BILLING, Mont. – Brittney Johnson hit a pair of three-pointers in the final seconds to send the game to overtime where the Saints topped Rocky Mountain 57-54 to take sole possession of first place and earn the season series over the Battlin' Bears.
 
The Saints controlled the first half, building a 29-17 lead at the half. The Battlin' Bears turned up the defensive pressure after the break and battled back to take a late lead.
 
Rocky led 47-41 with under a minute to play. Hannah Dean hit a shot to cut the deficit to 47-43. Rocky's Alecia Chamberlin went 1-2 from the line, and Johnson hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 48-46.
 
RMC's Brooke Jones went 1-2 from the line pushing the advantage back to 49-46, but the Saints had one more chance and Johnson would again answer the bell. She hit a baseline three-pointer with 11 seconds left to tie the game at 49.
 
The Battlin' Bears had one more shot, but Hailee Farstveet failed to fall, and the game went into overtime.
 
The Saints struck first, but Rocky battled back and went up 53-51. Carroll responded with a four free throws form Dean and two more from Bailey Pasta as Carroll closed out the three-point win.
 
"It was an unbelievable finish," head coach Rachelle Sayers said. "We played a pretty solid first half, and then Rocky came after us hard in the third. We just got a little rattled but just kept fighting. The kids kept believing and then Britt Johnson made two huge three's to give us a chance to put it into overtime. I'm just so proud of their will to fight and never give up. This was a huge win for us."
 
The "hugeness" cannot be understated. The win gives Carroll sole possession of first place in the Frontier with a game lead over Rocky and Montana Western. The win also gives Carroll the season series and the tiebreaker over Rocky essentially giving the Saints a two-game lead with just four games to play.
 
After shooting 11-22 (50 percent) in the first half, the Saints were just 8-21(38.1 percent) for a total of 20-48 (41.7 percent). Carroll also had 23 turnovers 11 in each the first and second half, but just one in overtime.
 
Johnson was 4-6 from the three-point line en route to 16 points. Hannah Dean was 5-13 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line for 16 points as well.
 
Rocky Mountain was 18-48 (37.5 percent) from the field, and Farstveet led the Bears with 12 points. Mikayla Jones and Brook Jones had 11 each.
 
The Saints next travel to Havre to face MSU-Northern on Feb. 16.