GAME NOTES

THE GAME
The No. 9 Carroll College women's basketball team meets No. 24 William Penn in the opening round of the NAIA Women's Division I Basketball Championship at the Rim Rock Arena in Billings, Montana, at 8 p.m. MDT. 

The Saints are coming off a Frontier Conference regular-season and tournament championship while William Penn finished in a tie for second place and fell in the Heart of America Conference Championship Game to Central Methodist.  

The two opponents have no common opponents on the season. 

ABOUT CARROLL
Carroll returns to the NAIA National Championship after a one-year hiatus this is the ninth trip overall with a 5-8 record and lost to Freed-Hardeman in the first round in 2016. The Saints enter the tournament after winning eight of their last nine games including wins over last year's national runner-up Lewis-Clark State in the conference semifinal and a win over No. 17 Rocky Mountain in the Frontier Championship. 

Hannah Dean leads the Saints in every major statistical category and scores a game-high 12.2 points. Bailey Pasta is second on the team with 10.3 points. 

Carroll is the second-ranked team in NAIA DI in rebound defense and is No. 4 in scoring defense at 52.5 PPG. 

ABOUT WILLIAM PENN
Steve Williamson, in his first season, is leading the Statesmen to their second-straight NAIA Nationals appearance (seventh all-time between NAIA and NCAA Division III).

William Penn is led by first-team all-conference performer Vashti Nwagbaraoch who is averaging 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.  Sarah Hansen is second on the team with 15.3 PPG and Kate Ylitalo is third with 12.1 PPG .

WPU is outscoring opponents 68.9-58.3 and outrebounding them 37.9-32.2.  WPU is also better from the field with a 42.1%-37.7% edge (37.9%-29.3% 3-PT).  William Penn ranks fifth in the NAIA in three-point percentage at 37.9% and 10th with 32.2 defensive rebounds per game. The Statesmen posted an eight-game winning streak earlier this year.

DIVISION I UPSET
The Saints toppled Mountain West Conference defending champion Boise State 62-61 in an exhibition game on Nov. 5 at Taco Bell Arena in Boise. Hannah Dean hit a fadeaway jumper with 18 seconds remaining, and the Carroll defense shut down a three-point attempt at the buzzer to close out the win. The Saints were .414 from the field and .545 from the three-point line. Bailey Pasta led the Saints with 13 points, Brittney Johnson had 11 and Hannah Dean tallied nine points and 12 rebounds. 


DEAN DOMINATING
Hannah Dean has been dominant on the court with double figures in every Frontier Conference game of the season. She scored a career-high 23 points at The Master's. She is 11th in NAIA DI in Blocks per game, 25th in total rebounds and 46th in free throw percentage. 

PASTA SHOOTING IMPROVEMENT
After going 0-7 from the field in the first game of the year, Bailey Pasta has moved into the No. 23 spot in the nation for three-pointers made and to No. 50 in three-point field goal percentage.  She had a game-high 71.4 percent (5-7) against the Master's.

BLOCK PARTY
Hannah Dean (11) and Michaela Dowdy (33) both rank in the top 50 in blocks per game. The Saints are 10th as a team.

FRESHMAN BOOST
True freshmen Jaidyn Lyman and Christine Denney and redshirt freshman Dani Wagner have all started multiple games for the Saints.   

SITTING OUT
Senior All-American Cassidy Hashley and junior guard Sara Chalich are both out for the season and will take medical redshirt seasons. 

THE FIERCE FRONTIER 
Four Teams from the Frontier made the NAIA Championship. Rocky Mountain earned an automatic bid as the host, but finished the year in the top-25. Carroll, Montana Western and Providence all made the trek to Billings. Every team in the conference except Montana Tech has played in the NAIA tournament at least once in the last two seasons. Every team in the Frontier has at least received votes in the poll this season and every team except Montana Tech has entered the poll. 

TITLE TOWN
The Carroll Women won their first Frontier regular-season title since 2005 and their first tournament title since 2007. 

MIX UP THE LINE UP
Of the 11 Carroll players that have broke suited up for the saints this season, only two haven't started at least one game for Carroll and seven players have double digit starts under their belt.