Saints drop playoff game against Rocky

By Independent Record - 03/05/09
An ankle injury to Nicole Leibach kept the injuries piling up for the Carroll College women’s basketball team in an 88-63 loss to Rocky Mountain in the first round of the Frontier Conference Tournament Wednesday night in Billings.

The win advances the Bears to the semi-finals to play Lewis-Clark in Lewiston, Idaho, Friday night, while the Saints make the long drive home to start preparations for next year’s campaign.

Carroll’s started the game with another slow beginning, dropping to a quick 10-2 deficit.

“We came out sluggish and missed shots,” said Saints head coach Shawn Nelson.

Elly Bruursema and Amy Allen dropped shots from behind the arc, as Nicole Leibach added a pair of free throws to cut the Rocky lead to 14-10.

Four plays later, Leibach drove to the basket and rolled her ankle after stepping on a Rocky player’s foot and had to leave the game under extreme duress.

“Our defense starts with Nicole,” Nelson said. “It changed our whole defense. We didn’t play with as much energy after that.”

With the Saints best defender incapacitated on the bench, the Bears made their move.

Tana Stewart hit a 12-foot jumper and then Liz Lewis hit three-straight 3-pointers to extend the Bears’ lead to 12-25.

“Our plan was to put Leibach on Lewis if she hit a shot,” Nelson said. “But we couldn’t go to her after the injury.”

Instead the Saints turned to Shannon Flynn, who held Lewis to just five points the rest of the game.

“We went with Flynn because she was ready to go defensively,” Nelson said. “She did a great job.”

The Rocky onslaught did not stop until the five minute mark as they pushed their lead to 19.

Carroll did not give up and cut the Rocky lead to 43-33 with less than two minutes left to go in the first half, but a Kendra Leininger 3-pointer left the Saints down 13 at the break.

“The women started hitting shots at the end of the half,” Nelson said. “It gave us a chance to put ourselves back in to the game.”

Janie Rayback opened the second half with a layup for the bears, before Bruursema and Alysha Green drilled jumpers to trim the lead to 48-37.

It was the closest the game got, as the Bears blew open a 20-point edge with 11 minutes left in the game.

“Rocky hit a 3-pointer after we missed a shot and that gave them all the momentum,” Nelson said.

Rocky shot an astounding 59 percent from the field. The Saints offensives woes continued with a 34 percent accuracy mark from the floor.

Lewis finished the game with 19, while Rayback led the Bears with 30.

Without defensive-specialist Leibach in the lineup, the Saints surrendered 88 points in the effort, the most of the entire season.

Bruursema finished the game with 19 points to lead the Saints, while Green added 13 and Allen 11.

Carroll 33 30 — 63

Rocky Mountain 46 42 — 88

Carroll (63) — Bruursema 5-14 5-6 19, Jagelski 0-1 0-0 0, Leibach 0-1 2-2 2, Mills 2-3 1-2 5, Bosley 2-3 2-5 6, Green 5-16 0-0 13, Cahill 0-1 0-0 0, Meyer 1-5 0-0 2, Allen 5-12 0-0 11, Flynn 1-6 3-4 5. Totals 21-62 13-19 63.

Rocky Mountain (88) — Schenderline 3-7 0-0 9, Henderson 6-7 0-0 15, Rayback 12-13 6-8 30, Lewis 6-13 1-1 17, Stewart 2-4 4-4 8, Sager 0-1 0-0 0, Orchard 0-0 0-0 0, Schoer 0-0 0-0 0, Leininger 1-3 0-0 3, Evans 1-4 0-0 2, Lundgren 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 33-56 11-13 88.

3-Point Goals — Carroll 8-29 (Bruursema 4-8, Green 3-13, Allen 1-5, Leibabch 0-1, Flynn 0-2), Rocky 11-19 (Lewis 4-10, Schenderline 3-3, Henderson 3-3, Leininger 1-2, Sager 0-1). Rebounds — Carroll 31 (Bosley 7), Rocky 33 (Schenderline 8, Rayback 8). Assists — Carroll 7 (Green 3), Rocky 25 (Lewis 7). Total Fouls — Carroll 12, Rocky 18. Fouled Out — none. Technicals — none.

In other Frontier Conference action:

Western 52, MSU-Northern 50

The Western bulldogs did not travel to Havre in vain as they come away with a big upset over the No. 3 MSU-Northern Skylights 52-50 Wednesday.

Genna Rucker led the Bulldogs with 14 points, as Chloe Mosey and Jamie Lake each added eight.

Taylor Keller led the Skylights with 13.

Western will move on to play Westminster in Slat Lake City Friday night in the semi-finals.

Westminster 83, Great Falls 66

The Griffins defended their No. 1 ranking against their opening round opponent, Great Falls, in an 83-66 blow out.

Dani Evans led the Griffins with 19 points, shooting 4-of-6 from behind the arc, while Elisa Leader and Shannon Evans added 12 and 11, respectively.

Jocelyn Moore paced the Argos with 12.

Lewis-Clark 75, Montana Tech 62

The Warriors of Lewis-Clark move past Montana Tech with a 75-62 win in Lewiston, Idaho.

Sadie Short and Nikki DePell each scored 18 points to lead the Warriors.

Lindsey Wilson paced the Orediggers with 17.