BILLINGS, Mont. - Friday evening's Top-20 battle to open the 2025-26 Frontier Conference regular season did not go as planned for No. 14 Carroll, as they fell 67-56 to No. 17 Rocky Moutnain College at the Fortin Education Center.

Billings has not been kind to the Fighting Saints (1-2, 0-1) so far in this young season. Much like their season-opening loss at NCAA DII opponent MSU Billings, the Saints found themselves down early and struggled to come back against the Battlin' Bears (2-0, 1-0).

Rocky got out to a quick start, shooting 69 percent from the floor in a first quarter that saw three different Bears score six or more points as part of a 17-0 run. Carroll went just 1-6 from range early, and were out-rebounded 9-5 as RMC jumped out to a 23-15 lead.

Shooting woes, which were the main factor in the Saints' lone other loss, crept back in the second frame as Carroll shot just 25 percent. They did, however, tighten the clamps defensively, slowing Rocky down to just 12 points to remain within striking distance at the break, 35-25.

Things went from bad to worse shooting-wise in the third, as the Saints shot just 20 percent (3-15) while Rocky extended the lead to 14.

A 22-point outburst in the fourth quarter - featuring three triples from Isabelle Erickson (Broadview, Mont. / R-SR) simply wasn't enough to pull Carroll back to even, as Rocky again shot near 70 percent as a team to close out the win.

Freshman Jillian Kanduch (Miles City, Mont.) continues to impress in the early season, scoring 11 points, while Erickson paced the Saints with 12 points - all by way of the three-point line.

Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / SR) scored eight points, while Kenzie Allen (Grantsville, Utah / JR) added six with six boards.

The Saints will have a week to work out the kinks before hitting the road again - this time to North Dakota for a pair of road games at Dickinson Sate and Bismarck State next weekend.