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

Box Score

Jan. 7, 2017 – Holding off a late fourth quarter run, the North Central College women's basketball team snuck out a 88-87 win over North Park University on Saturday inside Gregory Arena, improving to 3-2 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play.

Despite leading for over 31 minutes of action, the Cardinals faced a 85-85 tie with 1:44 remaining in regulation when Jamie Cuny hit the biggest three-pointer of the game to give North Central a 88-85 lead with just over a minute to play.

After a North Park layup trimmed the lead to just one with 52 seconds remaining, the Vikings held possession after North Central failed to score on its final possession, but Cuny came through yet again, this time on the defensive end, stuffing a layup attempt from Shaylee Sloan to seal the 88-87 win.

North Central led by as many as eight in the fourth quarter, as back-to-back threes from Paula Zerante gave North Central a 76-68 lead with 7:30 to play, but North Park managed to claw back and tie the contest twice down the stretch, however the Vikings were never able to overcome the Cardinal lead.

For the first time this season, North Central did not hold the advantage in three-point shooting as North Park (8-6, 1-4 CCIW) held a 13-10 margin from beyond the arc, but the difference in the contest came from the free throw line as the Cardinals were successful on 24-of-35 attempts, while the Vikings shot just 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Natali Dimitrova and Zerante each finished with 14 points to lead the Cardinal offense, while Caroline Heimerdinger also finished in double figures with 12 points.  Zerante and Lyndsay Brennan each dished out five assists, while Anita Sterling and Diamond Calicott each grabbed seven rebounds.  Cuny finished with five blocked shots on the defensive end, while Zerante snatched four steals.

North Central held the CCIW's second leading scorer Liz Rehberger to 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, as the senior guard entered the evening averaging 20.5 points per game.  Emmy Gryna paced the Viking offense with 21 points, while Brie Lippert added 13 and Gabby Sandoval finished with 12. Amani Davis led all players with 13 rebounds, while tying Lippert for the team lead with three blocked shots.

North Central (9-5, 3-2 CCIW) continue a stretch of three-straight home games on Wednesday, Jan. 11, playing host to Augustana College at 7 p.m.