Women's Basketball | 03/25/24 | 9:42 AM

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The Carroll College Women's Basketball team have advanced further than any other in program history, with just one team, their neighbors from Providence, standing in between them and a berth in the NAIA Women's Basketball Championship game. 

The Fighting Saints have proven time-and-time again that this season's team is just a little different than those of years past. Impressive team and individual performances, resiliency in the face of adversity, and a sense of confidence born from prior experiences have propelled Carroll to the national semifinal.

Carroll has lost just twice in the year of 2024, both of which at the hands of their opponent tonight, the Argonauts of Providence. 

The Frontier Conference Regular Season Champions will square off with the Frontier Conference Tournament Champions for the fifth time on the season, with ultimate bragging rights on the line.

The oddity of the six-team Frontier Conference schedule naturally forces three scheduled games between conference opponents each season, pair that with a condensed conference tournament and two ranked teams, and you end up with a historic story-line.

Each team boasts are pair of wins this season. The Saints picked up a 63-59 win in the Frontier Conference opener, the lone game played at the McLaughlin Center. Providence handed Carroll its only in-season conference loss in mid-January in a game where the Saints had their second worst shooting night of the season (27.8 percent). A response was dealt in the form of a 15-point win in Helena by the Saints in late January, while Providence pulled out a win in the Frontier title game to even the season series at two games apiece.

The game is a de facto Frontier Conference all-star game, featuring the Frontier Player of the Year, Jamie Pickens (Helena, Mont. / GR), Frontier Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year, Providence's Ashlee Maldonado, as well as six other all-conference selections between the two teams.

Both teams are playing in the semifinal for the first time in their respective program histories, and tonight's game marks the first time that two Frontier teams will meet in the Semifinal in NAIA Women's Basketball Championship history.

Dating back to 2022, Carroll has a seven game to three advantage in the last ten meetings.

The Saints entered the tournament as the two-seed in the Cramer quadrant, possessing the No. 1 ARC in the West Region, while the Argos drew a two-seed in the Naismith quadrant of the bracket, sitting one spot behind at No. 2 in the West ARC.

Tip-off for tonight's monumental clash is slated for 5 p.m. (MDT) at the Tyson Events Center, with the winner punching their ticket to the NAIA National Championship game tomorrow night.

A free-of-charge live stream of tonight's game will be available through the NAIA's YouTube channel HERE.

Catch Voice of the Saints, Nick Dietzen, and Carroll Sports Information Director, Conlan Burk, call the action live from courtside on Rewind 94.9 FM, or online HERE.

Live stats for the game can be found HERE.

For those who want to watch the game with other Saints fans, head to the Upper Campus Center for Carroll's official watch party.

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