North Central College Cardinals

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

Box Score

DUBUQUE, Iowa (Dec. 18, 2018) – Jumping out to a double-digit first quarter lead, the North Central College women's basketball team snapped a three-game skid with a 72-57 win over Dubuque University on Tuesday.
 
After Dubuque (1-9) scored the game's opening basket, back-to-back layups from Lyndsay Brennan and Alanna Newsome quickly overtook the lead and never looked back, holding the lead the rest of the contest. 
 
Allison Pearson drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Cardinals a 18-10 lead with 2:38 to play in the opening quarter, before a layup from Newsome right before the end of the quarter increased the lead 24-14.
 
Holding a 28-18 lead two minutes into quarter number two, North Central went on the game's pivotal run, a 16-3 streak over the next seven and a half minutes to suddenly open up a 44-21 advantage.
 
Brennan knocked down a pair of three-pointers over the run, while Page Desenberg also connected from beyond the arc and Mitrese Smith capped the run with a jumper.  The Cardinals' outscored the Spartans, 20-9 in the second quarter to take a 21-point lead into the intermission.
 
North Central was outscored by the Spartans in each of the final two quarters, but the dominant first half proved too much to overcome in the end while a 52-37 advantage in rebounding sealed the victory, a season-high for the Cardinals.
 
A career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds from Brennan paced the Cardinal offense, also her first career double-double.  Natali Dimitrova grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds to go along with nine points, while Newsome finished in double figures with 10 points.  Tyonne Howard dished out a game-high seven assists, while Pearson chipped in eight points and seven boards.
 
The Cardinal defense held the Spartans to just 32 percent shooting from the field, with Tamya Vaultonburg and Kia Dwight leading the team with nine points each.
 
North Central continues a stretch of six-straight road games on Saturday, Dec. 22, heading to Saint Mary's University (Minnesota) with tip off slated for 2 p.m. at Saint Mary's Gym in Winona, Minn.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.