(RMC release)
BILLINGS – The 15th-ranked Rocky Mountain College women’s basketball team continued its home dominance on Saturday night as they cruised to a 71-54 win over No. 19 Providence in the Fortin Education center.
Rocky (19-3, 9-3 Frontier) improved to 8-0 at home this season while moving to 6-1 against ranked opponents with the win.
The Battlin’ Bears would lead from tip to buzzer on Saturday after scoring the first five points of the game. They used a 10-2 run to end the first quarter and start the second that pushed the advantage in double digits where it stayed the rest of the game.
Rocky shot 45.1 percent from the field and scored 23 points from 18 Providence (16-7, 7-5) turnovers. The Battlin’ Bears added 26 points in the paint and six 3-pointers. They tallied 10 assists and committed eight turnovers.
Mikayla Jones, Markaela Francis and Hailee Farstveet accounted for 58 of the team’s 71 total points. Jones and Francis scored 20 apiece while Farstveet added 18. Jones also contributed four assists and four steals.
Providence finished with a 36-27 edge in rebounds and Rocky had 11 steals.
Parker Esary led the Argos with 22 points.
Rocky remains tied with Carroll atop the Frontier Conference standings with six games to play in the regular season. The Battlin’ Bears and Saints will play for the final time of the regular season on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Fortin Center.
