DILLON -- Gracey Meyer hit a layup at the buzzer to help lift No. 19 Montana Western to a 58-56 Frontier Conference women's basketball win over No. 16 Carroll College on Saturday.
With the game tied at 56-all, Shannon Worster dropped a pass to Meyer, who slipped behind the Carroll defense and banked in a left-handed shot just before time expired. The win improves Western's record to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in the Frontier Conference.
WBB: Gracey Meyer at the buzzer! No.17 @umw_wbb defeats No.16 Carroll College 58-56 to win the season series! #mtscores pic.twitter.com/fXotBnASEd
— UMW Bulldogs (@UMWBulldogs) February 16, 2020
After Western build an eight-point lead in the first quarter, the teams played even the rest of the way. The Bulldogs led 15-9 after one and 31-25 at halftime before Carroll chipped away int he second half. Western's lead was just 41-38 going to the fourth quarter.
The reigning national champion Bulldogs used a balanced offensive effort with four players hitting double figures. Paige Holmes had a team-high 16 points, followed by Savanna Bignell with 15. Worster and Brynley Fitzgerald each added 10 points as Western made 20 of 45 field goals, including a 9-of-20 mark from 3-point range, in the game to overcome 22 turnovers.
Worster added five assists to her line, none bigger than the final one to Meyer, who had four points and four assists in the win.
Carroll, which falls to 17-9 overall and 9-5 in conference, was led by Sienna Swannack with 17 points and Christine Denny with 14.
The Carroll College men, meanwhile, pulled away in the second half for a 71-60 win over Montana Western.
Carroll senior Dane Warp had game-highs of 19 points and eight assists, and Shamrock Campbell added 13 points to help counteract an off night for Jovan Sljivancanin, who had just eight points on 4-of-18 shooting. Sljivancanin did pull down a game-high 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, in helping the Fighting Saints win the rebounding battle, 41-25. To that end, 17th-ranked Carroll had 16 second-chance points and 40 paint points.
Derrek Durocher scored 16 points to lead three Bulldogs in double figures: Max Clark and Tanner Haverfield each added 12 points.
Carroll improves to 19-7 overall and 10-4 in Frontier Conference play, while Western falls to 11-14 overall and 4-10 conference.
With just four games remaining in the regular season, Western is on the road next week at Providence on Feb. 21 and at Montana State-Northern on Feb. 22. Carroll is at Montana Tech next Tuesday and then at Lewis-Clark State on Feb. 22.
