Waukesha, Wis. – The Carroll University women's basketball team faced another nail biter at home, and was on the losing end of the battle, 61-67 against the North Central Cardinals in overtime. Kayla Stefka finished with 15 points on 5-10 shooting, Elizabeth Behrndt finished with seven rebounds, and Alyssa Cruz added six assists.
 
The Pioneers (8-15, 3-11 CCIW) created plenty of shots and maintained possessions well, but could not get baskets to fall, shooting only 28.1% from the field, and only making five of 26 three point attempts. The Pios won the turnover margin, and created 15 points off of Cardinal turnovers, aided by three Emily Majerus steals. Foul trouble began to plague the women yet again, with Megan Madsen fouling out in the fourth after scoring seven points and collecting six rebounds. With the help of Stefka, the women were able to add 30 points to the score, and played a majority of the second half.
 
Madsen started with a quick five points to kick off the contest, before Katie Evans, Brooke Foster, and Theresa Wichser knocked down threes. North Central tied It up with five minutes remaining, and both teams went cold not scoring a basket the rest of the quarter. A seven three run capped off by a Foster three started the second quarter. The women forced their way into the paint and drew fouls to collect a seven point lead at halftime.
 
The Pioneers started the second half with momentum and carried the lead up to 13, but North Central soon began to hit shots, cutting the lead into seven points after a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining. Stefka was able to enhance the lead to nine in the fourth, but North Central continued to chip away the last five minutes as both teams played the free throw game. Two North Central free throws tied the game with 19 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. A 9-2 run in overtime cemented the game for North Central, hitting threes and free throws.
 
With this loss the women have been eliminated from the CCIW tournament. They will host Wheaton next Wednesday. The women were able to walk into Wheaton and come away with a win last time out, 73-64, their first win over the Thunder since re-joining the CCIW. 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).