HELENA — Carroll scored the first 14 points and never looked back in a 61-46 win over Oregon Tech in the second round of the NAIA women's basketball national tournament Saturday at the PE Center.
Willa Albrecht scored the game's first points, followed by buckets from Jamie Pickens and Kyndall Keller before Albrecht made a 3-pointer to make it 9-0. Pickens made a jumper, then Albrecht made another field goal, this time adding an and-one free throw to give her eight points in the first four minutes of action.
The Fighting Saints led 22-9 at the end of the first quarter and pushed the lead to 34-19 by halftime.
Albrecht, a junior guard from Billings West High School, finished with 18 points and five rebounds, while Pickens had another double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Keller added 15 points.
As a team, Carroll made 24 of 51 field goals, while Oregon Tech was just 16-of-51 shooting.
Olivia Sprague led the Owls with a team-high 20 points.
With the win, Carroll advances to the Round of 16, which begins March 21 in Sioux City, Iowa. The second-seeded Saints will play No. 6 seed Loyola (La.) Thursday at 7 p.m. (MT).
