Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

CHICAGO, Ill. (Dec. 1, 2021) - Ending their six-game road stretch, the North Central College women's basketball team fell to the University of Chicago 40-80 on Wednesday night inside the Ratner Athletics Center.

Natalie Stavropoulos cut the Maroon lead in half with a three-pointer, ending a 6-0 Chciagor rally to open the game. The Maroons followed that up with a 14-0 run. After an Allison Pearson three and two free throws from Megan Duffy, the Cardinals were in a 22-8 hole after the first quarter.

The Cardinal offense responded in the second quarter as IxChel Leeuwenburgh scored the first two baskets, bringing North Central within 10. Elle Sutter knocked down a three-pointer with 8:13 to play in the half before the Maroons responded to go ahead by 16 in the middle of the quarter. Back-to-back Cardinal buckets from Megan McClure and Sutter cut the deficit to 12, but Chicago took a 16-point advantage into halftime.

The Maroons began the third quarter with an 11-0 run before Sutter scored on a fastbreak layup. Stavropoulos scored her 11th point of the game as time expired in the quarter. Chicago would lead the rest of the way and earn an 80-40 win as the Cardinals fell to 3-4.

Sutter scored a season-high 15 points, shooting 64% from the field while Stavropoulos added 12 points, a career-best for her. Peyton Van Soest tallied 18 points for the Maroons with Klaire Steffens recording 16 points.

North Central returns home on Saturday to open College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play at 5 PM inside of Gregory Arena. You can find links to live coverage HERE.

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