BILLINGS, Mont. - The No. 20-ranked Carroll Women's Basketball team completed a thrilling comeback on Saturday, topping (RV) Rocky, 70-65 at the Fortin Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Saints (15-7 7-2) overcame a poor shooting effort in the first quarter, utilizing all 40 minutes of regulation to tie things up with the Battlin' Bears (14-8, 6-3) before pulling away for good in overtime to claim sole possession of the top spot in the Frontier Conference standings.

Saturday afternoon's first quarter was one to forget for the Saints, as they struggled mightily from the floor. Carroll went just 3-14 in the opening 10 minutes, while Rocky saw a combined 11 points from Ilyana Moran and Isabelle Heggem to help give the Bears a 15-6 lead after one.

While the second quarter wasn't a huge improvement offensively for the Saints, they would manage to up the pressure defensively and keep Rocky within reach. The teams shot a combined 32 percent from the floor in the frame, but Rocky would grab their largest lead of the game at 16 points near the midway point. The Saints responded, cutting the lead to eight before eventually heading into the break trailing 26-16.

Carroll was heavily out-rebounded in the opening half, as Rocky doubled them up 22-11, but the roles would reverse in the second half.

Following a quiet three-point effort in the first half, Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) would take control in the third quarter. The Billings native was outstanding in the frame, scoring 12 of Carroll's 19 points, including a pair of threes. Unfortunately for the Saints, Rocky matched their offensive output, scoring 17 points of their own to maintain an eight point lead heading into the fourth.

Down by eight, a Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / R-SR) jumper with just over four minutes remaining would start the Carroll rally. The newest member of Carroll's 1,000-point club rattled off six straight points over the next minute and a half to bring the Saints within one score.

Rocky built their lead back up to five points with time dwindling, but an Albrecht three with 30 seconds remaining gave Carroll life. The Saints managed to create a turnover on the ensuing Rocky possession to give themselves an opportunity at a tie or win. On the final possession, a ball batted out of bounds was initially ruled out on Carroll, but overturned by official replay, providing Carroll with one last chance. Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / JR) beat her defender to the baseline, and knocked down a floater as time expired to send the game into extra time.

Once in the overtime period, Carroll never looked back. Albrecht and Keller combined for 12 points, while Rocky's Sydney Dethman was the only Bear to score in the frame (nine points) and the Saints would come away with their most resilient win of the season, 70-65.

Albrecht scored 26 of her game-high 29 points in the second half, while adding 10 rebounds in her double-double effort. Keller scored 21 points, while Karstetter's last second shot put her into double-digits with 10 points and six boards.

Following the sluggish start, Carroll would wind up leading the game in field goal percentage (CC - 46.8 percent, RMC - 45.0 percent). Neither team saw any scoring from their bench, with starters on both sides accounting for all 135 points.

Four Bears scored in double figures, led by Moran's 19 point effort.

Carroll now stands alone in first place in the Frontier, while also owning a tiebreaker over the No. 2 team in the standings with their pair of wins in the series.

The Saints will look to keep stringing wins together in pursuit of their third straight Frontier title, hosting MSU-Northern next Thursday at 5 p.m. in the PE Center.

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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