58 left in the quarter. Montana Western responded with a 9-0 run to end the quarter up 15-8. Jenna Jacobson hit two free throws to start the scoring in the second quarter and bringing DSU back to within five, 15-10. Again the Bulldogs responded with an extended run, pushing their lead to 31-13 with 3:04 left in the half. Tayte Kohn hit a three-pointer on the next Blue Hawk possession, but that was quickly erased when UMW hit a three of their own on the next possession. Montana Western stretched their lead to 20 before McKenzie Johnson and Lindsay Peterson each hit a pair of free-throws to make the deficit 16 at the half time break, 36-20. The 20 first half points came in as the second lowest total for the Blue Hawks this season, with only the 15 points scored in the first half against nationally ranked Dordt on November 12 coming in lower.

With 4:30 left in the third quarter, UMW led 49-25 and looked poised to extend even further. After a few empty possessions, Heather LaBree finally got DSU out of the hole when she connected from deep, sparking an 11-2 run to end the quarter that brought the Blue Hawks back to within 15, 51-36. Unfortunately, Dickinson State never got closer than that as the Frontier Conference Bulldogs outscored the Blue Hawks 18-7 in the final 10 minutes to seal the win.

Samantha Oase pulled down a team-high seven rebounds to go with eight points, but Montana Western outshot Dickinson State 47.5 percent to 24.4 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle 32-29. DSU forced 17 UMW turnovers, but 22 of their own proved costly as the Bulldogs scored 25 points off those turnovers compared to just 14 for the Blue Hawks.

WHATS NEXT

DSU will remain in Billings to take on familiar foe Rocky Mountain College for the third time this season tomorrow, December 30, at 5:30 pm MT.