DE PERE, Wis. - Carroll's women's basketball team stepped outside conference play to begin winter break early Friday afternoon, falling to former Midwest Conference rival St. Norbert by a score of 69-65. St. Norbert shot 49 percent (24-49), including 58 percent (11-19) from 3-point range, while Carroll converted 39 percent (24-62) of their shots, including 25 percent (5-20) from behind the 3-point line. The Green Knights' bench outscored the Pios' reserves by a 33-16 margin.

Carroll (6-5) scored a basket on the game's opening possession thanks to a Natalie Gricius layup, but St. Norbert (7-2) would hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take an early 6-2 advantage. That was the first of four lead changes in the quarter, which was dominated by Gricius, who scored 11 of the Pios' 15 points, entering the second period deadlocked at 15 with the Green Knights. The two teams traded baskets for the majority of the second quarter, until the final two minutes of the half, which saw Carroll score 10 unanswered points to take a 36-29 lead into intermission.

The Pioneers would take their largest lead of 10 just two minutes into the third period when Olivia Rangel connected on a free throw to put the Pios up 41-31. That sparked a 20-4 run over the next nearly seven minutes, which gave the Green Knights a 51-45 lead with just one minute left in the third. Carroll hung in there in the final quarter, cutting the lead to two on an Emilie Wizner 3-pointer with less than seven minutes remaining. After a couple SNC baskets, Carroll cut the lead to three and after a defensive stop had one final chance to tie the game, but their final shot caromed off the rim.

Gricius and Rangel each finished with a team-high 17 points, while Gricius completed a double-double with 13 rebounds as well (six offensive). Wizner and Julia Lokker each scored eight points for the Pios.

St. Norbert was led by Casey Jepson's 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Taylor Thiry added 11 points and six rebounds.

Carroll will be in action again on December 30 when they'll travel to Benedictine (IL). That game will begin at 4:15 p.m. at Dan and Ada Rice Center in Lisle, Ill.