Women's Basketball | 02/20/25 | 9:29 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Basketball teams will wrap up the home portion of their 2024-25 seasons with a Thursday night doubleheader against Rocky Mountain College at the PE Center with the Women set to tip at 5 p.m. and the Men following at 7 p.m.

The final week of the regular season is here, and both the Carroll Men and Women are right in the hunt for a Frontier Conference championship. Thursday night's games against the Battlin' Bears are two of, if not the most, important games the Fighting Saints will play this season.

The No. 19-ranked Carroll Women had a rough week last week, dropping a pair of games to No. 25 Providence and (RV) Montana Tech. While the losses were less than ideal this late into the season, the Saints still have a great opportunity to secure their third consecutive Frontier Conference Championship with a bounce back this week.

The Saints and Bears enter Thursday night's colossal clash in Helena tied atop the league standings with identical 9-4 records in conference play. While Thursday's game will not decide the outright champion, the winner will have a one game advantage over the rest of the field heading into the final game of the season on Saturday, and an inside track to the trophy.

Carroll has won both of the previous meetings between the teams this season, scoring 70 points in each game including a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win in Billings at the beginning of the month. Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) has been outstanding in the two wins, averaging 25.0 ppg.

On the Men's side of the action, a young group of Saints suddenly finds themselves with a real shot at sneaking into a tie for the Frontier Conference Championship after being picked to finish dead last in the Preseason Coaches' Poll.

After an 0-3 start to the conference slate, the Carroll Men have found their rhythm as of late and enter the game as the hottest team in the Frontier. Carroll's 7-3 record over their last 10 games is tops in the league, and the Saints head into the final week with a pair of wins over conference-leading Providence and Montana Tech last week.

A change to the starting lineup last week has proven beneficial, as the two wins pulled the Saints within one game of the conference lead. Entering Thursday, five teams are separated by just one game. Providence and Tech are at the top with 8-5 records, while Carroll, Rocky, and Western all sit at 7-6 in conference.

Two wins this week from the Saints, paired with a little help from around the league, and Carroll could feasibly earn a share of the title.

The Saints have dominated the two previous meetings with the Bears this season, winning by 16 or more in each game, and scoring 90-plus points in both wins. Carroll is 7-1 on the season when scoring 90 or more points in a game, and will aim to continue the trend this evening in Helena.

Guard Isaiah Crane (Portland, Ore. / R-FR) is on the brink of closing out the Frontier Conference's scoring title, as the standout freshman continues to lead the league in scoring at 17.7 points per game.

Both games tonight will be broadcast locally on SWX stations, and a simulcast can be found online HERE.

Catch Voice of the Saints, Nick Dietzen, and Carroll Hall of Famer, Gary Turcott, call the action live on Rewind 94.9 FM or online HERE.

Live stats for the Women can be found HERE, and live stats for the Men HERE.

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

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