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

Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. (Jan. 20, 2016) – The North Central College women's basketball team overcame a 11-point halftime deficit on Wednesday to briefly take a fourth quarter lead, but could not hang on down the stretch, falling 101-95 at the hands of Carthage College.
 
North Central (8-9, 2-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) led throughout a majority of the first quarter, as a Miranda Grizaffi lead gave the Cardinals a 22-16 lead with 3:41 to play in what would prove to be North Central's largest lead of the contest.
 
The Lady Reds (7-10, 3-3 CCIW) finished the quarter scoring 12 of the final 18 points to knot the score 28-28, as North Central went the remaining 2:46 of the opening quarter without a field goal.
 
That drought would carry on to the second quarter, as Carthage scored the first nine points of the quarter to open up a 37-28 lead with 6:40 to play.  The Lady Reds opened their largest lead of the half with 2:36 to play in the half, as a Monica Masini lay-up gave Carthage a 49-37 lead and wound up outscoring North Central 24-13 in the quarter to take a 52-41 lead at the intermission.
 
After a pair of Carthage field goals to open the third quarter increased the Cardinal deficit to 16, a 10-0 Cardinal run quickly cut the Lady Red lead to just six, 57-51.  Mayson Whipple knocked down a three-pointer and dropped home a lay-up in the lane over the run, while Anita Sterling capped the rally with a long ball of her own.
 
The Lady Reds responded to the Cardinal run with six straight points to increase its lead back to 12 with 5:56 to play, but once again North Central did not back down, rallying with a double-digit run to close the third quarter on a 17-5 run and tie the contest at 70 heading into the fourth.  The Cardinals scored nine straight points to end the third quarter, including a lay-up and a free throw from Lauren Hernandez during the final minute.
 
Selena Juarez opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, hitting one of two free throws to give North Central its first lead since the first quarter, 71-70 with 8:35 to play in the contest.  However, that would prove to be the final Cardinal lead as Carthage's Erin Thomas knocked down a shot two possessions later, while the Lady Reds knocked down 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch, maintaining the lead the remainder of the contest.
 
North Central was outshot from three-point range for the first time this season, as Carthage finished 10-of-19 from beyond the arch to North Central's 9-of-40 shooting from three-point range.
 
Whipple led the Cardinal offense with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field, while Sterling turned in 15 points and six rebounds off the bench.  Hernandez, Jamie Cuny and Therese Pettersson also finished in double-figures, each adding 10 points.
 
Carthage was able to keep up with North Central's fast paced offense, playing only eight players all evening with six of those playing 24-plus minutes.  Six Lady Reds finished in double-figure scoring, led by Morgan Harris' 24 points, while Rachel Szydlowski finished with a game-high 17 rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
North Central returns home on Saturday, Jan. 23, playing host to Elmhurst College with tip-off slated for 5 p.m.  Links to live coverage are available HERE.