MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central led for large portions of the first half before Bethany Lutheran College grabbed control late in the first half. The Vikings then surged away in the middle of the second half to spoil the record breaking night for Jorie Grenell who became the Rams all-time leading scorer in the 67-52 loss on Saturday night.

North Central was able to find early momentum and took a 19-14 lead on a lay-up from senior Jorie Grenell (Lakeville, Minn./Spring Lake Park) at 9:06 of the first half. NCU would hold the lead until 6:39 remained in the opening period. The Vikings climbed in front before senior Julia Skeesick (Victoria, Minn./Chaska) hit a jumper that gave NCU what would be its final lead of the night at 24-23 with 3:50 remaining in the half. BLC would eventually take a 29-25 lead into the break.

The Rams would keep within two possessions for parts of the second 20 minutes before BLC was able to forge ahead by a 49-37 difference with 9:36 left in the game. NCU got within 49-42 after sophomore Shelby Norman (Winsted, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) hit a three pointer at the 8:38 mark but that would be as close as the Rams would get.

The Viking would lead by as much as 65-46 over the final three minutes before North Central got things to the final differential. The Rams shot just .339 from the floor and despite holding BLC to .377 the Vikings recorded 21 offensive rebounds and out rebounded North Central by a 54-38 total.

The huge bright spot for the Rams in a disappointing loss came with 4:23 remaining in the first half. Jorie Grenell hit the front end of a 1-and-1 that gave her 10 points at that point in the game and moved her to the top of the NCU all-time women's basketball scoring list. Grenell finished up with 15 points on the night which moves the career scoring mark to 1428 with at least three games reamaining for the Rams this year.

Senior Emily Aleckson (Braham, Minn./Cambridge Christian) added a career best 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Sophomore Jamie High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) scored 8 points with 5 assists and 3 rebounds.

North Central will wrap up their regular season next weekend with a pair of home games. Friday North Central hosts The College of St. Scholastica (Duluth, Minn.) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday the Rams host Northland College (Ashland, Wis.) at 3 p.m.

On Friday February 28 the Rams take on Providence University-College (Otterburne, Manitoba) at 2 p.m. in the first round of the NCCAA Regional Tournament. The region tournament is hosted by Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, Iowa).