Women's Basketball | 01/30/25 | 10:41 PM

Box Score HELENA, Mont. - The No. 20-ranked Carroll Women's Basketball team cruised to a 20-point victory over (RV) Montana Tech, 76-56 on Thursday night at the Carroll College PE Center.

The Fighting Saints (14-7, 6-2) left nothing to chance on Thursday, blitzing the Orediggers (13-8, 4-4) from range to avenge their first Frontier loss of the season earlier this month in Butte.

Right from the opening tip, it was clear the Saints were not going to allow a repeat of the first meeting between the pair. Four different Saints knocked down three-pointers in the first quarter (Albrecht, Keller, Ekstrom, Erickson). Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) led the way with seven first quarter points, and Carroll led 22-9 after the opening 10 minutes thanks to a 56.3 percent effort from the floor (9-16).

Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / SR) entered the evening needing just four points to join the Carroll Women's Basketball 1,000-point club. Just a minute into the second quarter, the fifth-year senior would hit a layup to become the 24th player in the 51-year history of the program to eclipse the 1,000 point mark at Carroll. She would lead the Saints in the frame, finishing with eight of her 21 points as Carroll saw their lead grow to 36-22 at the break on another 50 percent effort from the field.

The Saints were highly efficient in the third quarter, putting up 23 points in the frame, their highest scoring quarter of the evening. Keller stayed hot, adding ten more points to her tally, while Albrecht poured in a pair of three-pointers. Tech wouldn't go away quietly, however, as the Orediggers put up 22 points of their own, led by Aubrie Rademacher's 10 points in the frame.

Carroll shut the door on any sort of comeback attempt in the fourth, as Albrecht went 4-4 from the floor for nine more points as the Saints marched to a comfy 20-point win.

The Saints finished the night with 18 assists, their highest total against NAIA competition this season. They also finished 58 percent shooting on the night (29-50), a complete 180 from their woeful shooting afternoon in Saturday's loss at Providence.

Albrecht led all scorers, finishing with 25 points, five rebounds, three steals and a block. Keller was right behind her, adding in 21 total points and four assists, while Addi Ekstrom (Bozeman, Mont. / SR) and Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / JR) each added 10 points as well.

Tech's Aubrie Rademacher led her team with 17 points in the loss.

A battle for Frontier supremacy awaits the Saints on Saturday, as they head to Billings for a matchup with (RV) Rocky, with the Frontier Conference lead on the line.

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

FOLLOW THE FIGHTING SAINTS
Facebook: @carrollcollegeathletics
Instagram: @cc_saints
X: @CCsaints
#MarchOn