HELENA, Mont. - The No. 6-Ranked Carroll College Fighting Saints punched their ticket to Sioux City, Iowa for the third-consecutive season with a 61-46 win over Oregon Tech at the Carroll College PE Center on Saturday evening.

The Fighting Saints (26-5, 14-1) utilized a hot start to leave the Owls (27-5, 19-3) in the dust en route to the NAIA Women's Basketball Championship final site.

A Carroll side coming off the largest margin of victory in the first round, Carroll picked up right were they left off on Friday. The Saints bulldozed their way to a 14-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game, and a loud and proud Carroll crowd responded accordingly. Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) was unstoppable in the opening frame, scoring 10 points while Jamie Pickens (Helena, Mont. / GR) added eight points and five boards in a dominant 22-9 first quarter.

Oregon Tech settled into the game in the second, going to a press defense and slowing down the potent Carroll attack. Unfortunately for the Owls, the Carroll defense was equally as stingy. Carroll held OIT to just 25 percent from the floor and Carroll took a 34-19 lead into the break.

Efficiency was the name of the game in the third quarter as Carroll shot 54.5 percent as a team (6-11) to extend their lead. Albrecht added five more points to her season-high total (18), and the Saints brought a 52-31 lead into the final frame.

The Owl defensive intensity was upped once again in the final frame, but timely Carroll buckets and the 21-point deficit proved too much to handle as the Saints wrapped up the 61-46 win to advance to the round of 16.

Both Albrecht and Pickens scored 18 points to pace the Saints. Pickens added 12 boards for yet another double-double on the year. Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / SR) was deadly in the mid range, finishing her night with 15 points.

Oregon Tech's Olivia Sprague was excellent in the loss, scoring 20 of her team's 46 points.

Carroll will begin preparation for a round of 16 matchup with the No. 6-seed Loyola (LA) on Thursday night in Sioux City.

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