(Editor’s note: Carroll College athletics release)
LEWISTON, Idaho – The 10th-ranked Carroll College women’s basketball team held offensive juggernaut No. 23 Lewis Clark State to just 17 second-half points and shut Lewis-Clark out for the final five and a half minutes to earn a 57-51 road win Saturday night in Lewiston, Idaho.
The Saints stayed in the game in the first half from the three-point line where they were 7-13 before the break. In the second half, Carroll rode defense and Michaela Dowdy’s strong play inside to earn the win.
The Saints opened the game on a 9-4 run to take an early lead, but the Warriors battled back to tie the game at 11. The Saints responded with an 8-0 run before Lewis-Clark hit back-to-back three-pointers. Carroll carries a 21-17 advantage after the first quarter.
In the second, the two teams traded buckets before the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game. They built the advantage to 34-30 before Bailey Pasta hit her fourth three-pointer of the first half in the waning seconds to cut the deficit to 34-33 at the break.
The Saints were 7-13 (53.8 percent) from distance in the first half. Both teams shot well before the break Carroll was 47.8 percent from the field while LCSC was 53.8 percent.
Both defenses stepped up after halftime. The Saints held LCSC to just seven points in the third quarter and built a 44-41 advantage.
Lewis-Clark battled and took a 51-48 lead with 5:36 to play before the Saints shut down the Warriors for the rest of the game and pulled away for the six-point win.
The win returns the Saints to the top of the Frontier Conference Carroll is tied with Providence for the top spot at 6-2. It was also a tremendous response for the Saints after a lackluster performance on the road in Dillon Thursday against Montana Western.
“It was a huge road win for us after how we played at Western,” Sayers said. “I am really proud of this team. They were so focused and just refused to lose the game. They played their tails off. Dowdy was huge, Christine Denny had two big steals down the stretch and Hannah Dean just kept us focused on both ends, she directed us, kept us calm. This was a big bounce-back game for us.”
The Saints were 20-44 (45.5 percent) from the field and 8-18 (44.4 percent) from the three-point line. The one flaw is a place where the Saints have been stellar over the last six weeks, the free-throw line, Saturday Carroll was just 9-20 (45 percent). Ball movement was tremendous; the Saints had 17 assists on 20 made shots.
Dowdy was 6-8 from the floor to lead the Saints with 16 points; Pasta was 5-8 from the three-point line for 15 points.
LCSC was led by freshman Peyton Souvenir with 12 points, but she scored just two after the break. Jossilyn Blackman added 11. After a strong shooting first half, LCSC was just 6-25 (24 percent) from the field after the break.
The Saints had nine steals to force 15 turnovers and turned those turnovers into 15 points.
Carroll plays a split road-home week next week, traveling to play Montana Tech Thursday in Butte before hosting Rocky Mountain Saturday at the PE Center.
