Women's Basketball | 02/08/24 | 10:20 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Basketball teams will take on MSU-Northern in Havre this evening to round out the second loop through the Frontier Conference schedule. The Women are scheduled to tip at 5 p.m., with the Men to follow at 7 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium.

With nine conference games completed, both Carroll teams look to have an inside track to an opening round bye at the Frontier Conference championships later this month. The Carroll Women (17-4, 8-1) sit two games clear of Providence for the No. 1 spot in the standings, while the Carroll Men (13-9, 7-2) have a comfortable cushion over the pack and hold the No. 2 spot.

Maddie Geritz (Boise, Idaho / GR) enters tonight's contest as the defending Frontier Conference Player of the Week after leading the Saints in scoring (18.5 ppg) in a pair of wins over Montana Tech and (RV) Rocky last week. Geritz is now the Frontier's eighth-leading scorer, averaging 12.7 points per game on the season.

On the other side of the ball, Northern's Riley Kehr leads her team in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game, one spot above Geritz on the conference leaderboard.

The Skylights are a much improved team from the 2022-23 season, already surpassing their win total from a year ago, and quadrupling their Frontier wins (10-12, 4-5). A focused effort on controlling the paint, and knocking down open looks on the perimeter will be key to a Carroll victory.

The previous meeting between the two teams last month in Helena was a tightly-contested bout for three quarters. Northern held a lead on the Saints heading into the final frame, but a 29 point explosion from Carroll in the fourth led to a lopsided 66-45 win.

On the Men's front, Head Coach Ryan Lundgren's team has greatly outperformed the expectations set by the league's coaches in the preseason. Picked to finish fifth, the Saints have established themselves as a clear contender for the league title in Great Falls later this month.

Andrew Cook (Huntington Beach, Calif. / JR) continues to lead the conference in scoring (20.3 points per game), but a highly encouraging sign of the growth of this year's team is the ability to win when Cook isn't the leading scorer.

Guard play has been excellent for the Saints on the season with newcomer Kendall Moore (Dayton, Ohio / JR) and James Lang (Portland, Ore. / R-SO) showing the ability to score with the best. Big man Derek Kramer (Bellevue, Wash. / SO) has also been rolling as of late, and will need to remain hot down the stretch as the Saints fight for an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament.

The latest ARC rankings have been released by the NAIA, and the Saints sit at No. 11 in the West region. A strong month of February would go a long ways towards Carroll seeing a return to the dance after a down year in '22-23.

Tonight's games will be streamed live on the MSU-Northern YouTube channel HERE.

Catch Voice of the Saints, Nick Dietzen and Carroll Hall of Famer, Gary Turcott, call all the action live on Rewind 94.9 FM or online HERE.

Live stats for the Women can be found HERE, and live stats for the Men HERE.

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