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

Feb. 11, 2023 - Waging a fierce Senior Night battle to the end, the North Central College women's basketball team was edged out in its home season finale Saturday, sustaining a 72-65 setback against Illinois Wesleyan University at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals never trailed by more than nine points against an IWU team whose full-court pressure defense generated 22 points off 21 North Central turnovers, but were unable to draw even with the Titans down the stretch.

The hosts led through much of the early minutes as a three-pointer by Allison Pearson and steal and layup by Natalie Stavropoulos in a 15-second span gave the Cardinals a 9-4 advantage after five minutes. The Titans (14-10, 9-6 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) made three three-pointers in the final three minutes of the first quarter, including the period's final basket by Sara Balli, and took the lead at 17-15 at the end of the quarter.

Consecutive triples by Pearson and Megan McClure gave North Central its largest lead of the half at 26-19 with 6:54 left in the first half, but the hosts did not connect on another field goal until Grace Kieffer's three-pointer with 2:59 on the clock left the Cardinals with a 32-30 deficit. IWU managed to pitch a shutout the rest of the period, taking a 36-30 advantage into halftime.

The Cardinals (6-17, 3-12 CCIW) faced their largest deficit at 56-47 at the close of the third period. North Central opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run, closing the gap to 58-55 following Sydney Erwin's three-pointer with 8:38 to play. The Titans outscored the hosts, 8-3, over the next five minutes to take a 66-58 lead with 3:46 left and stayed in front by at least five the rest of the way.

Mitrese Smith led the Cardinals with 22 points and six rebounds, making 9 of 14 shots from the floor. Stavropoulos totaled 14 points and a career-high six steals, while Pearson totaled 11 points to close her career as North Central's 12th all-time leading scorer with 1,037 points.

Lauren Huber put up game-high totals of 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Titans.

North Central travels to Augustana College (15-8, 9-5) for its final game of the season Wednesday. Tipoff at the Carver Center is set for 7:00 p.m.

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