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Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Nov. 20, 2009 -- The North Central College women's basketball squad survived a late scare by Blackburn College (Ill.), posting a 70-68 victory in the opening round of the NCC/Holiday Inn Select Tip-Off Tournament at Gregory Arena.
Christine Karl paced the Cardinals with her first career double-double, ending the night with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds.
North Central led by as many as 18 points on two occasions in the second half before letting its lead slip to just 12 with 4:17 remaining. Utilizing a 14-3 run, the Beavers crawled to within one point at 68-67 with four ticks left before a pair of
Jackie Errico free throws extended the Cardinal advantage to a three-point cushion. The Errico free throws proved to be enough as the Cardinals staved off the final Beaver charge, pulling out the two-point victory.
The Cardinals raced out to the early 9-2 advantage, before the Beavers scored 12 of the next 17 points to equalize the score at 14 apiece with 9:47 remaining in the opening half. The two teams would remain close with North Central taking a two-point, 32-30 lead into the break at halftime.
North Central pieced together an 11-1 run to begin the second half, holding Blackburn (0-2) to almost five minutes without a field goal.
Errico and
Latrice Newson joined Karl in double figures, each scoring 16 points while Jenna Hoffman came off the bench, chipping in eight points. Erico led the Cardinals with a game-high four steals while Newson dished out a team-high three assists. Natalia Gregory led the Beavers, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight boards while Meghan Schultze and Lakeshia Moore finished with 15 and 14, respectively.
Win the win, North Central (1-0) advances to the championship game where they will face Simpson College (Iowa), after the Storm rolled past Olivet College (Mich.) 92-56 in the early game. Gametime is slated for 5 p.m. as the Cardinals will look to claim their third straight NCC/Holiday Inn Select Tip-Off Tournament title.