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

Box Score

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Nov. 27, 2011)-- Leading wire-to-wire, the North Central College women's basketball team closed out the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic on a positive note, downing Finlandia University, 72-54, on Sunday at Mitchell Hall in the consolation game.

The Cardinals (3-3) came out of the gate swinging, scoring the game's first nine points. The Lions (0-5) closed to within a point at 11-10 with 9:35 remaining in the first half before North Central mounted an 11-1 run to take an 11-point lead with just over five minutes remaining. The Cardinals went into the halftime break with a comfortable 26-19 lead.

North Central extended its advantage to 17 points with 12:28 remaining off a pair of Emily Murphy free throws before Finlandia utilized a 17-4 run to close within four points with 7:25 remaining in the game.

The Cardinals outscored the Lions by a 22-8 margin the rest of the way to cruise to the 18-point victory.

Kelsey Cooling led the Cardinal scoring effort for the second straight game, finishing with 15 points. For her efforts, the freshman was honored with a selection to the all-tournament team. Jenny Swanson hit four threes on the afternoon to finish with 14 points while Helen Muleya added 13 and a team-high six assists and six steals.

Shaikiera Armstrong led the Lions with 18 points and 11 boards while Paige Yoho added 10 points.

The Cardinals return to action on Friday, heading downstate to face Robert Morris University-Springfield at 7 p.m.