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

Box Score

Dec. 3, 2016 – Opening College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Saturday evening inside Gregory Arena, the North Central College women's basketball team suffered a tough 118-113 loss in overtime at the hands of Illinois Wesleyan University.

In a contest featuring 14 lead changes and 10 ties, North Central (3-2, 0-1 CCIW) held a 100-96 lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation, but the Titans (4-3, 1-0 CCIW) charged back with a 8-2 run to quickly take a 104-102 lead with just 11 seconds to play.

Scoring 13 of her career-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, Mayson Whipple hit her biggest shot of the night with just two seconds on the clock, knocking down a running jumper in the lane to send the game to overtime knotted 104-104.

A three-pointer from Molly McGraw on the Titans first possession to start overtime gave Illinois Wesleyan a three-point lead, followed by Four straight offensive rebounds on the Titans' next possession, leading to a layup from Amanda Kelly and North Central was never able to recover, eventually falling 118-113.

Whipple's 29 points and eight assists led the Cardinal offense, while Paula Zerante added 13 and Siarra O'Neil finished with 12 points off the bench.  Defensively, Jamie Cuny led the Cardinals with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. 

Miranda Grizaffi finished the contest with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, breaking the program's career three-point record in the process as her 169 made threes surpass Jenny Swanson's '13 mark of 167 set from 2009-13.

Six Titans scored in double figures, led by McGraw's 37 points on 13-of-29 shooting from the field.  Ashley Schneider added 20 points off the bench, while Rebekah Ehresman finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. 

Alina Lehocky also finished with a double-double, adding 10 point and 10 boards, while Nina Anderson and Sydney Shanks each finished with 10 points off the bench.  Kelly led all players with 10 assists and four steals.

North Central continues CCIW play on Wednesday, Dec. 7, traveling to 19^th-ranked Wheaton College with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. inside King Arena.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.