WAUKSHA, Wis. – Carroll led nearly wire-to-wire Saturday in defeating Augustana 72-64 at Van Male Field House. With their third straight loss, the Vikings dropped to 11-9 on the season and 5-6 in the CCIW. The Pioneers improved to 8-11 overall and 3-7 in the league.

 
Carroll's Kayla Stefka opened the scoring with a three-pointer 1:15 in and the Pioneers would lead for the entire first period with the exception of a 7-7 tie following two Izzy Anderson (Alleman HS, Rock Island, Ill.) free throws. Alyssa Cruz answered with a trey and after building the lead to as much as six, the hosts ended the quarter with a 22-18 advantage.
 
An Emily Majerus three-pointer with 7:44 left in the second quarter gave Carroll its biggest lead of the half at 27-20. However, Augustana responded with the next eight points to take its only lead of the afternoon (28-27) 4:11 before halftime on two more Anderson charity tosses. It took just 14 second before Cruz drilled another triple and the Pioneers wouldn't trail again. They led 37-32 at the break after Katie Rosetti converted a conventional three-point play in the final seconds.
 
The Vikings pulled even twice in the third quarter. Two Anderson freebies made it 46-all at the 3:39 mark and a Justice Edell (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) layup 15 seconds later tied it at 48-all. Rosetti answered with a field goal, though, and Carroll would lead the rest of the way. Two Cruz free throws gave the Pioneers a 58-52 advantage after three quarters.
 
Cruz opened the final period with another three and Majerus added a layup to push the margin to double digits (63-52) for the first time. A Sierra Grubor layup with 6:50 to play gave Carroll its largest lead of the game at 67-55 and Augustana would draw no closer than six points the rest of the way.
 
Anderson finished with a game-high 24 points and junior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) added 15, to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Cruz led four Pioneers in double figures with 20 points and added 10 rebounds and eight assists.
 
Coach Mark Beinborn's bunch finished the afternoon 22 of 58 (.379) from the field, including just five for 25 (.200) from three-point range. Led by Anderson's 9-of-10 performance, the Vikings went 15 of 17 (.882) from the foul line. Carroll shot .383 (23-60) from the floor, .381 (8-21) from three-point range and .500 (18-36) from the free throw line. Augustana won the battle of the boards 45 to 38, but committed 22 turnovers to 14 for the Pioneers.
 
The Vikings will try to get back on track on Wednesday, January 30, when Elmhurst visits Carver Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.