Feb. 14, 2009 - Brianne Parra (Sr., Justice, Ill./Argo) notched her second consecutive double-double, but it was not enough as North Central College fell, 67-54, to Carthage College in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's basketball game at Gregory Arena. The Lady Reds led wire-to-wire after jumping out to an early 13-2 lead.
Katie Klemke accounted for six of Carthage's first 13 points as the Lady Reds built an early 13-2 lead just five minutes in. Jessica Davis (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) sunk a bucket to break up the run and spark a 10-0 Cardinal run to bring themselves within one at 13-12 with 10:38 remaining. The Lady Reds would pour on the next 14 points before North Central would close out the final four minutes of the first stanza on a 9-1 run, trailing 28-21 at the break.
Carthage scored the first two buckets of the second half and held at least a seven-point cushion the entire second half, leading by as many as 18 before settling on the final 13-point margin.
Davis came off the bench and led the Cardinal scoring effort, scoring a game-high 15 points along with a game-high four steals. Parra recorded her fourth double-double of the season, netting 14 points and a game-high 11 boards. Meghan McGuire (So., Elgin, Ill./Central) grabbed 10 boards to go along with her seven points while Nicole Kemme (Sr., Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) chipped in eight points.
Four Lady Reds ended the day in double figures with Heather Gilmore leading the charge with 13 points. Katie Jarger chipped in 12 while Lisa Gartelos and Dani Ripkey each added 10. Carlie Janowiak dished out a game-high six assists while Katherine Burshiem came off the bench and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
The Cardinals and Lady Reds combined to make 45 trips to the free throw line, with 19 of the Cardinals 20 opportunities coming in the second half.
With the loss, North Central dips below .500 to 10-11 overall and 5-6 in CCIW action while Carthage improves to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in conference. The Cardinals travel to North Park University on Tuesday, beginning a two-game road trip before concluding the season at home on February 24 against Millikin University.
