DILLON, Mont. – The No. 6-ranked Carroll Women's Basketball team cruised to 77-62 win over Montana Western in Dillon on Thursday evening.
 
The Fighting Saints (15-3, 6-0) bullied the Bulldogs 11-8, 3-3) in the opening half, and coasted to a 15-point victory at the Straugh Gymnasium.
 
The game started with a frantic pace. Each team shot upwards of 50 percent from the floor in the first quarter, but a combined 11 points from Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) and Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / SR) would see Carroll hold a 23-15 advantage after one.
 
Jamie Pickens (Helena, Mont. / GR) flexed her muscle in the second quarter, finishing the frame with more points (10) than the entire Bulldog roster (8). Carroll would double up Western, and carry a 46-23 lead at the break.
 
Pickens picked up right where she left off in the third, adding 12 more points and four rebounds.
 
As was the case in the first meeting between the teams, Western had a late comeback attempt in the fourth, but their effort was far too little, too late, and Carroll would walk out with the 77-62 win.
 
The win marks No. 14 in a row for the Saints over the Bulldogs, and Carroll now has 19-consecutive wins over Frontier Conference opponents spanning the last year.
 
Jamie Pickens had a night to remember, scoring a career-high 32 points, while pulling down 12 rebounds for yet another double-double.
 
Four of the five Carroll starters scored in double-digit figures, Pickens (32), Maddie Geritz (Boise, Idaho / GR) 13, Keller (11), and Albrecht (11).
 
Western's Shainy Mack scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs, with Jordan Sweeney adding 16.
 
Carroll now has a two-game advantage over the rest of the league, with the second-place team in the standings coming to the PE Center on Saturday in No. 16 Providence.
 
Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that game, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.