WATCH
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- The No. 23-ranked Carroll College women's basketball team begins a three-game run through the desert on Wednesday, as the Saints are set to play in the Frontier Classic at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
"It's a great opportunity for us to first see all of our conference schools in action live before we get going in conference," Saints coach
Rachelle Sayers said. "You add to in Bethel, OLLU, Thomas More, all Top 25 teams and national tournament caliber teams… It's a great opportunity, kind of a prelim to what the competition is at the national tournament."
To open up the event, the Fighting Saints (7-4) face No. 16 Our Lady of the Lake in a big Top 25 matchup. The OLLU Saints (7-4) enter on a four-game winning streak, scoring 100 or more points in three of those wins, while in the fourth scoring 93. OLLU leads the NAIA in scoring per game at 93 points.
OLLU features four players that score 10 or more points per game, led by Kasey Saldana's 17.5.
"They're leading the country in scoring and their record is a little misleading because of the competition they have played," Sayers said. "They've played Top 25 teams. They're a big time uptempo team. They're going to press us for 40 minutes. They want a lot of possessions. They score a ton of points off your mistakes. They play fast."
The Fighting Saints enter the game having won four of its last five games.
As has become a staple of
Rachelle Sayers' teams, the Saints are highly ranked in rebound defense, sitting at No. 5 in the NAIA (30.4). The Saints also pack the No. 15 scoring defense (58 points allowed per game).
The Saints are led by Dani Wagner's 11.7 points per game, while
Christine Denny is close behind at 11.5 points per game and leads the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and steals (2 spg).
Kamden Hilborn leads the team in assists per game with 3.4.
A season ago, the Saints took down OLLU in the Frontier Classic, 76-55. In that 2018-19 event, the Saints went 2-1 in the classic
The Saints will also face San Diego Christian (4-5) and No. 20 Thomas More (8-2).
The games will be streamed here:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ollusaints/
