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Lady Orediggers Comin' on Back From Jackson; 71-57 Loss in NAIA Tourney

Thursday night's first round of the NAIA tournament played the Swan Song for the Montana Tech Lady Orediggers as Azusa Pacific turned out the lights on Tech's shooting in the second half. And in the words of Willie Nelson, when you "turn out the lights, the party's over."

Perhaps Nelson can lay down another ditty regarding turnovers to better apply to the Lady Orediggers. In the 71-57 Lady Cougar runaway, they committed 21 of them to Azusa's 12. Montana Tech Head Coach Kerie DePell said that the team set a goal to stay under 14, and if they had limited turnovers to that capacity, things may very well have turned out differently.

"That was our number one key," she said Thursday at midnight in the middle of a hotel lobby while the team enjoyed some post-game Taco Bell (Don't worry, they ate at some "really cool southern food restaurants" during their time in Jackson, TN. And that's no knock on Taco Bell, by the way. It's gotten me through some tough late nights.) "That's seven more possessions that we could have had to score."

The Azusa Pacific Lady Cougars scored 17 points off turnovers to Montana Tech's six.

With the turnover margin clawing at her memory, the third year coach reflected on the game that was their last of a season that saw the program elevated to the national stage for the first time ever.

"It was a really good first half. Everybody was on their game, contributing and passing the ball around and creating open shots for their teammates and at that point we were hitting them so everything was looking good," she said.

The seventh seeded Lady Diggers entered the half tied at 29-29 with second seeded Azusa Pacific, but a second half downfall saw Montana Tech take a six point lead at the 16:31 mark, only to let it slip away with miss after miss from the floor.

"We just could not a hit a shot," DePell said with some frustration that was likely due to the game rather than the fact that she forgot Fire Sauce from the Bell. "We know we didn't play our best and that's the most frustrating part. It's almost okay to lose to a team that is better than you when you're at your best, but when you a play a team that you think you have a good shot at and you don't play your best, it makes it hard to swallow."

The Tech player who was the best of the un-best on the Lady Diggers squad was junior Taesha Higbee who scored 14 points and pulled down 15 boards. Jenessa Todd added 13 in her final performance as a Lady Digger. She will graduate in the spring, as will Lindsie Wilson, Brittany Toone and team leader Jessie DePell, who managed eight points against the Lady Cougars.

"It's really tough trying to think about the fact that they're not going to be around next year," said Tech's coach, who is credited for the program's dramatic turnaround. However, she places the credit on the seniors. "They're the ones that have led us to where we are. From nothing to where we are now, so it's a little scary to think of next year without them but that's what happens in college. People move on and others get the chance to develop with the team."

At least for the seniors valued by the Tech faithful, they will say goodbye to their careers in a setting far different than most Frontier Conference players come to know: Under the bright lights of a national tournament, likely to the sound of country music in Tennessee, which doesn't contrast the scene back home. But DePell says it is the differences in culture that has made the trip so enjoyable for the team.

"We got to experience life down here which is completely different than Montana, so it's been fun that way and I couldn't ask for a better group of girls to have it happen to. It's been easy to remember the good times and the accomplishments that they've had this year," DePell said graciously. "I know the girls appreciated everything that was done for us. We had good support from back home, flying us all the way out here, and support from the school financially, so we're just really thankful that it was able to happen this way."

Shane Ewing can be reached at sewing@kxlf.com or sewing@kbzk.com