HELENA, Mont. – The 24th-ranked and undefeated Carroll College women's basketball team plays its final two non-exhibition, non-conference games of the season Friday and Saturday at the ACU Classic hosted by Arizona Christian in Phoenix.
 
Carroll is off to an 8-0 start, six of those games away from the friendly confines of the PE Center. The Saints earned wins against No. 5 Westmont and No. 14 The Master's College. Carroll is coming off of a three-game, three-day road trip to Oregon that included wins over NCAA DII Concordia(Ore.), NAIA member Northwest Christian and NCAA DII Pacific.
 
Sophomore Cassidy Hashley leads the young Saints squad with 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
 
"I am very proud of this young team," head coach Rachelle Sayers said. "To play the road games that we have played with 12 of 16 players being freshman or sophomores, to have to turn around one night to the next and make adjustments and execute them is very impressive.  I think we have grown as a team and this November has definitely made us a much closer group.  I think we have grown up quickly and we are going to lean on this experience as we go into conference play. This team has really been focused on the process and the journey and I know if we continue doing that, we will be where we want to be in March."
 
The Saints open the tournament against Northern New Mexico Friday at 5 p.m. and the Eagles bring a 2-3 record into the game. Three NNM players average double-figures led by Demetria Clichee with 14 points per game.
 
The Eagles score more than 73 points per game and average 43 rebounds. They are also in the top-50 in steals per game  at 10.2.
 
"Northern New Mexico is a very aggressive offensive team," Sayers said. "They all have the green light to shoot and they can shoot it deep.  They average 74 points per game and are shooting 44 percent from the field, so they are very effective offensively.  We have to really be on 'high alert' early in the shot clock because they are going to try and speed up the game."
 
The tougher of the two matchups comes against Arizona Christian Saturday at 4 p.m. The tournament host has three NCAA DI transfers and a freshman in Courtney Christmas who is ranked in the top 50 in the NAIA in six different categories.
 
"ACU is very talented.  They have a lot of size and are very talented in their front line," Sayers said. "They have three DiI transfers and a very talented 6-0 freshman guard.  We have to control tempo, we have to attack them offensively in the paint and we have to attack the offensive glass.  We have to limit their opportunities, play very fundamental basketball. We cannot key on just one player, because they have many weapons.
 
The games will be live streamed here.