HELENA, Mont. -- How about a Top 25 contest to kick off conference? 

The No. 7-ranked Carroll College Saints women's basketball team(4-2) gets just that on Thursday, hosting the No. 18 University of Providence Argonauts (7-0) at 5:30 in the PE Center. 

The Argonauts are led by a trio of players. Sophomore center Parker Esary leads Providence, scoring 18.6 points per game and pulling down 10.3 rebounds. Returning guards Jenna Randich and Emilee Maldonado average 15.3 and 14.3 points respectively. 

"Providence is very talented and they score a lot of points," Saints coach Rachelle Sayers said. 
"They've had some good wins. Obviously they're more experienced than they were a year ago. They added some nice players to complement those big three." 

Providence has three impressive home wins over three ranked opponents. The Argonauts defeated No. 14 The Master's (62-59), No. 8 Westmont (75-70) and No. 22 Arizona Christian (100-87). 

The Saints are powered by senior Hannah Dean, who was named the Frontier's Player of the Week last week. Dean is leading the Saints with 14.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. After Dean, the Saints are loaded with scorers who are poised to pop off on any given night. Twelve different Saints have played meaningful minutes this season. 

While Dean has led the Saints in scoring in four of their six counters, jockeying behind her in the stat sheet is a wealth of talent. 

Guards Brittney Johnson, Christine Denny and forward Emma Madsen all average seven points per game. Forwards Danielle Wagner and Taylor Salonen average six, and guards Sienna Swannack and Jaidyn Lyman each average five. 

Carroll's depth has allowed them to play a difficult early season schedule. Once again, the Saints have compiled one of the toughest preseason schedules in the Frontier Conference. 

Through exhibitions against Montana, Montana State and Gonzaga, to bouts against Top 25 contenders Masters, Westmont, Valley City State and a challenge against NCAA D-II Montana State Billings, Carroll has shown why coaches picked the Saints as a preseason Top 10 team. 

"We talk a lot about how nobody wins championships in November and December," Sayers said. "We win them in February and March. That's when we want to be at our best. We want to go out and play great and win every game, but we want to playing our best basketball game at the end of the season."

The Saints have made early season adjustments, too. Preseason all-conference pick Cassidy (Hashley) Kosena injured her knee and has not returned. Her absence at center has meant Dean plays more minutes in the middle and Salonen also chips in with a heavier burden down low. 

When the Saints were without Kosena a season ago, Michaela Dowdy stepped in and became an all-conference player. The Saints had ample time to ready for Kosena's absence then. This season, the Saints are adjusting on the fly. 

"Now, we are relying on Hannah to move positions," Sayers said. "We're asking Taylor Salonen to be a power post player when she's a 5-11 finesse post. We're asking kids to do some things that are taking them out of their comfort zones. I thought the kids have adjusted well. Obviously Hannah is a kid that just wants to win. She's an extremely smart player." 

Carroll begins a foray into conference this week with home games against Providence and then followed up on Saturday by a game against Montana State-Northern, which could be much improved after a down 2017-18 campaign. (The Skylights added University of Montana part-time starter Hailey Nicholson, who has played in just two games for MSU-N while dealing with an injury.)

"It feels early to be in conference," Sayers said. "We're still learning and we're still growing as a team, obviously adjusting to playing without our center. I think we're definitely still a work in progress. The big focus is still on ourselves. It's still November. We have a long ways to go."

Thursday's and Saturday's games can be seen on Carroll Athletic's YouTube page.