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

Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. (Feb. 15, 2011)-- An untimely scoring drought sabotaged the North Central College women's basketball team's bid for a third straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory on Tuesday night, falling 68-63 to Elmhurst College inside R.A. Faganel Hall.

The Cardinals (8-15, 4-8 CCIW) held a 62-55 lead with 4:39 remaining off a Helen Muleya layup before going ice cold the rest of the way, misfiring on all seven attempts from the floor as the Bluejays (10-13, 5-7 CCIW) scored 13 of the game's final 14 points to escape with the win and the season sweep.

North Central grabbed its first lead six minutes into the game as Christine Karl buried a three-pointer to give the Cardinals the 10-7 edge. North Central led by as many as five points before Elmhurst reclaimed the lead at 23-22 with just over five minutes left in the opening half. The team's traded leads before the Cardinals scored the half's final five points, taking a 29-27 lead into the break. Sophie Newson was unstoppable the first half of play, tallying 15 of the team's 29 points with eight of those coming from the charity stripe.

Utilizing a quick 7-0 scoring spree, North Central enjoyed a game-high eight point lead with 7:21 remaining in the second half of play. Karl opened the run by canning her second three of the night before getting a pair of buckets in the paint from Kelsey Stone.

Four Cardinals ended the night in double figures with Newson leading the way with 17 points and eight rebounds. Muleya came off the bench and chipped in 14 points while Karl and Jenny Swanson each added 13.

Megan Ney led the Bluejays with a game-high 18 points and 15 rebounds while Meghan Merklein added 16. Kelsey Monroe and Stephanie Mitchell each scored 10 points.

The Cardinals close out the season with a pair of home games beginning on Thursday against seventh-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University. Tip-off inside Gregory Arena is slated for 7:30 p.m.