HELENA, Mont. - A pair of extended streaks came to a close on Saturday night at the PE Center, as the (RV) Carroll Women's Basketball team fell to Montana Western 63-51.

Winner's of their last eight, and entering the night with a 20-game win streak over Western, the Fighting Saints (15-7, 13-3) saw both streaks come to a close on a night where shots refused to fall.

Carroll's shooting woes started early, as the Bulldogs raced out to a 9-2 lead over the first five minutes. Bailee Saylor knocked down a pair of late three's, while Carroll shot just 3-14 in the frame to give Western a 17-8 lead after one.

Western's lead grew to 14 points near the midway point of the second quarter before the Saints finally started to gather momentum. A Willa Albrecht (Billings, Mont. / R-SR) three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the half cut the lead to five, but a late push by the Bulldogs, capped by a buzzer-beating halfcourt heave would give Western a 31-21 lead at the break.

The teams combined to shoot just 27 percent in the third quarter (6-22), with matching nine-point efforts as the Bulldog lead remained at 10 heading into the final frame.

Things clicked for the Saints at the beginning of the fourth, as the offense came to life. Carroll went on a 15-7 run over the first six minutes of the frame, with an Albrecht triple cutting the Bulldog lead to just two points. Carroll's shooting struggles re-emerged late, however, and they simply couldn't find a way to even things up. Western closed the game out over the final minutes with excellent free throw shooting, going 13-17 from the stripe to seal the win.

Albrecht finished with a team-high 17 points in the loss. Meagan Karstetter (Moses Lake, Wash. / SR) finished with 12 points and six rebounds, while Jillian Kanduch (Miles City, Mont. / FR) rounded out the Carroll scoring leaders with 11 points. 

Carroll finished the night at just 33 percent from the floor (17-51), their third-lowest field goal percentage of the season.

The Saints slide one game back of the Frontier Conference lead, and will face a critical late-season test next weekend as they head to the Midwest for a road double-header at Bellevue and conference-leader Dakota State.