WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University women's basketball team took down the North Central Cardinals for their ninth-straight home win dating back to 2021-22. Carroll ran away with the lead for a 72-50 win. Allison Thompson led the team with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks in under 30 minutes. Olivia Rangel built up a nine-point, nine-rebound, six-assist, and four-steal stat line in 24 minutes.
 
The Pioneers (4-4, 1-0 CCIW) get back to .500 with the victory. Carroll started out hot in the first half, including another second-quarter explosion, but went a bit cold in the second half, shooting just 37.5% from the floor, and making just 3-16 three-pointers. Carroll forced 23 turnovers on 13 steals, leading to 20 points off turnovers and 20 fast break points. Carroll dominated the paint, leading 42-18, and scored 29 points off the bench, led by Natalie Palzkill's 11.
 
North Central held a lead in the game after an opening shooting foul, but Carroll took the lead right back a play later and never surrendered it the rest of the night. The Cardinals had answers for the Pioneers early on, but Carroll pulled away after Katie Evans laid in a basket during a 10-2 run. Thompson scored eight of her 14 points in her first eight minutes of play. Emilie Wizner made back-to-back layups early in the second quarter as the Pioneers began to pick up steam. Carroll opened the second quarter with a 21-6 run, highlighted by Rangel and Palzkill trading layups in the paint off of turnovers. The Cardinals tapped into the lead a bit, but Carroll held a 22-point advantage going into halftime.
 
North Central began to claw at the lead as Carroll started cold in the second half, cutting the lead to as low as 13 with 2:52 left in the third. Brooke Foster responded by knocking down Carroll's first three-pointer of the night, followed soon by another three from Wizner. The Cardinals hit a three of their own and went into the fourth down 16. Palzkill and Kate Christian took advantage of early fouls by North Central, by scoring five points off free throws to push the lead back to 19. North Central cut back again, bringing the deficit down to 12, but Katie Evans started a 9-2 run that put the Pioneers back above a 20-point lead for the game. Katie Rohner hit Carroll's third three-pointer of the night in their final possession to keep put North Central away by 22 points.  
 
The Pioneers will host Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, December 3 at 2 PM in a doubleheader with the men's team. The Pioneers' last meeting with the Titans came in the 2022 CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament Semifinals.