Waukesha, Wis. – The Carroll University women's basketball team opened their 2020-21 season with a rout of the Elmhurst University Bluejays, 79-56.
Katie Evans scored a career-best 21 points on 9-14 shooting off the bench.
Kate Christian led in both rebounding and assists with nine and eight, respectively.
The Pioneers (1-0, 1-0 CCIW) were too powerful for the undersized Bluejays, controlling the paint with 36 points to their 20. The ladies defensively held Elmhurst to just 32.7% shooting, with only nine points coming from their leading scorer. The Pioneers were on the receiving end of 26 Bluejays fouls, with freshman
Katie Rohner (16 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast) stepping to the line 10 times and sinking seven of those attempts. This contest marks the Pioneers' first win against Elmhurst since rejoining the CCIW in the 2016-17 season.
After a slow start to the first quarter,
Elizabeth Behrndt (7 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast) and
Kayla Stefka (14 pts, 7 reb) helped the Pios jump out to a five-point lead with 5:50 remaining. A 6-0 run sparked by an Evans layup ended the quarter, with the suffocating defense holding the Bluejays to only six points in the first 10 minutes. Back-to-back threes by Stefka and
Brooke Foster (7 pts, 7 reb) jump-started a 20-3 Pio run in the second quarter. After finding themselves down 25, Elmhurst managed to cut the lead to 17 before Rohner ended the half with a fast-break layup off a Christian steal and assist.
Stefka banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key to bring the Pios up 20 one-minute into the second half. Freshman
Marissa Murray (4 pts, 3 reb) put an end to a three-minute scoring drought with a jumper in the paint. Junior
Theresa Wichser (4 pts) scored her only bucket of the night on a four-point play after draining an elbow three off the inbound and sinking the free throw. Up 25 heading into the fourth quarter,
Kate Christian scored her first points on the evening. Evans scored nine of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, and 17 in the second half to secure the victory.
The Pios will travel to Elmhurst this Saturday for a 2 PM tip-off. The last time the women visited the Bluejays, an overtime thriller broke out, with the Pios on the losing end.
Stay up to date on Pioneers 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).
