LAS VEGAS – The 24th-ranked Carroll College women's basketball team overcame a late comeback bid and held on to defeat No. 14 The Master's College 73-68 in the first day of the Frontier Las Vegas Shootout at Durango High School in Las Vegas.
Katie Estey led the way for the Saints with 20 points and eight assists while
Baylee Watson tallied 11 points and eight rebounds and
Brittney Johnson had 10 points for Carroll.
The Saints took an early lead which they built to 25-13 with 7:54 left in the first half. The Mustangs battled back and cut the deficit to 30-25 with 1:19 left in the half before the Saints closed out the frame with four points to go into the break with a 34-25 lead.
A Mustang 3-pointer at the 18:06 mark in the second half cut the Carroll lead to 36-33 but the Saints went on a 13-4 run to again build a 12-point, 49-37 lead, with 12:28 left in the game.
The Master's then began chipping away and eventually overtook the Saints 61-60 on a bucket by Chayan Lowery with 4:01 left in the game. The Mustangs held on to the lead for all of 59 seconds before a basket by Johnson gave the Saints a 62-61 lead which they would not relinquish.
Carroll closed out the game by hitting six free throws out of 10 in the final minute to earn the win.
"Was an unbelievable effort by our kids," head coach
Rachelle Sayers said. "
Katie Estey played her heart out, she is our leader and even after turning her ankle in shoot around today, she was the one that kept us in it. Britt Johnson was huge. Not only did she get six steals, she caused so much havoc on the defensive end and hit a huge three after The Master's took their lead.
Baylee Watson was a monster as well. I am so proud of this group, this was another huge win for us in Vegas but we still have two to go."
Carroll plays two games over the next two games beginning with Menlo College at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Oaks are in their first season as an NAIA DI team and fell to the University of Great Falls 81-72 but they were a national tournament team a season ago.
Carroll and Menlo take the court at 4 p.m. Saturday.
