HELENA, Mont. – Katie Estey scored a career-high 26 points to lead the No. 10 Carroll College women's basketball team to a 72-67 win over the 25th-ranked University of Great Falls Friday night at the PE Center.
  
After an evenly matched start, the first half was a series of runs beginning in the last half of the first quarter. Carroll held a 10-9 lead with five minutes remaining but closed the quarter with a 9-1 run to take a 19-11 lead into the second frame.
  
Early in the second quarter Carroll built the lead to 26-15, the largest lead of the game, before an 8-1 run cut the Carroll lead to 27-24. UGF continued to chip away and tied the game at 31 with 3:16 left in the half. The Saints closed the half with an 8-1 run of their own to take a 39-32 lead into the break.
  
The third quarter was tightly contested. The Saints held the lead the entire time but after UGF cut the lead to 43-40 with 6:10 remaining, Carroll never built a lead larger than four points for the remainder of the frame and closed the third with a 50-48 lead.
  
The Argos took their first lead of the second half, 53-51, with 6:15 left in the game. The two teams traded lead until bucket in the paint by Baylee Watson, followed by a steal by Kacie McKeon and a transition basket from Hannah Dean gave the Saints a lead they would not relinquish.
  
On the back of solid free throw shooting and strong defense, Carroll pulled away over the final few minutes en route to the five-point win.
  
Along with Estey's career high. Cassidy Hashley tallied 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Baylee Watson scored 10 points and Dean tallied 11 points off the bench, including some key plays to spur the the Saints offense. The Saints scored 18 of the 22 points in the fourth quarter came by from the post positions.
  
"I think Hannah Dean really gave us a great spark," head coach Rachelle Sayers said. "Cassi and Baylee struggled early and I got on them a little at halftime and they responded. Baylee made some big shots and Cassi responded and made some big shots. As much as she struggled early, I was really proud of her for staying with it and making some big shots down the stretch."
  
Carroll was 24 of 60 (40 percent) from the field and outrebounded the Argos 29-26.
  
The Saints forced the Argos into 15 turnovers on nine steals and turned the ball over just 11 times. The Saints also tallied 14 assists on 24 made shots.
  
Estey scored 23 or her 26 in the first half, including four 3-pointers. She has averaged 19.3 points per game over the last three games.
  
"Katie puts in the time. There is nobody that works harder on our team than Katie," Sayers said. "She has had a couple great weeks. She struggled with her three-point shot so teams are playing off of her a little bit and she has taken advantage of that. This is her senior year and I think she feels like she can put this team on her shoulders and run with it and I am fine with that."
  
After a stretch, earlier in the season, when the Saints struggled from the field, Carroll seems to be finding a little bit of a rhythm, despite being without senior starter Jordan Johnston.
  
"I think we are getting better offensively. It has been a bit of a struggle," Sayers said. "They are throwing so many different defenses at our posts and we are still trying to figure out things without Jordan Johnston, she is a senior starter who was 8.5 points per game. We are running a lot of freshman and sophomores. We still haven't hit our stride on the perimeter and I think it is still going to take some time."
  
Carroll looks to defend home court again Saturday when they face No. 15 MSU-Northern at 5:30 p.m. at the PE Center.