HAVRE, Mont. - The No. 22-ranked Carroll Women's Basketball team gutted out an eight-point win over MSU-Northern on Saturday afternoon, wrapping up their first lap through Frontier play at the Armory Gymnasium.

Saturday's game in Havre is not one the Fighting Saints (12-6, 4-1) will look back on with fond memories, but the Frontier-leaders found a way to grind out a 49-37 win over the Skylights (10-7, 1-4) on an afternoon where points were hard to come by.

Nearly from the get-go, it was clear that neither team was going to light up the scoreboard. Carroll held a 9-5 lead after one quarter, thanks in large part to seven opening frame turnovers from MSU-Northern. The Saints went just 1-8 from three-point range, and finished the quarter just 4-17 from the field (23.5 percent). They picked up the slack on the defensive end, however, holding the Skylights to just 2-10 from the floor after one.

Carroll matched their 4-17 mark from the opening quarter in the second, but this time went 0-9 from deep. The second quarter mirrored the first in many ways, as the Saints again had to rely on solid defense to maintain their lead, forcing Northern into another eight turnovers.At the half, the Saints held a slim 18-16 lead.

While shots weren't falling, it was not a result of poor shot selection. The Saints offense was well executed, springing players open on nearly every possession.

Coming out of the break, a concerted effort was made to get the ball into the paint, and the offensive output picked up. Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / JR) and Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / R-SR) each scored four in the frame, as the Saints extended their lead to 32-27 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Local product Kyndall Keller took control in the fourth quarter, as the Havre-native scored 11 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth, her second 20-point game at the venue in her three visits. Carroll won the rebounding battle in the final frame (CC 8, MSUN 6) and forced the Skylights into another six turnovers on their way to a 49-37 road win.

As a team, Carroll had their worst three-point shooting night in three years, finishing the night 3-26 (11.5 percent) from deep.

The 37 points allowed marks the fifth time in Carroll's 16-game win-streak in the series that the Saints have held the Skylights under 40 points.

Keller's 21 points led all players, while the fifth-year also added six rebounds and four steals. Karstetter had a good showing, finishing her afternoon with 12 points and seven rebounds in the win.

Northern's Savannah Toms led the Skylights with 11 points, while leading scorer Canzas HisBadHorse posted nine points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

Carroll will begin lap two of the Frontier slate with a Thursday night home game against Montana Western at 5 p.m. in the PE Center in Helena.

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

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