HELENA, Mont. – The 15th-ranked Carroll College women's basketball team plays back-to-back games against ranked teams when they travel to face No. 17 MSU-Northern Friday before meeting No. 24 University of Great Falls Saturday.
 
The Argos and Skylights are tied for third in the Frontier standings at 9-6, a game back of the second-place Saints in the loss column.
 
The Saints are looking to rebound after a 55-49 loss to No. 11 Lewis-Clark last Friday in Helena. Carroll played without starting point guard and second leading scorer Katie Estey.
 
"We are looking forward to getting back on the court and competing, we had a great week of practice and we made some strides in areas that we were deficient in last week," head coach Rachelle Sayers said. "I thought our effort and energy last weekend was very good but we need to rebound better and we need to value the basketball.  We are up against two ranked teams on the road this weekend and we can't afford to give them extra possessions. "  
 
Center Cassidy Hashley leads Carroll with 13.08 points and 8.04 rebounds per game.
 
The Saints won both previous match ups against Northern, beating the Skylights 55-49 in Havre and winning in similar fashion, 55-47 in Helena.
 
The Skylights are led by Natalee Faupel who averages 16.44 points per game. Sierra Richards pulls down a team-high 6.25 rebounds per game.
 
MSUN has been hampered by injuries and four players are averaging more than 35 minutes a game but they have proved to be a dangerous team that can beat any team in the conference.
 
"Northern is a team that is very disciplined and will try and control the tempo of the game," Sayers said. "We need to do our best to take them out of as much of what they do as possible as well as really work hard to attack them on the offensive end."
 
The Argos have battled their way into the top 25 but fell to MSUN Thursday in Havre. The Argos will need to top the Saints to avoid the weekend sweep and hold on to their spot in the poll.
 
The UGF run and gun offense is led by Erin Legal with 16.31 points per game and Nneka Nnadi who averages 15.96. Four UGF players average double figures. Whitney George tallies a game high 7.56 rebounds per game.
 
The Saints and Argos have split the season series with each team winning on their home court. UGF won 67-64 in Great Falls and Carroll toped the Argos 72-67 in Helena.
 
"Great Falls is the complete opposite of Northern," Sayers said.  "They will push it on us all night and they have great 1-on-1 players, so were are going to have to work hard to force them into tough shots and box out every possession. It's going to be a fun weekend against great teams.  I am excited to see how our players respond."
 
The Saints take on the Skylights at 6 p.m. at the Armory Friday. UGF and Carroll face Saturday at 5:30 p.m.