Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 29, 2023) - Racking up the most points in a game so far this season, the North Central College women's basketball (5-7) team fell in the final seconds to Coe College (11-2), who posted a 24-13 fourth quarter to win 81-80 on Friday afternoon inside Gregory Arena.
After the Kohawks opened a 7-2 lead early on, layups from Grace Kieffer, Jocelyn Trotter, and Megan McClure put the Cardinals on top, 7-8. Completing the 16-2 run, which featured five steals from North Central, was a second-chance layup from Josilyn Doxie-Simmons. Coe battled back to knot the contest at 18 before scoring on their final possession to take a 20-18 lead into the second quarter.
The Cardinals overcame a seven-point lead from Coe as Kaeli Ford knocked down a deep ball. Both teams traded baskets until Trotter hit from beyond the arc to tie the game at 34 with 5:00 to play in the half. In the final two minutes of the second quarter, North Central went on an 8-2 run as Simmons-Doxie made a layup as time expired to give the Cardinals a 49-42 edge at the break.
Trotte forced a Kohawk turnover and scored a fastbreak layup to put North Central ahead by five, 51-46, early in the third quarter. An eight-point swing, capped off by an Elle Sutter three, gave the Cardinals a double-digit advantage, 58-48. The Cardinals and Kohawks went back and forth for the rest of the quarter as North Central held the 10-point advantage, 67-57 with 10 minutes to go.
Coe used a 9-0 run to make the score 72-71 with 4:30 left. Again, the teams traded buckets as the score became tied at 76 with 2:50 to play. Sutter split a pair of free throws and Trotter knocked down a jumper to give North Central a three-point lead with 1:48 left. After Coe tied the game, Jovanna Martinucci earned a trip to the charity stripe with five seconds left, sinking the first free throw before missing the second. With a one-point lead, Kalyan Peterson of Coe scored a layup on an out-of-bounds play to put the Kohawks up by one. After a Cardinal timeout, Trotter missed an alley-oop layup at the buzzer as Coe earned a hard-fought 81-80 victory.
Trotter led North Central with 24 points while tallying four rebounds, four steals, and a block. Simmons-Doxie added 12 with McClure adding 10. As a team, North Central forced 25 turnovers, scoring 33 points off those Kohawks errors. Caydee Kirkham led Coe with 24 points.
North Central hosts Aurora tomorrow (Dec. 30) at 2 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.
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