The Frontier Conference will get down to brass tacks beginning tonight when Carroll College starts a two-game in three days road swing against Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

The Fighting Saints then go to Lewiston, Idaho to play Lewis-Clark State College on Saturday night. Westminster is currently in third place with a 3-2 conference mark, while they sit at an impressive 16-5 overall.

Lewis-Clark leads the league with a perfect 5-0 record and is 16-3 overall. Carroll tops LCSC's season record at 16-2, but is a game behind in the league at 4-1.

Westminster is coming off a tough 65-64 overtime loss to UM-Western. Their only other league loss was an 80-62 defeat at the hands of LC State.

"They are having an outstanding year," Carroll coach Shawn Nelson said. "They are ranked in the top 25 and they present matchup problems for us. They have five perimiter players and they try to spread you out and take you off the dribble."

The Griffins were unable to stop UM-Western's Kelly Pankratz, who came off the bench and scored 22 points. Guard Shannon Evans leads the Griffins with her all around play. She averages 13.5 points per game, which is good for second on the team, but it's her ball distribution and defense that sets her apart.

She went into last weekend ranked seventh in the nation in assists (5.4) per game and eighth in steals (3.2). Should Carroll win in Salt Lake City, then their Saturday night match-up with LC State will likely be for a share of first place. The Warriors have been dismantling league foes.

"The whole thing with LC State is that you can't turn the ball over," said Nelson. "They live off of points off turnovers and had 19 points off of turnovers in the first half against Western last week. We have to be strong with the ball and strong on the boards."

LCSC dropped Montana Tech 76-47 in their last outing with five players scoring at least nine points. Their closest league game was a 68-56 win over MSU-Northern. They lead the nation in points allowed (52.3) and scoring margin (26.9).

Four players n Mandy Troutt, Jade Fulbright, Sadie Short and Breianna Gaines n average in double digits.

"Jade Fulbright and Sadie Short will cause matchup problems for us," Nelson said. "Short can play small forward or power forward. Mandy Troutt is great at getting offensive rebounds."

Carroll, meanwhile, hasn't been quite as impressive in how it has beat opponents. Shooting guard Jolene Fuzesy leads the league in scoring at 22 points per game and is proving to be near impossible to shut down. She had just three first half points against Rocky Mountain College last Friday, but exploded for 21 in the second half.

In Carroll's prior game she didn't score until the final 13 minutes, but finished with 15. Carroll leads the nation in 3-point shooting with an amazing 45 percent and rebound defense (26.6) a pair of categories they'll probably need to excel in against both teams this week to get wins.