BUTTE, Mont. – The 3-point line was the difference in Montana Western's 70-55 win against the Southern Oregon women's basketball team on Saturday night at Kelvin Sampson Court.
Bailee Sayler hit six triples off the bench to score a game-high 19 points for the Bulldogs (1-0), who went 12-of-22 from 3 collectively.
The Raiders (0-2) outscored UMW during the second half, but their early shooting woes were too much to overcome. They missed their first 17 tries from deep before finishing 6-of-32 and landed at 28% from the field.
Defense and rebounding kept them competitive. They forced 26 turnovers and pulled down 16 offensive boards to get up 20 more field-goal attempts than the Bulldogs.
Freshman guard
Sage Winslow logged team-highs of 14 points and five steals in her first career start for SOU.
Bridgette McIntyre scored 12,
Keeley Wright added 10, and reserve
Kyla Albee went 3-for-3 with seven points.
Eliza DiGiulio had a game-high eight rebounds.
Three Bulldogs joined Sayler in double figures: Ava Bellach (12 points), Isabella Lund (12) and Maile Wilcox (10).
The No. 15-ranked Raiders will be home for the first time next week, facing The Master's (Calif.) on Thursday and Simpson (Calif.) on Friday. Both games tip off at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Raider Classic.