NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Audrey Whitney poured in a team-high 20 points and three of her teammates notched double-doubles as the Carleton College women's basketball team secured its first victory of the season, an 83-74 triumph over visiting North Central University (Minn.)
 
"A great team effort tonight," said Carleton head coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen. "We shared the ball well, and that resulted in the balanced scoring we need. It's was fun to get the first win, and now we get back to work tomorrow."
 
In addition to Whitney's fourth career game with 20-plus points, Carleton (1-1) saw a 17-point, 13-rebound performance by Liesl McCallum; a 16-point, 11-board, 7-assist, 2-steal stat line for Addy Huss; and a 13-point, 10-rebound night from rookie Maggie Winesett.
 
North Central (1-3) scored the evening's first point before the contest even began after Carleton was assessed an administrative technical foul due to an issue that prevented the red lights from illuminating on the backboard when the clock went to 00.0. NiNi Davenport made the free throw to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
 
The Knights shook off the unusual start to the festivities and went on a 35-13 run after tipoff.  Carleton led 24-10 after the first quarter, their most points in any period since a 29-point third quarter at St. Catherine University on Feb. 1, 2023.
 
The hosts widened their lead to 44-28 at intermission and matched their largest lead of the contest at 57-36 with 6:00 left in the third quarter. That is when Davenport tried to single-handedly bring her team back as she scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the period, including 5-of-6 showing from 3-point range.
 
North Central pulled to within 65-60 with 8:46 still to play, but Whitney scored nine of the Knights' 18 fourth-quarter points to help secure the victory.
 
In addition to the big performances by Whitney, McCallum, Huss, and Winesett, the Knights benefited from eight points off the bench for Taylor Dente and six for Charlotte Henry.
 
Brycelyn Brewster (13 points) and Jackie Lindsay (11 points) also finished in double figures for the Rams.
 
Carleton shot 48.1 percent overall and went 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from beyond the arc. North Central connected at a 37.5 percent clip and was 10-of-25 (40 percent) from long range.
 
The Knights' 83-point output was their largest scoring output since scoring 90 points in an overtime loss to Augsburg on Feb. 1, 2020. This was Carleton's highest scoring total in regulation since scoring 84 points in a win over Crown College on Nov. 16, 2019.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton continues its season-opening homestand by hosting University of Northwestern (Minn.) at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15.