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

Box Score

WAVERLY, Iowa (Dec. 30, 2018) – A late second half run sunk the North Central College women's basketball team in the final non-conference contest of the season, suffering a 78-66 loss in the consolation game of the Wartburg College Holiday Tournament at the hands of Washington University in St. Louis.

In a tightly contested first half, consecutive layups from Mitrese Smith and Maya Walls gave North Central (3-10) the largest lead by either team in the opening 20 minutes, a 33-29 advantage with 2:50 remaining before halftime.

That lead was quickly diminished however as the Cardinal offense went cold in the final minutes of the second quarter, going 0-for-6 from the field while the Bears (6-5) closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a slight 35-33 into the intermission.

Still trailing by two midway through the third quarter, WashU opened up the first double digit lead of the contest in what proved to be the game's pivotal run, a 9-0 streak over the next two and a half minutes to take a 50-39 lead.

WashU increased its lead to 18 in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinal offense fought back with four-straight three-pointers, including a trio from Alanna Newsome and another from Lyndsay Brennan.  Drawing to within eight points of the lead, North Central outscored the Bears by seven at that point in the quarter but with under three minutes remaining time ran out for North Central in the end.

A career-high 27 points from Newsome led all scorers, including six three-pointers, just one shy of the program's single-game record, while also landing her on the All-Tournament team.  Allison Pearson also finished with a career-best 14 points, while Brennan dished out six assists.

Madeline Homoly and Stephanie Botkin combined for 59 of WashU's 78 points, scoring 26 and 23, respectively.  Becca Clark-Callender handed out a game-high 11 assists, while Homoly added 13 rebounds to record a double-double.

North Central returns home to Gregory Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 2 to resume College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play, hosting Carroll University at 7 p.m. in the first of three-straight home games.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.