FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
MONMOUTH, Ill. (Dec. 1, 2009) -- Host Monmouth College (Ill.) took a seven-point lead into the halftime break and never looked back, defeating North Central College, 77-63, in a non-conference women's basketball game at Glennie Gymnasium. Latrice Newson finished the night one rebound shy of her first career double-double in a game that featured five first half lead changes and three ties.
A pair of Newson free throws opened up the game's scoring before the Scots answered just seconds later with a three pointer courtesy of Kelli Jo Hinkle. A Monmouth free throw and a jumper pushed the home squad's advantage to four at 6-2 before the Cardinals mounted a 13-4 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 19-14 with 10:53 remaining.
Christine Karl kick-started the run, sinking a three-pointer while Newson and
Jenny Swanson also hit threes during the stretch.
The Fighting Scots tallied the next four points to tie the game and allowed the Cardinals to take the lead just once more in the half at 33-32, before taking a 44-37 lead into the break after Justine Boone hit a jumper at the buzzer.
Monmouth pushed its advantage to 11 just over 30 seconds into the second half, maintaining at least a five-point cushion the remainder of the game en route to the 14-point victory.
For the third time this season, Karl finished the night as North Central's leading scorer, accumulating 15 points along with three steals while Newson and
Jackie Errico each chipped in 13 apiece. Newson pulled down a game-high nine rebounds while Errico finished with seven.
Zipporah Williams came off the bench to lead the Scots, concluding the night with 16 points as four players finished in double figures for Monmouth.
With the loss, North Central dips below .500 for the first time this season to 2-3 while Monmouth improves to 3-1. The Cardinals return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 5, hosting Franklin College at 2 p.m. in a non-conference tilt at Gregory Arena.
