HELENA, Mont. – The 24th-ranked Carroll College women's basketball team opened Frontier Conference play with a 68-63 win over Montana Tech Thursday at the PE Center to move to 11-0 on the season.
Four Saints scored in double figures, led by
Katie Estey with 15 points and
Michaela Dowdy with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Baylee Watson tallied 11 points for the saints and
Jordan Johnston added 10.
Cassidy Hashley had nine points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
The Orediggers jumped out to an 8-0 lead before the Saints rallied with a 12-2 run to take a 12-10 advantage with 1:32 left in the first quarter.
Montana Tech then went on a 9-0 run to over the quarter break to take a 19-7 lead with 7:20 left in the first half before Carroll answered with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 19 with 6:03 left in the half.
The two teams traded jabs for the rest of the half but the Diggers closed the half with a four-point run to take a 32-28 lead into the break.
Carroll got the offense going in the third quarter, outscoring the Diggers 25-15. Tech built a 38-32 lead with 8:08 left in the third before the Saints went on a run, outscoring 21-9 over the final eight minutes to take a 53-47 lead into the final frame.
A Hashley bucket and two free throws by
Brittney Johnson to start the fourth gave Carroll the 57-47 lead, their largest of the game. The Diggers chipped away for the rest of the game but they wouldn't get over the hump as the Saints earned the five-point win.
"I'm really proud of our kids tonight. We did not shoot it well," head coach
Rachelle Sayers said. "We were down the entire first half and our kids dug deep.
Michaela Dowdy came in and was awesome. She gave us a huge lift when we needed it most. The play
Katie Estey made on the loose ball late in the second half, and then to come up and score it, was a game changer. She is such a great leader for us."
The Saints dominated the glass, outrebounding the Diggers 58-27. Carroll held a 25-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Saints earned a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points due to the dominant performance on the offensive glass.
"To outrebound a team 58-27 is just unbelievable," Sayers said. "We were a little frazzled offensively but to get 25 offensive boards, that is a team playing to win."
The Saints host the 19th-ranked Lewis-Clark State College Friday and the Saints are used to back-to-back games having played eight road games in the last three weeks prior to the first week of Frontier play.
"It will be a quick turnaround for us tomorrow, but we have been preparing for this schedule all preseason," Sayers said. "I know our players will be mentally and physically ready to go."
The Saints and Warriors tip off at 5:30 p.m. at the PE Center.
