Women's Basketball | 03/01/21 | 10:41 PM

Box Score HELENA, Mont. -- The Carroll Women's Basketball team defeated Montana Western in the Frontier Conference Championship game Monday night by a final score of 70-62. 
 
In the first half, Carroll got off to a hot start. They took a 45-20 lead into the break and had 13 assists on 17 made field goals.
 
Then in the second half, Western made things interesting. The Bulldogs started the 3^rd quarter on a 19-8 run as they slowly narrowed the gap.
 
The Saints got a boost in momentum at the end of the third quarter after Jaidyn Lyman, a senior guard from Spokane, Wash., banked in a deep three-pointer as time expired. Carroll went into the fourth quarter leading 60-44. 
 
As time continued to run down, Western had cut the deficit to six points, 66-60, and had a chance to make it a four-point game. Brynley Fitzgerald, a junior forward from Dillon, Mont., stole the ball in transition and appeared to have an easy layup. Then, Sienna Swannack, a junior guard from Spokane, Wash., jumped out of nowhere to force the miss and grab the rebound. 
 
From there, the Saints knocked down their free throws and put the game away to be crowned Frontier Conference Champions. 
 
Christine Denny, a senior forward from Fairfield, Wash., was the leading scorer for the Saints tallying 18 points with 10 rebounds to go with. Denny was also a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.
 
Western was led by Brynley Fitzgerald, who scored 16 points, 12 of which came at the free throw line. 
 
Carroll will find out their NAIA National Tournament draw on Thursday evening at 5 p.m.