DILLON, Mont. - The No. 20-ranked Carroll Women's Basketball team picked up a hard-fought 65-58 road win over Montana Western on Saturday afternoon at the Straugh Gymnasium.

The Fighting Saints (17-7, 9-2) racked up their 18th-consecutive win over the Bulldogs on Saturday, including all three of the scheduled games on the season.

Carroll didn't have their best offensive effort in the opening quarter, going just 4-12 from the field and 1-5 from range. They were excellent at the stripe, however, knocking down all six of their free throw attempts to help keep pace with the Bulldogs, who got eight first quarter points from Keke Davis. Western shot better than 50 percent in the opener, but only led by two heading into the second, 17-15.

Reigning Frontier Offensive Player of the Week, Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-JR) got rolling in the second quarter, knocking down all three of her three-point attempts for nine points in the frame. Western's Isabella Lund scored 10 points of her own, and the Bulldogs got a last second three-pointer to fall, maintaining their two-point lead at the break, 33-31.

Both teams tightened the clamps defensively coming out of the halftime break, as the pair combined to shoot just 30 percent in the quarter. Carroll got solid production from their front court tandem of Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / JR) and Isabelle Erickson (Broadview, Mont. / R-JR), who matched Western's eight total points with four each. The Saints would bring a slim 42-41 lead into the fourth.

Western controlled the early portion of the final frame, holding a four-point lead with under five minutes to play. A Kyndall Keller (Havre, Mont. / R-SR) three would kick-start an impressive individual run, however, and the Saints would begin to pull away. With the Saints trailing by four, Keller scored nine unanswered points over a four-minute span, giving Carroll the breathing room needed to close out the win, 65-58.

Keller and Albrecht were outstanding once again in the win, something Saints fans have grown accustomed to seeing as of late. Keller led all players with 25 points in the win, while Albrecht continued her high-level play with a 20 point, 10 rebound double-double.

Western's Lund and Davis combined for 33 points in the loss.

Albrecht's 10 rebounds, along with eight from Erickson led Carroll to a 44-37 advantage on the glass in the win.

Up next, the Saints will look to win the season series against the only other ranked Frontier team, No. 25 Providence, on Thursday in Great Falls.

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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