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Carroll's win, the only first-round upset in both the women's and men's brackets, sends them to the semifinals for the sixth time in seven years to face top-seeded Westminster on the road on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The fifth-seeded Saints (18-13) trailed by as much as four in the final minute when Northern junior forward Zivile Gaizutyte, who had game-highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds, hit a pair of free throws to make it 57-53 with 59 seconds remaining.
The fourth-seeded Skylights (16-16) then allowed a quick runner the other way to sophomore Carroll guard Alysha Green and turned the ball over twice to the Saints' full-court press during a game-stealing 5-0 run.
Northern had just one timeout remaining after burning four while struggling with the Carroll's traps in the previous minutes.
Dunn and sophomore guard Jill Jagelski first jostled the ball away from Northern guard Taylor Keller, forcing her to step back across the halfcourt line to control it and drawing an over-and-back violation.
Dunn then hit a tough jumper off a scramble on the other end to knot the count, trapped Skylights senior point guard Awilda Hernandez in the corner off the following inbounds pass and ripped the ball away before being fouled on a runout layup attempt.
Dunn calmly hit the first go-ahead free throw before missing the second, completing a shaky night at the line for Carroll, to give Northern a good final look with 17 seconds left in the game. Carroll was just 11-for-18 on free throws in the game, while Northern went 17-for-23.
A contested entry pass slipped between Gaizutyte's hands in the final seconds, though, and the Saints bounced into celebration with the loose ball.
Carroll did not score in the game's opening six-and-a-half minutes before a front-end free throw from Dunn and a quick 3-pointer by Green off her following miss gave the Saints a short-lived 4-3 lead. Carroll led only briefly once more in the first half before the final seconds.
Northern held a 20-17 advantage at halftime after a sloppy defensive battle saw the teams combine for 28 turnovers before the break. The Saints shot just 26 percent from the field in the opening half before switching to the four-guard lineup in the second half, where they shot 54 percent.
Junior guard Samm Schermele tied Gaizutyte with 14 points to lead the Skylights, but fouled out with just under two minutes remaining while halting a runout after another clutch steal from Dunn.
Dunn led Carroll with 12 points, 10 coming after the break, along with her two important steals. Senior post Sara Meyer also added 12 points, with 10 of her own coming after the break when she terrorized Northern inside as the only Carroll post on the floor. Green and freshman guard Kelsi Brekke, who manned the high post at just 5-foot-8 in the second half, added 10 apiece, including a pair of 3-pointers each.
Story courtesy of Helena Independent Record
