MINNEAPOLIS-- Women's Basketball earned a hard fought victory over Martin Luther College at home on Saturday. On Parents and Senior Night the Rams and Knights engaged in a back and forth game that saw North Central come out with an 82-75 victory.

Saturday's game was an up and down game with neither grabbing complete control. The contest featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes and was played within a 12 point range. North Central claimed the largest lead of the game, 52-43, with 6:01 to go in the third quarter. Martin Luther led 37-36 at halftime but they never led by more than two, the last time coming on their first basket of the fourth quarter with about nine minutes to play.

North Central (6-16, 2-12UMAC) outscored Martin Luther in three of four quarters including a 23-16 difference in the decisive fourth quarter. With 82 points the Rams posted their highest offensive output of the year while also shooting a season high .519 (28-54) from the floor, just the second time this season they fired over. 500 for the game.

KEY SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

Both teams refused to back down on Saturday with each team earning opportunities to go up by two possessions in a game that felt like it could come down to a single shot. The Knights were able to gain a 75-74 lead with 3:21 left but North Central responded with what turned out to be the biggest plays of the game.

After MLC took the lead senior Jamie High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) answered with big jumper to give the Rams back the lead with less than three minutes to play. On the other end North Central swarmed on defense forcing a turnver and then sophomore Lizzy Swanson (Askov, Minn./East Central) beat her defender and got all the way to the basket for a lay-up that made it a three point game.

NCU got a pair of stops on defense and Swanson was 2-4 at the free throw line with less than a minute to play. Jamie High then iced the game a pair of her own free throws and NCU finished off the win.

KEY PERFORMANCES OF THE GAME

After struggling in Friday's loss to Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) Lizzy Swanson was a force on Friday, posting a game high 31 points. Jamie High also responded in the final regular season home game of her career with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Swanson and High have been reliable every night all year. But even their great effort on Saturday would not have been enough with out extra scoring help. They got that in the form of 11 points and 6 assists from senior Jenna Cielocha (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and 10 points and 5 rebounds from sophomore Marissa Kari (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Rams overcame a size disadvantage to earn a 43-34 rebound advantage including 16 on offense which was key on a night where they shot over .500 from the floor
• Balance on offense for NCU was created by 17 assists for North Central while MLC recorded just 9
• Sophomore Bethany Cressman (Breezy Point, Minn./Central Lakes CC) was a perfect shooter on the night going 2-2 from the floor and 4-4 at the free throw line for 8 points
• With her big performance on Saturday Jamie High moves to within 33 points of the Rams career scoring record

UP NEXT

The Rams go on the road next weekend to wrap up their regular season schedule. Friday NCU is at the College of St. Scholastica (Duluth, Minn.) for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Saturday NCU travels to the University of Wisconsin-Superior for a 5 p.m. tip.