CHANDLER, Ariz. - The No. 21-ranked Carroll Women's Basketball team dropped its first game of the 2024 Cactus Classic to No. 3 Campbellsville (Ky.) 59-50 at the Coyoe Center on Thursday afternoon.

The Fighting Saints (5-4) couldn't quite come up with the stops they needed down the stretch to keep pace with a Tiger (10-0) team that knocked down half of their three-point attempts on the afternoon.

An uptempo first quarter saw the two teams trade shot after shot. The Saints and Tigers combined for six three's in the first 10 minutes, with Campbellsville being the more efficient team in the opening frame, shooting 50 percent from the floor as a team. Campbellsville's Paige Serafini scored nine points to lead all players in the first, and the Tigers would lead 18-13.

Both teams tightened up defensively in the second quarter, and points were hard to come by for the Saints. Their only nine points of the frame came on three separate three-pointers by Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / R-SR), Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) and Addi Ekstrom (Bozeman, Mont. / SR). Campbellsville saw more production throughout the lineup, and carried a 31-22 lead into the break.

Lauren Lee took control in the third quarter to help extend the Tiger lead. The guard scored nine third quarter points, and some timely three's from her teammates helped extend the Campsville lead to 14 heading into the fourth.

The Saints had their most efficient effort in the final frame, shooting 41 percent from the field in the fourth, but couldn't overcome the Tigers' best effort as well. Carroll outscored Campbellsville 16-11 in the frame, but the Tigers shot 57 percent as a team in the final 10 to secure the top-25 win.

Only four Saints recorded points in the final box (Keller, Albrecht, Ekstrom, Karstetter), with all four scoring double-digits in the game. Ekstrom led the attack with 15 points, followed by Keller's 14. The pair combined for seven three-pointers.

Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / JR) was good in the paint, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds, while Albrecht added 10 points and eight boards.

Campbellsville's Lauren Lee led all players with 20 points on the afternoon, while also grabbing seven rebounds.

The Saints will return to the court tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. for their second game of the event, taking on Stephens College (Mo.).

Visit www.carrollathletics.com tomorrow evening for a recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.

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