DULUTH, Minn.-- Neither team could create any separation in a nip and tuck game in Duluth. Despite holding a six point in the fourth quarter, North Central fell victim to a couple of late, long range, last second shots that lifted the College of St. Scholastica to a 52-51 victory.

North Central led after the first quarter and held St. Scholastica scoreless over the first five minutes of the game. The Saints evened things up at 23-23 at the break before the Rams took a 38-37 lead after three quarters.

Early in the fourth quarter the Rams led 43-37 and missed an opportunity to expand on their lead with 7:35 to play. From there St. Scholastica got a pair of three point shots to tie it up before evenutally taking a 47-45 lead with 2:27 left. Despite several big buckets from North Central the Saints were able to hold on for the win.

KEY SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

In a game that was tied up four times, included nine lead changes and the the largest difference between the teams being six points it was only fitting it came down the final minutes. St. Scholastica and North Central both hit big shots in the last 120 seconds.

After CSS made it a four point game with 1:48 left, sophomore Marissa Kari (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) hit a huge three pointer to get NCU within 49-48 with 90 seconds to play. The Rams forced a turnover on defense but could not get a bucket, turning it back over with 51 seconds on the clock.

The Rams played great defense but CSS tossed up a tough off-ballance three pointer to beat the shot clock and it went down for what seemed like final stamp on the game. But sophomore Lizzy Swanson (Askov, Minn./East Central) dribbled up, came off a screen and hit a three pointer to make it 52-51 with 13 seconds to play.

The Rams forced three in bound efforts and got a steal with around 5 seconds left but could not get off an attempt at the game winner and St. Scholastica held on for win.

KEY PERFORMERS OF THE GAME

Lizzy Swanson once again showcased her ability to score posting a game high 21 points along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Swanson is the current scoring leader in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play by over 4 points per game. Senior Jamie High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) once again notched a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds along with an impressive 7 steals. Marissa Kari also reached double figure scoring with 10 points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Despite a size disadvantage the Rams outrebounded the Saints 30-29
• The difference in a close game was shooting percentage as CSS outshot the Rams .420 to .396
• Bench scoring was a key on Friday as the Saints got 17 points from their reserves while NCU posted got just 3 points from their subs

UP NEXT

North Central closes out their regular season on Saturday with a tough match-up against the University of Wisconsin-Superior (Superior, Wis.). The Yellowjackets clinched the regular season UMAC championship on Friday and are looking to close out an undefeated record in conference play when they host NCU tomorrow. The game is set to tip off at 5 p.m.