FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score

Jan. 5, 2010 -- First half turnovers proved to be the achilles heel for North Central College on Tuesday, falling, 77-63, to top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's basketball season opener at Gregory Arena. The Cardinals trailed by 13 points at the half before playing almost even with the unbeaten Titans the final 20 minutes of play.

The visiting squad wasted little time, jumping out to an early 10-2 edge with four different Titans scoring baskets during the run. IWU stretched its first half advantage to as many as 16 points with 6:55 remaining before the Cardinals mounted an 11-0 run to pull within five points with just under two minutes before halftime. Layups from Becky Bylina and Kaelyn Witkowski began the rally before getting three points from the charity stripe courtesy of Christine Karl and two more by Jenna Hoffman. A Jackie Errico bucket with 1:45 to go capped off the rally before the Titans responded, scoring the next eight points to take a 43-30 advantage into the locker room after forcing 20 Cardinal turnovers using an aggressive press.

IWU maintained at least a 13-point buffer the entire second half, outscoring the Cardinals by a razor thin 34-33 margin during the final stanza.

Errico registered 11 points at the half and concluded the game with a career-high 26 points after shooting nine-for-13 from the floor while on defense racked up a game-high five steals to lead the home side. Bylina finished with a career-high 12 points on six-for-nine shooting while Karl had nine points and a team-high six assists.

12 Titans scored baskets during the game as the IWU bench generated 37 of the team's 77 points on the night. Stacey Arlis led the way with the game's lone double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Christina Solari finished with 11 points while Olivia Lett added nine.

The Cardinals had one of their best shooting nights of the season, sinking 12 of 23 shots in the first half (52.2 percent), ending the night 24-for-50 (48 percent) from the floor.

With the loss, North Central falls to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in CCIW action while the Titans, ranked No. 1 in both the D3hoops.com and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, improve to 12-0 and 1-0 in conference play. The Cardinals return to the court on Saturday, January 9, making the short trek to Wheaton, Ill. to take on the Wheaton College Thunder at 2 p.m.