Southwest Montana News

No. 11 Carroll Women Clash With No. 15 Montana Western in Frontier Conference Championship

The No. 11 Carroll College Women's Basketball team will play No. 15 Montana Western this evening at 5 p.m. in Great Falls at the Four Seasons Arena with the Frontier Conference Tournament title on the line.

The Fighting Saints (24-5, 14-1) have one final opponent standing between them and a Frontier Conference tournament trophy, No. 15 Montana Western (25-4, 12-3).

The two best teams in the Frontier Conference will fight it out on the hardwood one last time in the 2022-23 season. 

Carroll, winners of the Frontier Conference regular season championship, earned a bye in the opening round before toppling No. 4 seed Providence by 15 points yesterday to advance to the title game. The semifinal win over the Argos was a special one, being win No. 250 for Head Coach Rachelle Sayers.

The Bulldogs, who finished second in the regular season, also were awarded a bye in the opening round. They beat No. 3 seed Rocky yesterday by nine points to secure their spot in the championship.

Today's game will feature the Frontier Conference Preseason Co-Players of the Year, Western's Brynley Fitzgerald and Carroll's Jamie Pickens (Helena, Mont. / SR), in what will likely be the last matchup between the two. The pair have proven themselves to be in a tier above most of the conference. They are No. 1 and 2 in scoring per game (Fitzgerald - 18.3, Pickens - 17.1), both four points clear of the next closest on the list. They also are among the conference's best rebounders, sitting No. 2 and 3 in rebounds per game (Pickens - 7.2, Fitzgerald -7.0).

Like everyone else, the teams have already seen each other three times on the year, with Carroll coming out victorious in all. The Saints have a 10-point average margin of victory in the three games, with two of the contests being played on the Bulldogs' home court. The Saints have an 11 game win-streak over the Bulldogs dating back to the 2019-20 season, where Western won two of the three matchups as well as the NAIA National Championship.

Carroll will be looking for their fourth Frontier Conference tournament title in the last six seasons this evening in Great Falls. A win would cement the class of 2023 as one of the most decorated in program history.

Doors will open at 4 p.m. for Saints Fans able to attend the game in person, with tickets available at the door. Tickets are 15 dollars, with a student discount at eight dollars. Tickets are good for both the Women's and Men's championship this evening.

For those unable to make the trip to Great Falls, tonight's championship game will be broadcast live on SWX channels throughout Montana, and a live stream can be found HERE. Live stats for the game can be viewed HERE. Voice of the Saints, Nick Dietzen, will have the call live from the court side on Rewind 94.9 FM or online HERE.

Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com tonight for a recap of all the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.

Original source can be found here.