BOX SCORE 

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Carroll College women's basketball gave the Big Sky preseason favorite Montana Lady Griz everything they could handle but just fell short as Montana earned a 59-54 exhibition win Wednesday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.
 
Three Saints scored in double figures, led by Katie Estey with 12, Kacie McKeon with 11 and Cassidy Hashley with 10. Hanna Dean had a team-high eight rebounds to pace the Saints.
 
Carroll set the tone early with strong defense and briefly held a three-point 7-4 lead before the Lady Griz tied the game at 7-7 with 2:55 left in the first quarter. Montana closed the first frame with a 14-12 lead but Carroll would tie the game at 29 on a jumper from Brittney Johnson with 44 seconds left in the half.
 
Carroll struck first with a Hashley bucket to take a 31-29 lead but Montana then went on a 6-0 burst to take a 35-31 lead with 7:21 left in the third. Carroll again closed to tie the game at 35 before Montana scored six-straight to go up 41-35.
 
The rest of the game would follow a similar script, punch by Montana, counter-punch Saints. Montana's largest lead in the second half, seven, came with just 1:51 left in the game on a McCalle Feller three-point play. Carroll would close the lead to 58-54 but the Griz would add another free throw to prevail 59-54.
 
"I thought our kids battled, we had six lead changes and nine ties we had them on the ropes for most of the game," head coach Rachelle Sayers said. "We had a few miscues here and there but this team is picked to win the Big Sky Conference and we battled to the buzzer. I told them to be proud of how we played but not to be satisfied with how we finished the game. We had
some missed opportunities to earn a win here."
 
Maybe biggest on the list of missed opportunities is free throws. The Saints were 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from the charity stripe during the game. Another was on the boards where Montana outrebounded the Saints 41-36.
 
On the positive end of the spectrum, McKeon and Estey put together a strong performance against a very good Montana backcourt. Sayers believes their chemistry was a big part of the production.
 
"Kacie and Katie have really good energy," Sayers said. "Kacie has been playing really well. She has the experience to have a big impact on our guard play this year. The stats don't indicate what kind of game Katie Estey had. She had a very strong game defensively hit some big shots that kept us in the game. Her leadership is so important to what we are going to do for the rest of the season."
 
The Saints next travel to Spokane to face a talent-laden Gonzaga team Friday. The Zags have nine players over 6-0,including a pair of 6-5 centers.
"Gonzaga is much bigger than Montana we have to be ready," Sayers said. "We're going to continue to work on us. Keep the focus what we need to do better as a team and improve on. I know our kids will step on the floor ready to compete."
 
The Saints and Bulldogs take the floor at 7 p.m. MDT.