WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Carroll Women's Basketball team's magical season came to an end Friday evening with a 74-65 loss to Puget Sound in the opening round of the NCAA Division-III Tournament. Ranked 13th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, the Pioneers shot 41 percent (23-57) from the field, while Puget Sound converted 53 percent (28-53) of their shots in the contest.

In a game that featured three ties and five lead changes, Carroll (23-5) scored the final eight points of the first quarter to seize control of the contest and take an 18-11 lead into the second period. Puget Sound (20-8) then turned to their defense to get them back in the game, forcing 10 of Carroll's 15 turnovers in the second quarter alone. That, along with some timely shooting, helped the Loggers outscore the Pios 22-9 in that period to take a 33-27 halftime lead.

The two teams played fairly evenly the rest of the way, but Puget Sound wouldn't relinquish their lead for the remainder of the game. The Loggers scored the first seven points of the second half to open up a 13-point advantage with eight minutes to play in the third quarter. They would lead by as many as 14 in the period, but Carroll fought back, ending the third on a 12-6 run to cut that lead to single digits with 10 minutes remaining. In the final period, the Pioneers cut the lead to five on three different occasions, but each time, Puget Sound answered with a timely basket, holding Carroll at bay the rest of the way.

Natalie Gricius led the Pios with a game-high 20 points, while Olivia Rangel scored 12, to go along with four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Senior Lauren Soyke also chipped in with nine points and four rebounds, making all three of her shots from the field.

Puget Sound had five players score in double figures, including four starters, led by Katie Minnehan's 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Kennedy Brown added 13 points, while Paige Gerhart chipped in with a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists, in addition to pulling down five boards. Sophie Nilsson also scored 11, while Addison Reardon finished with 11 points off the bench. Reardon was part of a bench that scored 24 points for the Loggers.

That ends a season for Carroll which saw them attain their most victories in a season (23) and their highest ranking in program history (13th), while also being ranked in the Top 25 for seven consecutive weeks, which is the longest such streak in program history. The Pioneers finished the season with single season school records for points (2,236), points per game (79.9), scoring margin (+17.2 per game), field goal percentage (.479), and assists (519).