Free throws propel Women's Basketball past Carroll

WAUKESHA, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin drained six free throws in the final 48 seconds to outlast Carroll University for a 62-57 non-conference victory Wednesday night inside Van Male Field House.

CUW (2-0) led for all but one minute and 40 seconds in the tightly contested contest, but it was its free throw shooting that proved vitally important. Leading by just a point with one minute to play the Falcons sank 6-of-8 attempts down the stretch, including two by Madelyn Landgraf and Camille Parsons in the final 15 seconds.

Freshman Victoria Riechers (Cedarburg, Wis.) led CUW with a career-high 17 points in just her second collegiate game after going 7-of-12 from the field. She also pulled down nine rebounds and stole two passes.

Parsons (senior, Urbana, Ill.) and sophomore Megan Coenen (Green Bay, Wis.) each finished with 11 points, while senior Katie Luethe had eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior Anna Butler (Kewaskum, Wis.) also dished out a career-high-tying five assists. CUW finished the game 18-of-28 from the free throw line.

Malory Christenson paced the Pioneers (2-1) with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Brianna Johnson netted 10 points and Breann Maryanski had eight points and 10 rebounds.

CUW narrowly edged CU in points off turnovers (11-9), points in the paint (30-28), and bench points (13-12).

The game was tight from the beginning with the CUW lead reaching its peak at nine points with 14:29 to play in the contest. Following the contest's largest lead the Pioneers went on a 12-2 to own their only advantage of the game, a one-point lead with 10:30 to play.

The Falcons answered with a 8-0 run of their own to regain control of just the second matchup between the two schools in head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones' era. In the second half alone, Parsons drained 6-of-9 free throws to keep CUW in front.

CUW returns to the court on Saturday for its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener at Concordia University Chicago at 2 p.m.