SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 4 Westminster women's basketball team dropped a Frontier Conference opener for the first time since the 2010-11 season as they fell to No. 24 Carroll (Mont.), 55-50, on Thursday night in the Behnken Field House.
 
Westminster (10-2, 0-1 Frontier) had won 29 straight home games and 23 home conference games entering the game. The Griffins had also won 17 consecutive league games overall dating back to a loss at Carroll on Feb. 21, 2013.
 
Carroll (10-4, 1-0) notched an 8-0 run midway through first half to build a 15-8 advantage. The Griffins were able to pull even at 18-18 by holding the visitors scoreless for nearly seven minutes and forcing them six straight missed shots. The final 3:40 of the half saw Carroll outscore Westminster 12-2 and push the lead to its largest of the night at 12 before Tia Pappas made a layup at the buzzer to send the game to intermission at 30-20.
 
The second half saw Carroll maintain their advantage as the closest the Griffins would get was within four on two occasions. The Saints would make 8-of-10 free throws in the final 2:24 of the game to seal the victory.
 
Pappas led all scorers in the game 22 points for her third 20-point outing of the year. She went 9-of-18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds with three assists and two steals. Shelby Ellsworth made her season debut and finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
 
Westminster shot just 35.2 percent from the floor and they were 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from beyond the arc. They notched 12 assists on 19 made field goals and scored 13 points from 12 offensive rebounds. Carroll finished the game shooting 41.7 percent from the floor – the second-highest allowed by the Griffins this season – and they grabbed 10 offensive rebounds.
 
Katie Estey made four first-half threes and finished with a team-high 12 points. Cassidy Hashley and Baylee Watson added 10 points apiece.
 
The Griffins will look to start a new streak on Saturday when they host Rocky Mountain (Mont.) at 5:30 p.m. MT in the Behnken Field House.