Box Score ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn.-- North Central completed a season sweep of Crown College on Saturday night with an 84-53 victory over the Storm. The Rams got scoring from every player who dressed for the game and also got big performances from their key players in a complete team win.
Both teams struggled to score over the first ten minutes of the game and Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) briefly led for one of only two times in the game by an 11-10 score with 10:22 left. But sophomore Jamie High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) hit a three pointer on the next Rams possession to give the Rams the lead and they would never trail again. Crown kept things close for most of the rest of the first half before NCU established a double figure lead with 6:07 left by a 24-14 count. But North Central held the Storm to just six points over the final five minutes of the half to take a 45-26 lead into the break.
North Central continued to extend their lead and a lay-up by Jamie High pushed the lead to 74-44-with 6:15 left and it would hover around that difference the rest of the way. Senior Jorie Grenell (Lakeville, Minn./Spring Lake Park) and freshman Tania Rosener (Rodney, Iowa/Homeschool) each nailed a pair of free throws over the final minute to establish the final 84-53 differential.
Jorie Grenell moved several steps closer to the NCU career scoring record with a game high 22 points. Jamie High was close behind with 21 points to go with 9 boards and 4 assists.
Senior Emily Aleckson (Braham, Minn./Cambridge Christian) posted one her best games of her final year with 13 points and a game high 13 rebounds. Senior Julia Skeesick (Victoria, Minn./Chaska) added 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
North Central wrapped its regular season road slate with Saturday's win. They will finish up the regular season with four home games over the next two weekends. Next Friday they will host Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) for a Valentines Day conference tilt at 5:30 p.m. Saturday NCU will host Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) at 3 p.m.
After this weekend's games Jorie Grenell needs just 34 points to capture the Rams all-time scoring record. Grenell and Jamie High have formed one of the best 1-2 scoring punches in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference in 2013-14 with 16.1 and 14.6 scoring averages respectively. Grenell leads the league while High is fourth.