Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Box Score
 
Jan. 4, 2020 - Eventually righting the ship after a slow start, the North Central College women's basketball team rallied valiantly in Saturday's battle with Wheaton College, but an ill-timed scoring drought left the Cardinals on the short end of a 52-40 count by the time the final buzzer sounded at Gregory Arena.

North Central (5-8, 1-3 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) struggled mightily to get its offense untracked and headed into halftime trailing, 22-12. The Cardinals held Wheaton scoreless for a four-minute stretch early in the third period, during which time a jump shot by Maya Walls, two free throws from Allison Pearson and a three-point play from Haydn Braun cut the deficit to 24-19. The hosts permitted the Thunder score just two points in the final 4:28 of the quarter, and an 8-2 run to close the quarter was capped off by Pearson's three-pointer from the left wing which sent the contest into the final period tied, 30-30.

Wheaton (9-4, 2-2 CCIW) scored on its first three possessions of the fourth quarter to move back in front. A jumper by Walls connected to leave the score at 39-35 in the Thunder's favor with 4:29 to play, but the Cardinals were held scoreless for the next four minutes as Wheaton scored 11 unanswered points to pull away.

Pearson finished the night with 17 points, while Walls pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Hannah Frazier scored 19 points and Hannah Williams totaled 10 for the Thunder.
 
The Cardinals travel to face Millikin University (8-4, 1-2) on Wednesday. Tipoff at the Griswold Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Click HERE for live coverage options.

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