Jan. 10, 2009—North Central College dug themselves into an early hole and were never able to recover, falling 93-67 to Wheaton College in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's basketball season opener for both teams at Gregory Arena.  Jackie Errico (So., Blue Island, Ill./Marian Catholic) recorded her second straight double-double, scoring a career-high 20 points for the Cardinals.

The Thunder scored the games first nine points, jumping out to a 20-2 lead, thanks in part to a full-court press that wrecked havoc on the Cardinal backcourt. Wheaton would lead by as many as 28 points in the first half, taking a 45-29 lead into the break.

The second half saw the Cardinals cut the deficit to as little as 15 on three separate occasions but were unable to come any closer despite shooting a respectable 41.9 percent (13-for-31) from the field.

Errico scored 11 of the Cardinals first 17 points, ending the night with a career-high 20 points along with a team-high 10 rebounds. For the second straight game, Errico was perfect from the charity stripe, hitting all nine attempts. Jessica Davis (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) came off the bench and chipped in 13 points while Brianne Parra (Sr., Justice, Ill./Argo) added 10. Nicole Kemme (Sr., Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) had a team-high four assists while Davis led the team with four steals. As a team the Cardinals shot 90.5 percent (19-for-21) from the free throw line, missing just two attempts on the day.

Annie Bowen led the Thunder scoring attack, finishing with 22 points while Kathleen Fidelia, the conference leader in scoring, finished with 19 points, dishing out a game-high nine assists. Jamie Jones and Lynnea Kvam added 13 and 11, respectively, while Kelly Brooks came off the bench and added 12.

With the loss, North Central dips below .500 to 5-6 overall and 0-1 in CCIW play while Wheaton improves to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in conference. The Cardinals hit the road for their next two games, facing Augustana College on Tuesday in Rock Island, Ill. Tip-off in that game is slated for 7:30 p.m.