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

Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. (Jan. 26, 2013) - The North Central College women's basketball team saw a close game get away from it in the second half of Saturday's game at Wheaton College, as the Thunder stormed away with 68 points in the final 20 minutes and wound up with a 118-78 win over the Cardinals at King Arena.

North Central (10-9, 3-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) took advantage of a high volume of free-throw attempts in the opening period and headed into halftime with just a four-point deficit, but the Thunder shot a blistering 65.0 percent (26-40) from the floor in the second half to break the contest open.

Wheaton made its first five shots from the field and owned a 11-2 advantage in the early going, but a 10-0 Cardinal rally left the score tied at 19-19 following a Lauren Hernandez three-pointer with 13:37 on the clock. North Central took the lead for the first time on Kimberly Wilson's three-pointer and led by as many as five points before Wheaton outscored the Cardinals, 14-4, over the next three minutes to move back in front.

North Central put itself in position to regain the lead shortly before the half ended, trailing by a 48-46 count, but a pair of three-point attempts fell short. Wheaton's Lauren Graham beat the buzzer with a fast-break layup and sent the hosts into the break with a 50-46 edge. The Cardinals knocked down 21 of 23 free-throw attempts in the opening period to keep themselves in contention.

The Thunder (15-3, 6-2 CCIW) began pulling away shortly after play resumed, scoring 23 points in the first five minutes of the second period and taking a 73-53 lead. North Central was unable to threaten from then on, managing just 23.3 percent accuracy (10-43) from the floor after halftime.

The Cardinals were led in scoring by Larynn Shumaker's 16 points, while Emily Murphy added 12. Michelle Todd grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and Bobbi Johns finished with four assists and three steals.

Wheaton got 33 points, nine rebounds and five assists from Hannah Considine, while Brooke Olson totaled 26 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

The Cardinals travel to face Carthage College (16-3, 8-0) on Wednesday. TIpoff at Tarble Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Links to live video, audio, and in-game statistics can be found at northcentralcardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball.