HELENA, Mont. – The 25th-ranked Carroll women's basketball team looks to rebound after a pair of tough losses against nationally ranked opponents at the Jackson Rotary Classic. Carroll opens Frontier Conference play at the Fortin Center in Billings against Rocky Mountain College Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before playing an exhibition game against Montana State Friday in Bozeman.
"We are really excited to play another game," head coach
Rachelle Sayers said. "Going to Tennessee and playing and watching the best the NAIA has to offer was a great experience, but we were not as sharp as we needed to be. Our players and staff have taken this very personally and we want to get back to playing the Saint way."
Carroll proved that they were among the best defensive teams in the NAIA but struggled with their all-around game.
"We got beat on the boards, beat to loose balls and didn't play the way we train daily so we look forward to getting that fixed immediately," Sayers added. "We haven't even talked about MSU yet. First things first, but we are excited to play them and have another game to get better."
The 6-2 Saints will be tested by the 7-2 Battlin' Bears. Rocky is one of the best defensive teams in the country and junior college transfer Mikayla Jones has impressed early in the season and ranks in the NAIA Top 50 in six different statistical categories.
Carroll went 2-1 against the Bears last season with the lone loss coming in a 62-61 decision in Billings.
Friday, the Saints take on the Big Sky Conference Regular-Season Champion Bobcats at Brick Breeden Field House.
MSU is 3-3 on the year with wins over the University of Great Falls, Pacific and Santa Clara.
Peyton Ferris leads the Bobcats with 15.2 points per game and Riley Nordgaard scores 12.7 PPG for MSU.
Both games will be broadcast on 94.9 FM ESPN Radio and on ESPNMontana.com. The game at Rocky Mountain will be live streamed via the Rocky Mountain Youtube Channel and live stats will be available Dakstats. Live streaming and audio for Friday's match are available via MSU's website.
