HELENA, Mont.  – After a 36-point win in the first game of the season for the Carroll College women's basketball team the competition ramps up Thursday and Friday when the Saints host Central Baptist(Ark.) and College of Idaho in a pair of tough non-conference games at the PE Center.
 
For both opponents, it will be the first action of the season and both have significant travel to get to Helena. The Mustangs made the long, cross-country journey, arriving in Helena late Tuesday evening. The Yotes will travel the eight-hour trek to Helena to play Friday before facing Montana Western in Dillon Saturday.
 
The Yotes come into the season picked seventh in the Cascade Conference one of the premiere leagues in NAIA DII. Central Baptist comes from the American Midwest Conference, home of the Saints' NAIA Championship First-Round opponent Freed Hardeman.
 
While many teams at all levels schedule cake-walk opponents, head coach Rachelle Sayers sees the value in challenging her team early. The difficult schedule allows the players to find out about themselves and what they can accomplish. It also helps ready the team for the physical and emotional toll that is the Frontier Conference.
 
"It doesn't help us prepare for the what conference season if we aren't playing teams that can expose some of our weaknesses and exploit our tendencies," Sayers said. "We feel like our non-conference schedule needs to challenge us and prepare us for the tough Frontier schedule. We want to win all of our non-conference games but we also want to make sure we are getting better and peaking at the end of our season."
 
The Saints come into the weekend with one major advantage outside of the home crowd, a game under their belts. The 76-40 win over Lethbridge was dominant and Sayers saw a lot of promising play but also, a lot to places for improvement.
 
"I was pleased with the majority of what I saw last week," Sayers said. "Lethbridge threw a lot of things at us that we hadn't seen before and I thought our kids responded well. Lethbridge has already played eight games. They can really shoot the three and extend the play and I was excited with our defensive effort. I was excited with our energy and the way we worked through adversity we saw last week."
 
Central Baptist brings an interesting mix into the game. Head coach Lyle Middleton returns just five players from last-year's squad and eight freshman will suit up for the Mustangs. There is not a lot of experience for CBC but the lack of experience also means lack of scouting opportunities for the Carroll coaching staff.
 
"It is always nice to be able to scout a team and I like to feel like I have a good understanding of the way our opponents will play," Sayers said. "We won't have that this week but this time of year is good to see how the kids react to situations where they don't know the opponent. It would be nice to have a little more information but regardless of what you know you still have to go out and play the game."
 
Aaliyah Block is the leading returning scorer for the Mustangs at 8.31 points per game. Katlyn Taylor was in the NAIA DI Top-50 for assists and turnover/assist ratio last season.
 
College of Idaho went 9-10 last year and 8-12 in conference play. They are in a similar situation with just five returning players, 10 freshmen and a trio of transfers in the mix.
 
"They are a team that traditionally will junk up their defensive scheme a lot. We will be forced to make a lot of quick reads and adjustments to what they throw at us," Sayers said. "They can be disruptive with their zones and defenses if you don't keep your poise and work through it. I think we more experience and a size advantage on both teams so we hope to use that to our advantage."
 
Senior Pretra Lumpert is the leading returning scorer at 12.9 points per game a year ago. As a team in 2015-16, C of I was in the top-50 in NAIA DII for turnover margin and 3-pointers made per game.
 
Saturday's game will be special for the Carroll players and coaches for reasons other than the game as the Saints honor the WestMont Dragons Special Olympic basketball team at halftime. The Dragons have practiced every Tuesday with the Saints since September. The WestMont team is preparing to play in the Montana Special Olympics on Nov. 10-12.
 
The opportunity to work with the Dragons has turned Tuesday into the favorite day of the week for the Carroll players and coaches.
 
"We are excited to honor the Westmont Dragons at Saturday Night's game," Sayers said. "It has been an honor and a privilege to work with them every week since school has started. We are excited to support them in the special Olympics in the next coming weeks. We will be there cheering them on."
 
Live stats will be available via Dakstats and live video will be available via the Carroll youtube channel.