HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College women's basketball team rode a huge third quarter run to earn a 73-63 come from behind win over NCAA DIII opponent Willamette (Ore.) Wednesday afternoon at a jam-packed PE Center.
Willamette controlled the game early, building a 13-7 first quarter lead before the Saints battled back.
Sara Chalich hit a put-back bucket with 12 seconds remaining to tie the game at 16 at the end of the first.
Carroll took a brief lead in the early part of the second quarter but the Bearcats closed on 17-7 run to take a 35-27 lead into halftime.
The third quarter would be all Carroll. The Saints started the third with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 37 and took the lead for good with 6:11 left in the frame on a shot from
Hannah Dean.
Carroll built a 52-43 with 1:36 left in the third and led 54-47 at the end of the quarter. The Saints outscored Willamette 27-12 in the third quarter and extended that lead in the fourth.
The Saints extended their lead to 61-51 with 7:30 to play but Willamette cut the lead to 63-60 with 2:45 remaining. Carroll closed on a 10-2 run, sparked by a
Brittney Johnson 3-pointer to earn the 73-63 win.
Cassidy Hashley was dominant inside, scoring 22 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Johnson scored 18 points, including 3-3 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line.
Hannah Dean added 14 points.
The Saints were 27-52 (51.9 percent) from the field, including 16-24 (66.7 percent) in the second half. A game after struggling from the three-point line against Pacific, the Saints were 6-10 (60 percent) from distance.
Carroll outrebounded Willamette 37-23.
The Bearcats were led by Ashley Evans with 14 points, three other WU players scored double figures.WU was 24-55 (43.6 percent) from the field.
The game was attended by nearly 2,000 elementary and middle school students.
The Saints move to 9-3 on the year, the Saints will break for Christmas before returning to actionon the road against Spring Arbor (Mich.) at the Arizona Christian tournament on Dec. 29.
