BUTTE, Mont. – The Carroll College women's basketball team fell to Montana Tech 58-50 Thursday on the road at the HPER Complex in Butte.

The Saints struggled early, allowing the Diggers to build a 6-0 lead. Tech led 16-9 after the first quarter and started the second with a 4-0 run to go up 20-9. The Diggers led 27-17 with 3:39 to play but Carroll closed the half with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 27-25 at the half.

After trading buckets to start the second half, the Saints took their first lead, 33-32, on a pair of free throws from Cassidy Hashley with 5:14 left in the third quarter.  The game was tied at 37 to start the fourth quarter.

The Saints took an early lead in the fourth quarter before the Diggers rattled off eight-straight points to take 47-41 lead. Tech would hold off Carroll for the remainder to earn the 58-50 win.

The Saints were 21-52 (40.2 percent) from the field but just 1-12 from the three-point line. Hannah Dean scored 19 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Cassidy Hashley tallied 12 points.

Montana Tech was 21-51 (41.2 percent) from the field. Callee Remsen scored 13 points to lead Montana Tech Martha Dembek and Hattie Thatcher scored 11 points each.

The win gives Montana Tech a 9-9 record to close the season and locks up the fourth seed in the Frontier playoffs. The Diggers will host Carroll Tuesday at the HPER Complex in the Frontier Conference quarterfinals.

Carroll travels to Lewiston, Idaho, to face Lewis-Clark State Saturday at 6:30 Mountain Time in the regular-season finale. The Saints handed the fourth-ranked Warriors their lone loss on the season. The game will be broadcast live on 94.9 FM ESPN Montana Radio. A live stream is available via lcwarriors.com. Live stats will be available via Dakstats.