Brandon Stinson

Women's Basketball 1/17/2024 5:09:00 PM Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

GAME NOTES: Rocky Women’s Basketball Concludes Stretch of Home Games with No. 6 Carroll College

BILLINGS, Mont.- The Battlin' Bears have defeated Carroll College in five of their last six matchups in the Fortin Education Center and will look to continue their success on Thursday evening.

Matchup

(RV) Rocky Mountain College (11-4) vs No. 6 Carroll College (12-3)
Thursday, January 17th | 5:00pm (MT) | Fortin Education Center

Battlin' Bear Recap

The Rocky women faced Carroll College three times last season, winning the first matchup in Billings and dropping the two following games in Helena. The Battlin' Bears have won five of the last six matchups against Carroll College in the Fortin Education Center.

Saturday's loss to MSU-Northern was the first game the Battlin' Bears have scored at least 75 points and lost since January 5th, 2017 against Lewis-Clark State. The Rocky women limited themselves to seven turnovers in their loss to the Skylights. They lead the Frontier Conference in turnover margin, forcing 16.4 turnovers per game while only averaging 12.1 turnovers per game of their own.

Ky Oliver scored a career-high 30 points in Rocky's one-point loss Saturday. She's the first Battlin' Bear to score 30 points since Kloie Thatcher finished with 30 points in Rocky's NAIA National Tournament First Round matchup against Menlo in 2022-23. Oliver is one of just four players in the Frontier Conference this season to score 30 or more points in a single game. Saturday was the third game this season that Oliver has made six or more three-pointers.

The Battlin' Bears defense has forced 10 or more turnovers in the past 10 straight games and has done so in all but one game this season.

Preview

The Fighting Saints enter Thursday's matchup as the No. 6 ranked team in the NAIA and winners of their last four games. The 2022-23 Frontier Conference Champions return the co-Frontier Conference Player of the Year and First Team All-American Jamie Pickens, who averages 16.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game this season while leading the Frontier Conference with 2.0 blocks per game.

Carroll takes care of the ball well, averaging a conference-low 11.9 turnovers per game. The Fighting Saints enter Thursday with four players scoring 10 or more points a game and four players averaging two or more assists per game. They excel in getting to the free throw line and converting, ranking first in the Frontier in made free throws per game (13.7) and free throw percentage (81.1).

The Fighting Saints have totaled three wins against ranked teams this season and are 3-0 in Frontier Conference play, winning their previous game against Montana Tech 61-34. The Battlin' Bears will look to hand Carroll their first conference loss since January 7th, 2023, when Rocky defeated the Saints 58-51 in the Fortin Education Center.

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