Preview: Carroll Cougars vs. University Trailblazers
The Carroll Cougars will be home for the holidays to greet the University Trailblazers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Carroll will be looking to keep their ten-game home win streak (dating back to last season) alive.
Carroll has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matches by 23 points or more this season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Monday as they easily beat Northwestern 59-31 at home. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 31-10.
Alli Harness was her usual excellent self, scoring 26 points along with eight assists and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least 25% of Carroll's points. Madison Wagner was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, University struggled with offensive rebounds on Thursday (Indianapolis Bishop Chatard had 17 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. University fell 52-45 to Indianapolis Bishop Chatard.
Despite the defeat, University saw an underclassman step up: Charlotte Conyers scored ten points along with six rebounds and six steals. Conyers continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Anyah Jordan-Turley, who scored 12 points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Carroll's victory bumped their record up to 11-2. As for University, their loss dropped their record down to 5-4.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: Carroll have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 32.2 rebounds per game. It's a different story for University, though, as they've been averaging only 20.9 rebounds per game. Given Carroll's sizeable advantage in that area, University will need to find a way to close that gap. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.