(RMC release)
BILLINGS – The No. 15 Rocky Mountain College women’s basketball team mounted a furious second half rally before falling to No. 13 Carroll 57-54 in overtime on Friday night in the Fortin Education Center.
With first-place in the Frontier Conference on the line, Rocky (19-4, 9-4 Frontier) fell behind 11-1 less than five minutes into the contest. Carroll (19-6, 11-3) eventually led by 13 in the second quarter before taking a 29-17 lead into halftime.
The Battlin’ Bears came out of the halftime break with a 22-8 run to take their first lead of the game at 39-37 with 8:01 to play in regulation. They would lead by six with 1:44 to play, but Brittany Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to get the Saints into overtime.
Carroll would force Rocky into two turnovers and just one basket in the extra period. After Bailey Pasta converted a pair of free throws with 5.4 seconds to play to give Carroll a 57-54 lead, Rocky’s Mikayla Jones had a 35-foot three rim out as time expired.
After shooting 6 of 22 in the first half, Rocky came back to finish the game shooting 37.5 percent. They hit on 6 of 15 from beyond the arc with 22 points in the paint.
Hailee Farstveet led Rocky with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. She also tallied three assists and three rebounds. Jones finished with 11 points and six steals and Brooke Jones added 11 points and four rebounds.
Both teams struggled with turnovers as Carroll committed 23 for 20 Rocky points. The Saints turned Rocky’s 19 turnovers into 21 points. Carroll had a 37-27 advantage in rebounds and they added 12 points from 11 offensive boards.
Johnson scored 16 points to match Hannah Dean for the Carroll lead.
This is the second time this season Carroll has defeated Rocky in overtime after a 58-56 win in Helena on January 9. Tonight’s win puts Rocky one loss behind Carroll with five games to play and gives the Saints a win in the season series should they teams end the season tied.
Rocky will look to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season when they welcome Montana Tech to the Fortin Center on Saturday. Opening tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with the game airing live on SWX.
