Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Feb. 20, 2024 - Emerging from a frustrating run of play with a rally which nearly brought it the win, the North Central College women's basketball team saw its season come to a close Tuesday with a 66-63 loss to Augustana College in the quarterfinal round of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament at Gregory Arena.
Hosting the first CCIW Tournament game in their history, the Cardinals opened the contest with a surplus of energy, building a 10-2 lead with two straight jump shots from Jocelyn Trotter and three-pointers from Elle Sutter and Grace Kieffer. North Central opened up its largest lead at 18-6 before the Vikings scored six of the first-quarter's final seven points to cut the hosts' lead to 19-12 at the end of the period.
North Central got a steal and layup from Sutter, a three-point play from Biz Daly and a pair of free thrwos from Kieffer in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but proceeded to go scoreless the rest of the half, a stretch of more than seven minutes. Augustana (13-13) seized the opportunity to pull in front, scoring the final 12 points of the period on 6 of 10 shooting while the Cardinals misfired on 13 straight field-goal attempts.
The Vikings headed into the break with a 29-26 advantage and extended it to as many as 10 points in the third quarter before carrying a 50-41 lead into the final stanza. Augustana's advantage grew to 61-47 with five minutes left before Sutter converted a three-point play to spark an 11-0 Cardinal run which narrowed the gap to 61-58 with 2:47 left.
Trotter sank a jumper from the left elbow to cut the lead to 62-60 with 2:24 to play. The Cardinals' defensive pressure, which forced 26 Augustana turnovers, produced two turnovers before the hosts took their first lead since the early going, as Trotter scored in the lane and was fouled, making the ensuing free throw to put North Central ahead, 63-62, with 1:13 on the clock.
The Vikings, who held a 50-35 rebounding advantage, missed inside on the next trip down the floor, but secured a crucial offensive board which enabled junior guard Emma Berg to connect for three points from the right corner with just 13.1 seconds left. The Cardinals got the ball to Megan Duffy for an open look from three-point range on their final possession, but the shot was off the mark.
Trotter finished with team-high totals of 15 points and 11 rebounds for North Central, while Sutter put up 13 points and five steals. Linnea Johansen put up 22 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench to lead the Vikings.
The Cardinals finish the 2023-2024 campaign with an overall record of 12-14.
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