FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

Jan. 25, 2011-- North Central College rallied from a 14-point second half deficit to force overtime but was unable to keep pace with Elmhurst College in the extra frame, stumbling 78-71 on Tuesday night in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's basketball game inside Gregory Arena.

The homestanding Cardinals (6-12, 2-5 CCIW) trailed by 14 with 10:32 remaining and faced a daunting 10-point hole with just over four minutes to go before mounting a 12-2 run to close out the second half, including scoring the final six points. Jackie Errico tallied the first four points of the spurt, draining a pair of free throws before hitting a jumper to cut the deficit to just six with 3:42 remaining. Helen Muleya converted a layup before the Bluejays' (9-9, 4-3 CCIW) Ceejay Harris answered with a jumper for the visitors final points of the second half.

Sophie Newson hit a jumper to cut the gap to just four before Errico completed the comeback with a jumper with 14 ticks remaining and a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining. Elmhurst's Meghan Merklein put in a layup at the buzzer but the basket was later called off sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, the Bluejays scored nine of the game's final 11 points, breaking open a 69-69 deadlock over the final three minutes of play.

Elmhurst enjoyed a 30-26 advantage at the halftime break after finishing the half on a 10-2 run to erase a four-point Cardinal edge.

Errico tallied her third double-double of the season, pouring on 26 points while grabbing 13 boards in a game that featured eight lead changes and 10 ties. Jenny Swanson added 11 with nine of her point coming from beyond the arc while Sophie Newson and Muleya tallied 10 and nine points, respectively. Christine Karl dished out a game-high five assists while grabbing two steals and blocking two shots.

Merklein paced the Bluejays with 22 points and eight rebounds while Kelsey Monroe added 19 and Harris tallied 10.

North Central returns to the hardwood on Saturday, Jan. 29, hitting the road to face Wheaton College at 6 p.m.