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

Box Score

DECATUR, Ill. (Dec. 10, 2016) – Scoring its first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) victory of the season, the North Central College women's basketball team outscored Millikin University by 23 points in the third quarter, rolling to a 103-68 win on Saturday inside the Griswold Center.
 
Shooting a season-high 44 percent from the field and 46 percent from three-point range, North Central came out slow in the first quarter, trailing 15-14 after the opening 10 minutes, but came on in the second quarter to take a 36-34 lead into the intermission.
 
The Cardinal offense really came alive in the third quarter, outscoring the Big Blue (5-3, 1-2 CCIW) 36-13 thanks in part to five three-pointers.  A Mayson Whipple lay-up, followed by a three-pointer from Paula Zerante got the scoring started for North Central, before back-to-back lay-ups from Natali Dimitrova, including a three-point play, and two free throws from Jamie Cuny gave the Cardinals its first double digit lead, 48-38 with 6:34 to play in the quarter.
 
After a pair of Millikin buckets cut the lead to six, North Central closed the quarter on a 24-5 run to quickly take a commanding 72-47 lead.  The run was highlighted by a pair of long balls from Shannon Ryan, while Jessica Dahle and Miranda Grizaffi also hit from deep.
 
North Central (4-3, 1-2 CCIW) continued to pour it on in the fourth, once again outscoring the Big Blue by double digits en route to the 103-68 win.
 
Nine Cardinals finished with multiple field goals on the evening, led by Cuny's 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.  Cuny also grabbed six rebounds and blocked a pair of shots, while Whipple also finished in double figures with 12 points and a team-leading five assists.
 
Millikin shot just 35 percent from the field on 28-of-81 shooting, as Emily Schultz led the way with 20 points, while Yanni Sadler added 15 points and Lauren Moses grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.
 
Continuing a stretch of eight straight road games, North Central travels to 23^rd-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.