lakeland, florida — At the gymnasium, the assist watch will be in full operation from the end of the consecutive holidays.
Camden Hilborn, Carroll’s senior point guard, is one assist away from tying the tie after having five assists in Tuesday’s 62-53 win over Southeastern and two away from breaking the program record for most career assists. .
Trish Renaker holds the current mark with 408 assists from 1995-99.
Hilborn will appear next Thursday against Lakeland College and has 407 career assists in his four seasons with Carroll.
Jamie Pickens is also nearing a career milestone.
The former Helena High standout in her third season with Carroll scored a game-high 18 points on Tuesday, taking her Saints career points up to 954 and 46 to 1,000.
Like Hilborn, Pickens will have a chance to hit that milestone in front of his hometown fans next week.
With a 1-point game at halftime, Carroll got a separation on Southeastern in the second half of the third with a 10-0 run.
Pickens sparked a winning streak, and Kindall Keller (3P) and Genesis Wilkinson (3P) stacked on top of it, sending the Saints into the fourth quarter with seven points.
Needing a bucket to stem the tide in the Southeast with less than eight minutes remaining, Carroll turned to Hilborn, who buried a triple to bring the Saints back to seven points.
The Fire then never got two possessions as Carroll completed the trip to Sunshine State with a perfect 3-0.
Keller had 13 points, five rebounds and four steals in the win.
Sienna Swanak and Genesis Wilkinson each scored nine goals, while Adi Ekstrom came off the bench with five goals and four assists.
Hilborn completed a historic triple-double on Sunday with five points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Carroll improved to 9-4 overall with the win and will begin full-on Frontier Conference play on January 5 after two non-conference games at home.
Carroll, ranked 24th in the world, can’t win in Arizona
For the first time since the 2013-14 season, Carroll’s men’s basketball team lost four straight games.
The Saints lost 78-72 to Vanguard University on Tuesday, wrapping up a 0-4 trip to the Cactus Classic in Chandler.
“I’m clearly disappointed,” Saints head coach Kurt Paulson said. We have to do a better job to play together.”
Carroll tied Tuesday’s game 44-44 early in the second half.
The Saints trailed by three with five minutes remaining, but the Lions’ 8-2 spurt provided plenty of room in the closing stages.
It’s the second time in several days that the Saints have lost by six points or less.
“In some games, we were where we needed to be,” Paulson said. “I will take responsibility for not being organized enough in a crisis situation.”
“It was tough because we played against a very good team. With such a quick turnaround, it was hard for each team to prepare.
“All we’re getting is good experience, but the expectation is to win, and I wasn’t ready to win.”
Carroll was beating senior guard and second-most scoring Johnny Hillman for the duration of the tournament. Hillman is dealing with injuries, according to Paulson.
Senior big man Brendan Temple missed Monday’s game against Menlo but returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday. Temple had three points, six rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes.
Sophomore Andrew Cook again scored for Carroll.
Cook scored 21 points on Tuesday, beating the 20-point plateau for the third time in four games and fourth time in the past six.
“Andrew is playing hard,” Paulson said.
“We have to get more help for him and develop the players. They are a young group. I’ll do my best.”
Brayden Koch scored 13 points in the loss and Isiah Moore added 11 on a 5-for-5 shooting from the bench.
Garrett Long had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Carroll, who is currently 7-6 on the season, will take a week off before facing Westmont and Vanguard in California to close out the calendar year.