Decatur, Ill. – The Carroll University women's basketball team stopped their losing slide with a 62-59 win over Millikin on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers' 24-6 first quarter was enough for them to pull away in the nail-biter on the road.
Theresa Wichser scored 18 points for the third time this season on 6-12 three-point shooting.
Alyssa Cruz nearly had a double-double with nine assists and eight rebounds through 24 minutes of action.
The Pios (3-6, 1-2 CCIW) show 37.9% from behind the arc (11-29 3PM) and a season best 100% from behind the free-throw line (7-7 FTM). The bench fell into foul trouble, but were still able to score 23 points to Millikin's 19.
Brooke Foster shot 3-5 from the field on her way to a nine point, three rebound finish.
Emily Majerus and
Kayla Stefka added in five each. The women capitalized on missed shots and mistakes from Millikin, by pouring in 15 fast-break points.
The 24-6 run in the first quarter was led by six point from
Sierra Grubor (finished with 10 pts, 7 reb) and the Pioneers knocking down threes from
Megan Madsen, Stefka and Foster. The Big Blue wouldn't go out without a fight however, starting the second quarter on a 10-0 run before being silenced by a good three from
Emily Majerus. The Pioneers were still able to walk out of the first half with a 14-point lead.
The second half started with back to back blows in the third quarter. Grubor continued to draw fouls and knock down free points as the Big Blue cut the lead to only 10 points from five Pioneer turnovers. Wichser's hot hand came alive in the fourth quarter, netting four three point baskets to keep the Pioneers in the lead. Millikin scored 19 points to cut the lead down to three, but Madsen's late steal was able to seal the win on the road.
The Pios will not play again until after the Holiday season, when they travel down to Nashville, Tenn. to compete in the Music City Classic on Dec. 29-30. Stay up to date on Carroll women's basketball this season by going online to www.gopios.com, or by following the Pioneers on Facebook (Carroll University Athletics), Twitter (@pio_athletics), and Instagram (@pio_athletics).
