Women's Basketball | 01/21/20 | 10:22 PM
HELENA, Mont. -- The No. 17-ranked Fighting Saints start Round 2 of the Frontier Conference bout on Wednesday in Havre against No. 18-ranked Montana State-Northern.
The Saints (13-5, 5-1 Frontier) enter the game with a five-game winning streak and the top mark in the Frontier Conference. The Skylights (14-4, 3-3) currently sit at No. 3 in the Frontier.
After a big week to close out the first third of the season, the Saints steadied themselves for the second portion of the season.
"The first thing is we took two days off," Saints coach
Rachelle Sayers said of preparing for the second part of the season. "We haven't had a day off since the 29th of December with these mid-week games. It's been a total grind."
As the Saints hit the reset button, they'll look to find another winning combination to take into the Armory Gymnasium. The Saints won in Havre 63-49 on January 7.
"More than anything going into these second round of conference games, knowing 4-of-6 of our games are on the road, kids have to be fresh. We have to have our legs," Sayers said. "Kids have to be excited to be back in the gym."
The Saints pack with them the No. 4 total rebound defense (29) in the NAIA, and the No. 9 rebounding margin, too.
Carroll is led by
Danielle Wagner's 13.8 points per game, while
Christine Denny adds 10.9 per night and
Sienna Swannack adds another 9.7.
The Skylights are led by McKenzie Gunter's 12.3 points per game, while Peyton Kehr adds in another 10.2. Hailey Nicholson averages a shade under 10 at 9.9.
Having seen Northern just over a few weeks ago, the Saints are still prepared for a big part of the Skylights' gameplan.
"The kids are pretty locked into what we need to do to have success there," Sayers said. "We have to be al little bit smarter in how we pressure and what we're doing. We have to be disciplined defensively."
The game is set to tip off at 6 p.m.
For those who cannot be in attendance, a live stream will be offered via the MSU-Northern. Fans can also hear the game on Rewind 94.9, called by Carroll College Saints play-by-play talent Daniel Salle and Hall of Fame coach Gary Turcott. The game can also be tracked via DakStats. See the links below.
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
