GAME NOTES | LISTEN | WATCH

BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Carroll College Fighting Saints' journey toward a national title begins on Thursday against the University of Pikeville in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament. 

"You're just excited for whomever you get," Saints coach Rachelle Sayers told MontanaSports.com "After you play in a league where you play each team three times, and with the conference tournament four times, you're excited to play someone new. Somebody that we've never matched up before with, somebody we've never seen. We've seen them (play) at the national tournament before, but never in a tournament or anything like that. So that's kind of exciting to be able to step on the floor with somebody that is at the same advantages that you are and hasn't been watching you play since October."

The Saints (25-7) were seeded No. 2 in the Duer Bracket and are set to square off against No. 7-seed Pikeville (20-11). 

Carroll enters the postseason with a load of momentum. The Saints have won 10 consecutive games, most recently vanquishing Montana Western in the Frontier Conference postseason championship. CC has not lost since slipping against Providence on Feb. 1. 

Through an almost patented defense, Carroll forged its identity and earned its second consecutive national tournament berth. 

Senior Hannah Dean leads the charge, topping the Saints in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Dean averages 15.2 points, 7.2 steals, 2.8 assists, 1.9 steals and one block per game. 

She's flanked by two second team All-Frontier performers in Christine Denny and Dani Wagner. Wagner averages 10.1 point and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Denny scores 9.3 points and pulls in 4.3 rebounds. 

Rounding out the Saints' starting lineup is defensive specialist and three-point shooting threat Brittney Johnson and sophomore point guard Jaidyn Lyman, a defensive menace in her own right. 

The Saints have been one of the best defenses in the NAIA all season, entering the tournament as the No. 6 squad. Carroll allows 52.1 points per game. 

This is the Saints' 10th appearance in the NAIA Tournament and fifth under coach Sayers. Last season, the Saints advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Vanguard. 

Pikesville enters the tournament on a two-game losing skid. The Bears dropped their final regular season game and then bowed out of their conference tournament in their opening game. They received an at-large bid out of the Mid-South Conference. 

The Bears are led by Mary Englert's 12.9 points per game and Brianna Burbridge's 12.1. 

The game is set to tipoff at 8 p.m. on Thursday.