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Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

Dec. 9, 2011-- It was a tale of two halves for the North Central College women's basketball team on Friday night inside Gregory Arena, scorching the nets in the first 20 minutes of play before faltering in the second half and suffering a 63-60 setback to the University of Dubuque (Iowa).

The visiting Spartans (3-4) held an early 7-4 lead with 16:52 remaining in the opening half before the Cardinals (5-4) caught fire, scoring 23 of the next 25 points to take a 27-9 lead with 7:56 remaining. North Central continued to put its foot on the accelerator, leading by as many as 23 points with 1:17 remaining, shooting 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from the floor and 70.0 percent (seven-for-10) from three-point range, enjoying a 43-27 lead at the halftime break.

The Cardinals' fortunes were reversed in the second half, suffering a 14 minute field goal drought to open the second half as the Spartans whittled the deficit to just three points before a Callie Rezin layup with 5:56 remaining gave North Central the 52-47 edge.

Dubuque continued to battle, tying the contest at 58-58 with 1:52 remaining off a Meggie Schmidt layup. The Cardinals reclaimed the lead after Sophie Newson sunk a pair of free throws before a Lauren Gabler three-pointer with 10 seconds left gave the visitors the 61-60 edge. The Cardinals were called for traveling on the ensuing possession and Aimee Reyzer hit a pair of free throws as the Spartans held on for the dramatic win.

Jenny Swanson scored 11 of the Cardinals' first 15 points, leading the squad with 14 points, finishing four-for-seven from three-point range. Sophie Newson came off the bench and added 10 points while Emily Collins added eight and a team-high seven rebounds. Helen Muleya dished out a game-high seven assists while recording three steals.

Lauren Gabler led the Spartans with 13 points while Heather Taylor added 11.

After shooting 53.8 percent in the opening half, North Central was limited to shooting just 17.6 percent (three-for-17) in the second 20 minutes of play, ending the game 17-for-43 (39.5 percent).

The Cardinals look to rebound on Saturday, Dec. 17, making the short trek to Aurora University for a 2 p.m. tipoff.