The Carroll College Saints were pretty in pink Friday night, though they didn't play an especially beautiful game against the University of Great Falls.

The Saints downed the Argos 79-67 despite having to rebuild a double-digit lead in a game that saw the Saints wearing pink uniforms in support of cancer awareness.

The performance didn't impress Carroll coach Shawn Nelson.

"I don't think we played very well," he said. "We didn't shoot the ball very well. We got caught up in the emotion of the night. When you're playing for a good cause, it's easy to lose focus."

Jolene Fuzesy led the Saints, scoring 20 points and a pair of assists. Elly Bruursema had 15 points and was perfect from beyond the arc, netting three treys.

Laura Keaster played well for the Argos, tallying 23 points.

Neither team shot well early on, missing the first five shots. The Saints jumped up on Great Falls, scoring the opening six points. After a big block by Hannah Heidenreich, Fuzesy was fouled and made both of her shots, upping the Carroll lead to 8-1.

The Saints got a lot of second chances underneath the backboard thanks to dominant rebounding. Carroll grabbed 13 offensive boards, 35 in all. The Argos came away with 20 total rebounds.

Toward the end of the first half, the Saints started to pull away.

Consecutive three-pointers by Fuzesy and Caitlin Courchaine gave Carroll a ten-point lead before Laci High and Bruursema matched the feat with two minutes left in the half.

At halftime, the score was 42-30, and the Saints looked to bruise Great Falls.

The Argos used the first ten minutes of the second half to get their stride, and as the last quarter of the game began, Great Falls found a way to erase the defecit.

"Defensively we broke down, gave them easy layups," said Nelson. "And they hit a lot of tough shots."

Keaster heated up down the stretch and with six minutes remaining, the Argos had cut the lead to 61-58.

Great Falls took a timeout and Fuzesy took over. The senior guard made an easy bucket and on the next possession was fouled. After making both free throws, she was able to turn her next chance into a trey, making the score 68-60 and the Saints coasted the rest of the way.

"We made enough big shots down the stretch and that's what's important," said Nelson.

Fuzesy said that while the Saints didn't play their best game, the important thing was the victory.

"It was not the prettiest game, but we pulled it out," she said. "When it comes to conference games, a win is a win."

The Saints moved to 19-3 with the win. Next they will hit the road for two conference game, one against UM-Western and one in Butte versus Montana Tech.

"We need to work on our offense, get it clicking a little better," said Fuzesy. "Everyone is stepping up. You can't just have one or two people doing well, it's a team effort."

UGF-- 30 37 67

CC--42 37 79

Scoring

UGF--Jacqui Millam 1-5 1-1 3, Jocelyn Moore 3-11 3-5 9, Ashley Stephen 2-5 0-1 4, Laura Keaster 7-10 7-9 4, Kassie Holmlund 4-7 0-0 8, Keyla Briese 1-2 0-0 2, Marissa Francis 3-5 0-1 9, Kylie Bullock 0-1 0-0 0, Kirilyn Winkler 3-4 0-0 9, Danielle Heny 0-0 0-2 0

CC--Hanna Heidenreigh 1-2 0-0 2, Tiffany Rochelle 2-3 0-0 4, Laci High 2-9 0-0 6, Caitlin Courchaine 4-10 5-6 14, Jolene Fuzesy 6-13 6-6 20, Elly Bruursema 4-7 4-4 15, Nikki Mills 4-4 3-6 11, Danielle Maloney 2-7 2-2 7, Nicole Leibach 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Meyer 0-0 0-0 0

Rebounds--UGF 20 (Moore 7), CC 35 (Rochelle 10)

Assists--UGF 7 (Holmlund 3), CC 15 (Courchaine, Moloney 3)

Blocks--UGF 1 (Francis), CC 1 (Heidenreich)

Steals--UGF 4 (Moore, Keaster, Briese, Bullock 1), CC 7 (Mills, Rochelle 2)

3-pointers--UGF 5 (Francis 3), CC 9 (Bruursema 3)

Total fouls--UGF 17, CC 17