HELENA, Mont. – The fifth-ranked Carroll College women's basketball team hits the road for games against Montana Tech in Butte Thursday, and No. 16 Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho, Saturday.
The Saints went 2-0 last week in a road game against Montana Western and a home game against Rocky Mountain.
Brittney Johnson led the way with a career-high 20 points against the Bulldogs and a team-high 12-points in the win over Rocky.
Cassidy Hashley leads the Saints in points at 12.77 per game and rebounds with 8.00 per game.
The Saints first task is the Orediggers who are 5-13 on the season and 1-6 in Frontier Conference play. Although Montana Tech is struggling, their lone conference win came against Lewis-Clark, handing the Warriors their lone conference loss of the season.
Montana Tech is ranked sixth in the country in three-point field goals made. Sammy McGree leads the Diggers with 12.94 points per game. She scored 13 points in the first match up with the Saints.
"Tech is a very high powered offensive team. They transition really well and have great shooters that are ready and able to knock down a lot of three's," head coach
Rachelle Sayers said. "They put a lot of pressure on the defense to get back, chase them off the three but also not let them get to the rim. They are one of the most aggressive offensive teams in our league. Even though they only have one win in conference this season thus far, it is against the No. 1 team in the conference and LC's only loss. So we know that we have to be ready to bring our 'A' game. "
Carroll won the first meeting 68-63. Four players scored in double figures and the Saints outrebounded Tech 58-27.
The next night, against Lewis-Clark State, the Saints fell to LCSC 64-54 shooting just 14 of 56 (25 percent) from the field.
It was the first loss on the season for the Saints who started 11-0. The Warriors turned around and lost the next night against Montana Tech but have won seven-straight games coming into Saturday's match up with the Saints.
Caelyn Orlandi leads the Lewis-Clark with 13.41 points per game. She had failed to score in double digits just once this season.
"L-C State is a very good team. They have really good individual players and have good depth on the perimeter as well," Sayers said. "They are playing really well right now and since we are their only game of the week, they will be ready for us. We had a lot of success in both games at home on the offensive glass so we will continue to attack both teams there but we also need to be able to attack LC's zone and get some scoring out of our perimeter players. I definitely think our young guards have really grown up a lot the last few weeks and are playing with a lot more confidence and energy on the offensive end of the court."
The Saints and Diggers tip off at 5:30 p.m. MDT in Butte Thursday. Saturday the Warriors and Saints take the court at 6:30 P.M. MDT.
