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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Feb. 6, 2010 - The North Central College women's basketball team had two attempts at a second-half rally turned away Saturday, as the Cardinals were defeated, 76-59, by Millikin University in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action at Gregory Arena.

Trailing, 40-25, at halftime, North Central battled back to within single digits of the Big Blue on two occasions, but fell victim to a retaliatory scoring run both times.

Forward Julia Robert scored the first two buckets for Millikin (13-8, 7-3 CCIW), sparking a game-opening 11-6 run that spanned the first four minutes of play. After a basket by North Central's Terra Musgrove, the Big Blue scored eight straight points to take a 19-8 with 12:20 left in the first half.

The Big Blue limited North Central to just five points in the next seven minutes, expanding their lead to 36-15. The Cardinals were limited to 2 of 11 shooting during the stretch. The hosts did put together a 7-2 run in the final 2:31 to dig into their deficit, capped off by  Christine Karl's buzzer-beating three-pointer.

A 10-0 run at the start of the second period, bookended by three-point plays from Musgrove and Brittany James, vaulted the Cardinals (4-17, 1-9 CCIW) back into contention and prompted a Millikin timeout with 16:44 to play. The Big Blue, however, regrouped and scored five straight points to move ahead by double digits once again at 45-35.

The teams traded baskets until Musgrove canned a three-pointer with 9:32 to play, narrowing the gap to 53-47. Millikin quelled the rally once again, however, making 5 of 6 shots in a 13-2 surge that left the guests with a 66-49 advantage with 6:09 to go. The Big Blue led by at least 13 points the rest of the way.

Musgrove finished with collegiate career highs of 16 points and eight rebounds, leading North Central in both categories. Karl aded 13 points and James totaled four assists.

Cecily Aldridge's 22 points led the way for the Big Blue, while Elise Wildman put up 21 points and 13 rebounds and Crystal Ziegler finished with 16 points and 10 boards. Beth Wellbaum finished with 12 assists.

North Central travels to face North Park University (5-15, 2-7 CCIW) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.