HELENA — On a snowy night in Helena, the Carroll College basketball squads pulled out wins over Montana State-Northern on Saturday night. The Carroll women earned a 76-67 win, while the Carroll men pulled away for a 77-56 win.
Carroll College women 76, MSU-Northern 67
The MSU-Northern women came into the tilt at 3-6 in conference play, needing a boost as they try to get back to .500. The early minutes of the matchup seemed bright for the Skylights as they jumped out to a 10-3 run, with five of the 10 points coming from Morgan Mason.
However, the Fighting Saints did what they seem to do best this season, bounce back. The Saints went on a 20-4 run to wrap up the first quarter and take a nine-point lead. The Carroll women kept their foot on the gas through the first half and took a 44-30 lead into half time.
Jamie Pickens notched a double-double on the night with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Out of the break, the Skylights found a bit of momentum and outscored the Fighting Saints in both quarters, but were unable to surmount the lead Carroll built in the first half.
L'Tia Lawrence had a game-high 25 points for the Skylights while tacking on five rebounds.
Carroll College men 77, MSU-Northern 56
The men's game between Carroll and Northern appeared to be a battle of attrition, who could wear down who first. The Fighting Saints came out of that battle victorious, 77-56.
It took more than six minutes of play between the Lights and the Saints for either team to put together a double-digit score, as the Fighting Saints took a 12-5 lead.
The Lights took a timeout shortly after that, and Shawn Huse's squad pieced it together out of the break.
The Lights brought the game with in two points and kept the game within a single-digit deficit through the end of the first half as the Saints led 35-26.
Jomel Boyd led the Lights with 15 points and eight rebounds. Jovan Sljivancanin led the Fighting Saints with 30 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
The Saints and the Lights dueled through the second half with the lead fluctuating, but a surge of 3-pointers from the Saints ballooned the lead to 20, and they never looked back.
Carroll College will host MSU-Northern one final time this season, on Sunday with the women's game starting at noon and the men's starting at 2 p.m.
