WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University women's basketball team won its fifth-straight game on Saturday afternoon, taking down the North Park University Vikings 85-44. Olivia Rangel dropped 26 points with six rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes, while Emilie Wizner went 3-4 from beyond the three-point arc.
 
The Pioneers (13-6, 8-2 CCIW) led for nearly the entire contest. The Pios shot just under 52% from the floor and over 35% from three. With 30 attempts at the free throw line, Carroll tallied 24 points. The paint was dominated by the Pios, 40-20, and points off turnovers were 38-13 in favor of Carroll. Katie Evans led the team with five steals to force 29 NPU turnovers. Allison Thompson recorded three of the team's six blocks and recorded her 100^th career block. Thompson is just the fourth Pioneer all-time to reach 100 career swats.
 
The Pioneers gained its lead right away after a put-back in the paint by Thompson but struggled to produce a high-powered offense early on. Carroll held just a 10-2 lead at the media timeout after Wizner knocked down a jump shot off a turnover. Rangel advanced Carroll's lead to 10 with a layup in the paint, and two free throws by Thompson kept Carroll up double-digits at the end of the first period, leading 16-6. Brooke Foster got her name on the scoreboard in Carroll's first offensive possession of the second quarter with a jumper outside the paint. Rangel scored five-straight points to force another North Park timeout at 7:23 in the quarter. Rangel would go on to score 15 points in the quarter as Carroll took a 27-16 lead going into halftime.
 
The second half started slow for the Pioneers, who made just one basket in the first four minutes of the quarter. Natalie Palzkill ended the Carroll cold streak, which soon led to back-to-back three-pointers from Foster, and another added from Wizner, as Carroll ended the quarter up 27 points. Foster and Rangel made three free throws to start the third quarter, and Carroll's lead ballooned to 35 off a Rangel and one three-point play. Wizner's third and final three-pointer pushed Carroll to a 41-point lead, the largest of the game. Coach Schultz turned to her bench to finish out the contest.
 
Carroll begins a three-game road stretch on Wednesday, February 1 when they head down to North Central at 7 PM. The Pioneers opened the CCIW season against the Cardinals with a 72-50 win on November 30.