Women's Basketball | 1/14/2015 9:33:00 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Jan. 14, 2015) – Bouncing back after its first loss of the season, the North Central College women's basketball team improved to 14-1 this season with a 95-82 win over College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) foe Augustana College on Wednesday evening.
 
The 24^th-ranked Cardinals (14-1, 3-1 CCIW) were outrebounded on the evening, but held a 19-14 margin on the offensive glass, leading to 17 second chance points to Augustana's seven.  Defensively, North Central forced 29 turnovers, while the Cardinal bench outscored the hosts 71-26.
 
The two teams traded leads over the first 10 minutes of the opening half as the Vikings (7-8, 1-3 CCIW) held a 20-19 advantage with 9:04 remaining, but the Cardinal offense caught fire over the next four minutes, going on a 17-0 run to quickly turn the tables and take a 16-point lead.
 
The Cardinal run was highlighted by three-pointers from Mayson Whipple and Emily Zgoda, while Bobbi Johns capped the scoring barrage with another long ball, three of her five points on the run.
 
After the Cardinals took a 51-39 lead into the intermission, Augustana would mount a second half comeback, slowly chipping away at the Cardinal lead and with 12:37 left to play faced just a four-point deficit.
 
North Central swiftly propelled its lead back to double-figures as Maryssa Cladis knocked down three free-throws and Zgoda nailed one of her six long balls on the evening on the following possession to give the visitors a 68-58 lead.
 
Four points would be as close as the Vikings would come down the stretch, while the Cardinal defense forced seven turnovers over the final 10 minutes of the contest.
 
Zgoda finished with a career-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range.  Cladis added 12 points and a career-high eight assists off the bench, while Tess Godhardt chipped in 12 points and a team-high nine boards.
 
Augustana's Marissa Pezzopane paced all scorers with 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds, while Andrea McNally also finished with a double-double, adding 15 points and 12 boards.
 
North Central is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 17, hosting Elmhurst College at 5 p.m.  Links to live statistics, audio and video are available HERE.