The Carroll College women will face a familiar foe and brand new opponent at the MSU-Northern Invitational Tournament in Havre beginning tonight.

The Saints, now 10-0, take on Dickinson State for the second time this season this evening. Carroll beat Dickinson in a physical brawl on Nov. 17 74-57 in a game they trailed by three shortly before halftime.

Carroll is ranked seventh in the nation, but that was the pre-season and another poll doesn’t come out until Dec. 5.

Shannon Bosley and Danielle Maloney were both injured in the game against Dickinson, but neither injury is expected to cost either player a lot of court time.

“We know them pretty well now,” Carroll coach Shawn Nelson said. “They like to pound it inside and they’ll give us a good game.”

Carroll had a tough time corralling Brittany Mesa in the first game. The senior went off for 18 points, including three 3-pointers and 11 rebounds. Ashley Bakich-Emmons had 11 points and Juliet Masei added 10.

Olivet College, of Olivet, Mich., is a NCAA Division III program and is currently 1-5 on the season. Heather Bateman’s Comets have just two seniors on the roster. The Comets are led by freshman Ameina Ross’s 11.3 points per game. Emily Brown and Gabrielle Federau each pull down 5.0 rebounds per contest.

“I don’t know much about them yet, but we’ll get to see them on Friday night,” Nelson said of the Comets.

Carroll has been getting excellent play all the way around, but Nelson said he especially likes what his guards have been doing.

“We’re really driving to the basket hard,” he said. “We’ve been able to get to the line and that will help us all year.”

The Saints are in the midst of a six-game road swing. They will return to Helena for a pair of games against Southern Alberta on Dec. 28 and 29.

Reporter Tom Stuber: 447-4070 or irsports@helenair.com