CALDWELL, Idaho – Mikaela Olson scored a game-high 13 points off of the bench, and Michala Dowdy added 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Carroll College women overcome a poor shooting night and earn  a 48-37 road win over the College of Idaho Saturday at the Albertson's Center in Caldwell.
 
The Saints built a 15-7 lead early in the second quarter before the Yotes battled back to tie the game at 19 just before the half.
 
In the second half, the Saints never trailed. Tayler Salonen got a putback layup with 3:43 left in the third quarter to spark a 6-0 run that put Carroll in control. The Saints extended the lead to 48-36 on a layup from Brittney Johnson with just over a minute to play in the game before a free throw from C of I in the waning seconds cut the lead to 48-37 which closed out the scoring.
 
The Saints were just 20-62 (32.3 percent), including 4-27 (14.8 percent) from the three-point line. Carroll even uncharacteristically struggled from the free throw line, going 4-11 (35.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Luckily for the Saints, the poor shooting was accompanied by great defense, holding the Yotes to 11-42 (26.2 percent) from the field overall, including 3-19 (15.8 percent) from the three-point line. Carroll also forced College of Idaho into 21 turnovers.
 
Olson's big night helped ease the struggles of starters. She was 5-12 from the field and 3-9 from the three-point line.
 
The Saints outrebounded C of I 43-34. Taylor Salonen tallied a team-high nine boards and Dowdy, and Hannah Dean added eight each.
 
"At the end of the day, with as bad as we shot, the kids dug deep and found a way to win," Sayer said. "It wasn't easy, we certainly struggled. Mikaela Olson gave us a huge spark off the bench. Sometimes it's just not your night, tonight was one of those, so I look forward to seeing what the kids can do tomorrow with the defending Mountain West champions."
 
The Saints play the Boise State Sunday in the final of three exhibition games in a week's time. Carroll fell to Montana in Missoula Monday 55-48 and the University of Utah Thursday 70-46.
 
The Saints and Broncos take the court at Taco Bell Arena in Boise at 2 p.m. A live stream of the game is available here. Live audio will be available here.
 
The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.