Waukesha, Wis. -- Three days after upsetting third-seeded North Central College in Naperville to begin its CCIW Tournament slate, the Thunder women's basketball team hit the road again on Friday for a semifinal matchup at Carroll University. Wheaton was the six seed in the conference tournament, while the Pioneers earned the top overall seed and hosting rights for this weekend's semifinals and championship games as the regular season title winners. For the second season in a row, Carroll, ranked 12th in the country in the latest D3hoops.com poll, defeated Wheaton in the semifinals to secure its place in Saturday's conference championship. The Pioneers (22-4, 15-1 CCIW) will take on #2 seed Illinois Wesleyan University tomorrow night, with the winners earning the league's automatic bid to next month's NCAA Division III Tournament. The Thunder's campaign comes to an end with an overall record of 12-15 and a conference mark of 7-9 after a late-season surge saw the team earn the final spot in this week's tournament and advance to the semifinal round once again. 

After the two squads opened tonight's contest with a pair of free throws at either end, First Team All-Conference honoree Kate Oliver gave Wheaton an early 4-2 advantage with a tough layup in the lane. But this would be the only time that the visitors led in Friday's meeting, as Carroll mounted a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to seize control. Chloe Kostka (pictured below) answered a Pioneer triple by sinking the first of her four three-pointers on the night to trim the deficit to 19-10 late in the first quarter. But the nationally-ranked Wisconsin side beat the horn with a jumper in the paint to earn a double-digit lead heading into the second period.

Carroll began the next frame with a three-ball to stretch its edge to 14 points, before an and-one layup from Oliver set the score at 24-13 in the Pios' favor. A subsequent 9-0 stretch for the tournament's #1 seed ballooned their lead up to 20 points, however, and the NCAA Tournament hopefuls had too much firepower for the visitors to handle the rest of the way.

Carroll led by as much as 26 in the second half, before a noteworthy fourth quarter effort brought Wheaton back within 12 points in the closing seconds. The Thunder rattled off a 9-2 run towards the end of the last period before a free throw at the other end confirmed the game's final score at 78-65. 

Wheaton shot an impressive 71.43% in the final frame while holding Carroll to a 37.5% figure to outscore its host, 25-16, in the fourth quarter. The Thunder ended the game with a 42.3% field goal percentage, and the Pioneers' tally was six points higher. Both squads shot the ball well from behind the three-point line on Friday, with the hosts making nine triples on a 53% count to the visitors' ten three-pointers on a 43.5% line. Each team picked up 11 points at the free throw line, but Wheaton enjoyed the more accurate performance at an 11-14 measure.

The Pioneers out-rebounded their guests, 36-30, including ten offensive boards and won the turnover battle at a 17-12 count. Carroll registered 32 points in the paint to Wheaton's 22, while the Thunder earned significantly more production from their bench, with Wheaton's substitutes outscoring Carroll's, 27-3.

Lydia Brogan finished her freshman campaign with a season-high 15 points this evening to lead her team in scoring and shot over 50% from the floor while joining her fellow rookie Kostka on four successful three-point attempts. Kostka contributed 14 points, four rebounds, and two assists in 22 minutes off the bench. Jenna Hunter tallied 11 points, five boards, and dished out a career-high five assists in a versatile performance. Another first-year player, Ann Magee Stradinger, closed out her debut season with a personal-best nine points and also earned two assists while shooting +50%. The senior Oliver posted five points, four dimes, and led the Thunder in rebounding and blocks tonight, tallying six and two, respectively.

Noteworthy: Kate Oliver ends her accomplished collegiate career as the 11th-highest scorer in program history with 1,199 total points, immediately behind former teammate Annika Richardson (2021-25) in tenth on 1,213. She also finishes her time at Wheaton with the ninth-most shot blocks of any Thunder women's basketball player, accumulating 90 over the past four seasons. Additionally, Oliver takes her place as one of the top free throw shooters in program history, making 333 foul shots in her career, a total that ranks fourth-most all-time at Wheaton.