HELENA, Mont. - Grace College’s women’s basketball saw their upset bid of No. 5 Carroll falling painstakingly short as they lost 49-45 to the Saints on Thursday night.
The Lancers (4-6) defense was the story of the night as they held the fifth ranked Saints to their lowest offensive output of the season. It was also the fewest points that the Saints have scored at home since 2019.
Grace will continue their trek in the Big Sky State on Saturday with a 4 p.m. showdown with Montana Tech.
Grace and Carroll (7-2) used the three ball early on Thursday night, as four of the game's first five field goals came from beyond the arc.
At the midpoint of the stanza the Saints held a four-point advantage, but field goals from Morganne Houk and Molly Long brought Grace back even as they tied the game at 10 apiece.
Carroll again connected from range but a Kate Rulli layup and a pair of free throws from Maddie Ryman edged the Lancers ahead 14-13 at the quarter break.
Grace’s defense continued to be a major factor in the second quarter as the Lancers nullified the Saints’ offense. Carroll was held without a field goal for the first 6:54 of the stanza.
A pair of buckets from Bekah Marshall and Houk had the Lancers ahead 18-15 lead before the Saints finally broke the seal on the basket.
Carroll answered a Rulli score with another 3-point basket to tie the game at 20 apiece with two-minutes left in the half.
A trio of points from the charity stripe saw Carroll take a 23-20 lead into the half.
Grace held Carroll to just six made field goals on 18 percent shooting while connecting on 24 percent of their own shots. The Lancers also held a 3-5 turnover advantage.
In the third quarter Carroll began to find some offensive consistency and built up a seven point lead.
The Lancer squad remained undaunted as Marshall and Houk teamed for seven unanswered points to tie the game back up at 29.
Peyton Murphy gave Grace its first lead of the half after connecting on a pair of shots from the charity stripe.
The Saints took a 37-35 lead into the final frame after another timely basket from beyond the arc.
The fourth quarter continued to be a defensive slugfest with nearly five minutes elapsing before either team had a successful field goal. The only points during the drought came courtesy of Murphy who sank two shots from the free-throw line to tie the game at 37.
The was broken shortly thereafter when the Saints connected on their sixth trifecta of the game.
Murphy and Ryman then gave Grace a three-point lead when they connected on shots from range on consecutive possessions. The mini 3-point barrage continued when Carroll struck from deep on the ensuing possession to tie the game 43 with 3:26 remaining.
Grace and Carroll traded buckets but with 30 seconds remaining in the game the Saints held a 47-45 advantage.
The Lancers had a pair of shoots at the basket to tie the game but were unable to find their mark.
Carroll added two-more free throws with two seconds left to give the game its final mark of 49-45 in favor of the Saints.
“We left it all out on the court tonight,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “These ladies went toe-to-toe with the No. 5 team in the country and had a chance to win. Still some things that we need to clean up offensively and defensively, but the difference in this team from three weeks ago is night and day.”
The Lancers finished the game shooting 27 percent from the field and connected on five shots from beyond the arc. Carroll made 26 percent of their tries and had seven successful 3-point shots. Both teams turned the ball over nine times.
Houk led Grace with 12 points while also adding six rebounds. Ryman also eclipsed double digits with 10 points and five rebounds.