ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Carroll University women's basketball team were unable to defeat Augustana College on the road on Saturday, falling 56-67. Kate Christian led the Pioneers with a season-high 16 points, to go with three rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
 
The Pioneers (13-5, 5-5 CCIW) have lost to Augustana for the second time this week, after falling in Van Male Field House on Monday. Carroll struggled to make baskets tonight, finishing only 35.8% shooting from the field but made 8-20 three-point baskets. Augie shot over 41%, hit 12 threes, and was perfect at the free-throw line. The Vikings also out-rebounded Carroll, who was held to just 24 rebounds. The Augie bench outscored the Carroll bench 26-15 as well.
 
Augustana started the game up six points, but Carroll got back into the game and took a two-point lead after an and-one layup from Olivia Rangel. Unfortunately, that was the lone lead of the game for the Pioneers, and it was for only 15 seconds. Augie finished the first quarter on a 14-6 run, shooting 6-8 from the field and 2-3 from three. Katie Evans and Theresa Wichser both knocked down three-point baskets for the remaining first-period points. Natalie Palzkill scored the first basket of the second quarter, but Augie ran off with a 12-0 run to boost their lead to 16. Brooke Foster and Evans both ended the quarter with three-point baskets, but Augie went into the break leading 41-27.
 
Carroll forced five turnovers and collected three steals to start the second half, leading to an 11-0 Pioneer run just under two minutes long. Augie began to figure out the press again and went on another run as Carroll went cold, shooting just 2-11 in the quarter the final eight minutes. Foster knocked down her second three of the game from the top of the key with 6:08 left in the game, but the Vikings scored seven-straight points to take a 15-point lead with 3:16 remaining in the game. The Pioneer bench was emptied and finished the game strong to cut the loss to just 11 points.
 
Carroll has a makeup game with North Central scheduled for Monday, January 31 at 7 PM in Van Male Field House. This is the first time the Cardinals have visited the Pioneers since the 2019-2020 season.