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

Box Score

Dec. 6, 2017 – Playing from behind most of the contest, the North Central College women's basketball team completed a 81-77 comeback victory over Carthage College in overtime on Wednesday, earning their first win of the season.

With the score all knotted at 70 heading into the five minute overtime, Maya Walls started the scoring in the extra frame with a layup off a nice pass from Andrea Dickerson to give the Cardinals a slight 72-70 lead.

After nearly two minutes without a basket, Dickerson knocked down a huge three from the left corner on a kick out from Mayson Whipple, giving North Central their largest lead of the contest 75-70 with just over two minutes remaining in overtime.

The Lady Reds (4-3, 0-2 CCIW) did not go down without a fight, as Autumn Kalis sank four straight free throws on Carthage's next two possessions, shrinking the Cardinal advantage to just one with 1:35 to play.

On the Cardinals following possession, Walls layed home the most important of her 10 field goals to increase the lead back to three.  After a missed three-pointer on Carthage's next possession, Whipple was fouled and subsequently hit one of two free throws to make it a two possession game.

That free throw came up large as Kalis hit one of her three long balls just six seconds later, once again trimming the North Central lead 78-77 with 0:27 remaining on the clock.  Choosing to foul Whipple on the inbound pass, the senior guard smoothly knocked down the charity shots while the Cardinal defense stood tall on the Lady Reds' final possession to secure the 87-77 win.

North Central led for just over nine minutes of the contest, while Carthage held the lead for over 30 minutes, but North Central was able to erase a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Reds 27-18 to force overtime.

Walls led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field, shattering her previous best of 12 points, while also securing 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.  Whipple finished with 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Lyndsay Brennan added a career-best 13 points.

Kalis led the Carthage offense with 22 points, while Rachel Szydlowski finished with 21 points on 10-of-19 shooting.  Morgan Harris scored just six points, but led the team with 14 rebounds and eight assists.

North Central continues the current four-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 9, playing host to Illinois Wesleyan University at 5 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.