HAVRE, Mont. -  The 15th-ranked Carroll College women's basketball team fell to No. 17 MSU-Northern 55-45 in a defensive battle in Havre Friday.

The Saints held an early 4-3 lead but a pair of free throws from Natalee Faupel would give Northern the lead which they would retain for the remainder of the game.

The Saints struggled from the field, shooting 16 of 47 (34 percent) while MSU-Northern was 17 of 42 (40.5 percent). The two teams each tallied 27 rebounds but Northern tallied just 11 turnovers to Carroll's 15.

"Was a frustrating night," head coach Rachelle Sayers said. "I thought we defended well enough to win the game, but we couldn't find a rhythm offensively."

The Skylights had 24 free throw attempts to the Saints 14 but Carroll was 12 of 14 (85.7 percent) while Northern was 17 of 24 (70.8 percent).

Baylee Watson scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Saints. She also had a game-high six rebounds

"Baylee had a great night for us, it's just unfortunate we couldn't capitalize on the stops we made defensively," Sayers said.

The Saints travel to face No. 24 University of Great Falls Saturday. The Argos and Saints split the previous two meetings with both teams winning on their home courts.  The game is scheduled to tip of at 5:30 p.m.