Carroll women drop home finale

By DEREK GENGENBACHER - Independent Record - 03/01/09
It took MSU-Northern five minutes to build an insurmountable lead over the Carroll College women’s basketball team in a 74-63 victory in the final regular-season contest for both teams Saturday night.

The win locks up third place for Northern (18-11, 10-4), who will host Montana Tech in the first round of the Frontier Conference tournament.

The loss sets Carroll (15-15, 4-10) up for a showdown with Rocky Mountain in the opening round in Billings next Wednesday. The meeting will be the fourth between the teams this year.

Northern’s Stacie Barker scored eight of the Skylights’ first 10 points en route to a quick 10-4 lead.

“We came out flat and had no energy,” said Saints head coach Shawn Nelson. “We were a step behind defensively all night.”

The Saints first possession ended quick with a turnover while trying to inbound the ball after Northern’s first bucket.

"We turned the ball over passing the ball in against no pressure,” Nelson said. “We played rattled after that.”

Six of the Saint’s next nine possessions ended prematurely with turnovers.

Nikki Mills hit Carroll’s first field goal of the game at the 18 minute mark from behind the arc. The Saints would not make another for nine minutes of play, when Amy Allen broke the spell with a 3-pointer that cut the Northern lead to 17-7.

The Saints made only five field goals in the first half, shooting a doleful 23 percent from the floor, as the Skylights took a 36-18 edge to the break.

“Any time you have to use four timeouts during a half means that your team is not ready to play,” Nelson said. “That’s really disappointing on senior night.”

Carroll returned to the floor and closed to within 10, but were unable to get any closer as the Skylights rode Samm Schrmele’s 34 points to the win.

Shannon Bosley, the Saints’ lone senior was celebrated after the game.

“Shannon has played hard for us over the past three seasons,” Nelson said. “And she has had a great attitude doing it.”

Bosley and Mills were the lone bright spot for Carroll in the loss, playing physical and aggressive inside the paint.

Bosley finished her final home game with nine points, while Mills added 11 on 4of-4 shooting. Alysha Green led the Saints with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Derek Gengenbacher: 447-4070 or derek.gengen

Northern 36 38 — 74

Carroll 18 45 — 63

Northern (74) — Trower 1-1 0-0 2, Barker 6-13 1-2 13, Keller 3-9 3-5 9, Kambich 2-5 2-3 6, Schrmele 14-20 5-6 34, Hernandez 2-3 0-0 5, Gaizutyte 0-0 0-0 0, Lee 2-6 1-1 5. Totals 30-57 12-17 74.

Carroll (63) — Bruursema 4-13 2-3 10, Jagelski 0-4 0-0 0, Leibach 2-5 0-0 4, Mills 4-4 2-4 11, Bosley 3-8 3-4 9, Green 7-13 2-5 20, Cahill 0-0 0-0 0, Meyer 0-3 0-2 0, Allen 3-7 1-1 9. Totals 23-57 10-19 63.

3-Point Goals — Norther 2-8 (Kambich 0-2, Schrmele 1-5, Hernandez 1-1), Carroll 7-20 (Bruursema 0-4, Jagelski 0-2, Leibach 0-3, Mills 1-1, Green 4-5, Allen 2-5). Rebounds — Northern 35 (Barker 14), Carroll 31 (Green 7). Assists — Northern 10 (Schrmele 4), Carroll 14 (Bruursema 5). Total Fouls — Northern 15, Carroll 17. Fouled Out — Northern (Barker). Technicals — none.