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

Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. (Feb. 16, 2019) – With a spot in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament on the line, a late charge fell just short as the North Central College women's basketball team's season came to a close at Elmhurst College on Saturday in a 61-59 battle inside R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
After a slow first quarter in which the Bluejays outscored the Cardinals, 17-11, North Central turned the tables to outscore Elmhurst, 20-8 in the second quarter thanks to 6-of-14 shooting from three-point range in the quarter.
 
Trailing 18-11 with 8:49 to play before halftime, a Maya Walls jumper cut the lead to five before Page Desenberg caught fire from deep, hitting from three-point range on three of the next four Cardinal possessions to quickly overtake the lead 22-21.
 
Following a defensive stop on the other end, Haydn Braun got in on the three-point barrage before closing the half with a pair of free throws to give North Central its largest lead 31-25 heading into the intermission.
 
That steam quickly dissipated however coming out of halftime in what has been a theme all season.  Held to just two points over the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter, Elmhurst was able to erase the Cardinal lead with a 13-2 run to retake the lead 38-33.
 
The Bluejays opened up a nine-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals did not go down without a fight as a 12-2 run capped off by another layup from Walls pulled North Central to within one, 58-57 with just 23 seconds to play.
 
North Central had a chance at tying the game in the closing seconds as Elmhurst converted just one of four free throw attempts, but a costly turnover with 11 seconds remaining led to a pair of successful Elmhurst free throws to seal the contest.
 
Desenberg led all scorers with a career-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.  Lyndsay Brennan finished with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Braun added 10 points.
 
30 of Elmhurst's 61 points came off the bench, led by 16 points from Lauren Goff while Becca Gerke finished with 10.
 
With the win, Elmhurst (10-15, 6-10 CCIW) clinches one of the final two spots in next week's CCIW Tournament, while North Park University and Millikin University play for the final spot this evening.
 
North Central closes the season with an overall record of 7-18, going 5-11 in conference play.