HELENA, Mont. - The No. 8-ranked Carroll College Women's Basketball team made a statement in their final game before postseason play, blasting MSU-Northern 83-53 in front of a jam-packed Carroll PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (23-4, 14-1) were simply not going to let their trio of seniors close their season with anything less than the best on Saturday, racing past the Skylights (11-17, 5-10) in a one-sided 30 point win.

The game's opening quarter played out much closer than expected, with a fiery Skylights team keeping pace with the league's best. Jamie Pickens (Helena, Mont. / GR) showed why she should be a unanimous selection for Frontier Player of the Year, scoring 10 points in the opening 10 minutes, but Carroll would hold just a one-point lead at the break, 17-16.

Things would go south for the Skylights in a big way in the second quarter and Carroll began to assert their dominance. Led by another 10-point quarter from Jamie Pickens, the Saints began their march, outscoring Northern 20-7 to carry a 37-23 lead into the halftime break.

Quarter three was more of the same for the Saints. Carroll shot a scorching-hot 75 percent from the floor in the frame (9-12) and went 7-8 from the free throw stripe to further extend their already comfortable lead. Addi Ekstrom (Bozeman, Mont. / JR) scored nine, and Carroll would head into the fourth up 67-38.

With the game clearly in hand, the fourth was an opportunity to give the three Saints playing their final regular season game a curtain call, and a standing ovation from the 1,500-plus in attendance. The younger Saints stepped in and competed hard, and Carroll coasted to the 83-53 win.

Jamie Pickens scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 7 boards. Maddie Geritz (Boise, Idaho / GR) finished her night with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Erica Nessan added four points for a total of 45 from the trio of seniors.

Carroll shot 95 percent from the stripe in the game (21-22) and had one of their better shooting nights as a whole in the lopsided victory.

Northern's Shyann Krass led her team with 12 points in the loss.

The Frontier Champs will head into the Frontier Tournament with an eight-game win streak, and will play the lowest remaining seed after Thrusday's Quarterfinals, tipping-off at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of the tournament, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.