Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
Box Score
WINONA, Minn. (Dec. 22, 2018) – The North Central College women's basketball team came out of the gate slow on Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's University and was never able to recover, falling to the host Cardinals, 72-57 inside the SMU Gymnasium.
Saint Mary's opened the contest on a 19-6 run, while the Cardinal offense mustered just 11 points to trail 24-11 after the opening quarter.
Slowly chipping away at the lead, a three-pointer from Lyndsay Brennan and a pair of Natali Dimitrova free throws trimmed the Saint Mary's lead to just four, 35-31 with 1:35 remaining in the first half.
Holding the deficit to single digits through the first eight minutes of the third quarter, a steal and layup at the other end by Alanna Newsome cut the lead 45-42, but that proved to be as close as North Central would come to the lead as Saint Mary's opened their lead back to 11 after a 11-3 run to close the quarter.
Saint Mary's led by double digits nearly the remainder of the game, outscoring the Cardinals by nine points in the second half.
Newsome, Dimitrova and Allison Pearson all finished with 11 points to lead the North Central offense, while Dimitrova also added seven rebounds.
Brandi Blattner and Brooklyn Paulson led the Saint Mary's offense with 13 points apiece, while Rachel Kedl and Caily Landers also finished in double figures with 10 points each.
North Central (3-8) returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 29, traveling to the Wartburg College Holiday Tournament in Waverly, Iowa, taking on the 24th-ranked host Knights at 1 p.m. Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.
