Pickens, Saints win Frontier women's title

by Daily Inter Lake
| February 28, 2023 10:37 PM

GREAT FALLS — Jamie Pickens scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Carroll College Saints held off Montana Western 53-47 for the Frontier Conference women’s championship Tuesday.

Pickens, the Helena High product and Lady Griz transfer, scored four times in the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth game at Four Seasons Arena. Her layup early in the period put the Saints up 39-38; after Jordan Sweeney hit a jumper for Western, Pckis scored again for a 41-40 Carroll lead with 8:46 left.

It was Kamden Hilborn who put the Saints up for good, 43-42, with 7:51 remaining but Pickens hit twice more to move the gap to 47-44 and then, with 38 seconds left, 51-45.

Sienna Swannack added 11 points for Carroll, which gave head coach Rachelel Sayers her 250th career win Monday, 57-52 over Providence.

Kyndall Keller hit two free throws at the end and hauled down nine rebounds. The Saints ruled the glass 31-17.

Brynley Fitzgerald scored 14 points to lead the Bulldogs; Sweeney, who scored a career-high 31 points in Western’s 64-55 semifinal win over Rocky Mountain College Monday, added nine points on Tuesday. Emily Cooley also had nine points for Western.

Both teams are now 25-5, and headed to the NAIA Women’s Tournament.

Carroll College was chosen as a host site for the first and second rounds; the Saints and three more teams will come to Helena for games on March 7-8.

The NAIA Women’s Tournament pairings will be announced Thursday at 5 p.m. on the NAIA YouTube page and social media outlets.

Regular-season men’s champion Montana Tech was also selected to host a four-team, single-elimination pod March 7-8.