ELMHURST, Ill. (Jan. 16, 2009) - Brianne Parra (Sr., Argo, Ill./Justice) hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds left to break a 62-62 deadlock, sending the visiting North Central College women's basketball team to a 65-62 victory over Elmhurst College, Friday night at Faganel Hall. The Cardinals trailed by as many as 13 in the game and got tremendous production from the bench, accounting for over half of the teams points.
A Jessica Davis (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) three with 1:49 remaining tied the score at 62 apiece while a Parra three as the shot clock wore down gave the Cardinals the three point advantage with just 25 seconds to play. The final 25 seconds seemed to last an eternity for North Central as a lane violation on the shooter in a one-and-one opportunity and an intentional foul on the subsequent inbounds gave the Bluejays two free throw attempts and the ball. Elmhurst would miss both free throw attempts while a three at the buzzer fell short giving the Cardinals their second straight road win.
The Bluejays stormed out to an early 10-2 lead in the game and built up a game-high 13-point lead with just 1:57 left in the first half. North Central would respond in the final two minutes, scoring the final eight points to pull within five at 36-31.
The Cardinals picked up where they left off in the second half, scoring the first bucket to pull within three before the Bluejays would counter with a 6-0 run to swell their lead up to nine points. North Central would continue to chip away at the lead until a Mallory Carlini (Jr., Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) lay-up gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 49-48 with 10:18 to play. The remainder of the game would be tightly contested with seven lead changes and three ties with neither team leading by more than three points.
With 2:07 to play, a Lyndsie Long jumper gave Elmhurst the 62-59 advantage. It proved to be the final points of the game for the Bluejays as they finished the contest zero-for-five from the field while missing two free throws.
Parra and Davis both came off the bench for the Cardinals, scoring 20 and 15 points apiece as the reserves accounted for 37 of the team's 65 points, outscoring the Bluejay bench 37-5. Meghan McGuire (So., Elgin, Ill./Central) recorded her second double-double of the season, dropping 16 points with 10 rebounds shooting seven-for-nine from the floor while Gia Navarra (Sr., Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) had nine boards and a team-high three assists.
Brittany Bobruck scored a game-high 26 points while leading the Bluejays with nine boards and six blocks. Kelsey Monroe chipped in 13 points while Lyndsie Long added 10.
The Cardinals shot 45.8 percent (27-for-59) from the field in the game, including shooting 48.4 percent (15-for-31) in the second half while limiting the Bluejays to shooting just 34.6 percent and a dismal 26.3 percent (10-for-38) in the second half.
After dropping their first three road games, the Cardinals (7-6, 2-1 CCIW) have now rattled off two in a row and are now above .500 for the first time since November 29. The loss was the Bluejays second straight as they fall to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play. The Cardinals return home on Tuesday, January 20, facing North Park University at Gregory Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
