Jan. 20, 2009—Five Cardinals scored in double figures as the North Central College women's basketball rolled to the 80-44 win over North Park University, Tuesday night at Gregory Arena for the team's third straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win.
The first five minutes saw the two squad's trade punches, with three lead changes and three ties in that span. With the score tied at seven apiece,
Brianne Parra (Sr., Justice, Ill./Argo) hit a jumper off a
Gia Navarra (Sr., Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) pass to give the Cardinals the lead with 14:39 remaining in the first half. The Cardinals would never trail the remainder of the game, taking a 39-24 lead into halftime.
The second half saw the Cardinals continue to dominate the game, outscoring the Vikings by a two-to-one margin in the second 20 minutes to hold on for the 36-point victory.
Jessica Davis (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) and Parra both came off the bench to lead the Cardinal scoring effort, ending the night with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Meghan McGuire (So., Elgin, Ill./Central) chipped in 16, shooting seven-for-11 from the floor while grabbing seven boards. Navarra ended the game with 13 points, racking up 10 of them in the first half where she had the hot hand, sinking four of her five shots. Jackie Errico (So., Blue Island, Ill./Marian Catholic) was the fifth Cardinal in double figures, recording her fifth double double of the season, scoring 10 points while grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds. LaRae Kostreva led the Vikings with 14 points and eight rebounds with Larisa Coldebella chipping in 12 points.
For the second straight game, the Cardinals got significant production from the bench, accounting for 39 of the team's points while outscoring the short Viking bench 39-6.
North Central had one of its better shooting days, hitting 47.8 percent (32-for-67) from the floor including 53.3 percent (16-for-30) in the second half while holding North Park to just 25.9 percent (14-for-54) for the game. The Cardinals had just 12 turnovers in the game, their best effort of the season while recording a season-high 11 steals on the defensive side. On the glass the Cardinals held a 55-31 edge, including 16 offensive boards. The only area the Cardinals seemed to struggle was from the free throw line where the team shot a season-low 48.1 percent (13-for-27).
With the win, North Central improves to 8-6 overall and 3-1 in conference play while the Vikings fall to 3-11 on the season and 0-4 in CCIW action. The Cardinals, who have now rattled off three straight wins and have won five of their last six, hit the road again on Saturday, facing the Lady Reds of Carthage College at the Tarble Arena at 2 p.m. in Kenosha, Wis.
