The University of Montana Western women’s basketball team will open the 2010-2011 season with a pair of home games this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29 and 30.

The newest member of Cara Cocchiarella’s 2010 recruiting class is Sammi Bignell, a 5-foot-10 all-state guard from Helena Capital High School.

Hayley Pettit, a 2008 graduate of Dillon’s Beaverhead County High School, will return to her hometown after signing a letter of intent to play basketball for Montana Western.

The Montana Western men’s basketball team improved to 7-2 in Frontier Conference action with two impressive home wins on Feb. 6 and 7. The Bulldogs are 19-6 overall. The Bulldog women dropped two over the weekend as they fell to Carroll College 67-55 on Friday and Rocky Mountain 78-76 on Saturday. The two losses gave the Bulldogs a 3-6 record in league games and a 7-15 overall record.

The Bulldog men’s and women’s basketball teams captured Frontier Conference wins over Montana Tech on the Orediggers’ home court on Saturday.

University of Montana Western Bulldog guard Kristin Luedtke was named the Frontier Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010.

The Montana Western women picked up their first conference basketball win Friday night when they downed the University of Great Falls Argos 70-60 in Great Falls, Mont.

The University of Montana Western men’s and women’s basketball teams open their home Frontier Conference season hosting the Lewis-Clark State Warriors and the Westminster College Griffins on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 15 and 16 in the Straugh Gymnasium.

The secret to success for student athletes competing on the collegiate level is learning to juggle academics and athletics. For University of Montana Western senior basketball guard Kristen Luedtke, her juggling act is quite a bit more complicated.

The Bulldog men split their first conference road trip while the Bulldog women dropped two.