MINNEAPOLIS-- North Central fell behind in the first quarter after a fast start by Northwestern and spent the next three quarters playing catch-up. Unfortunately the Rams efforts came up short in a 74-59 loss to the Eagles at home on Saturday.

The Rams (5-15, 1-11 UMAC) fell behind 22-10 after the first quarter of Saturday's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference match-up. Northwestern pushed the difference out to 30-13 before the Rams could gain their footing in the second period. North Central got back within 37-27 with 2 minutes left before the half and had a chance to trim the lead back to single digits but missed on a three point attempt. The Eagles posted the last five points of the half and led 42-27 at the break.

With eight minutes to play in the third quarter the Eagles stretched the difference to 48-30, the largest of the game for either team. North Central kept fighting got to within 56-44 at the end of the third.

After UNW extended the difference back to 16, North Central fought back to within 62-51 with 6:16 to play on a three pointer from senior Jenna Cielocha (Elk River, Minn./Elk River). Northwestern answered with a three but sophomore Lizzy Swanson (Askov, Minn./East Central) responded with another NCU three pointer. The Rams would also have two possession trailing by 12 but missed both times and the Eagles were able to finish off the victory.

KEY SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

Northwestern seemed to have an answer for every move the Rams made on Saturday. Everytime the Rams fought to get within striking distance the Eagles regained control. The first time they established some separation game early and set the tone.

With the Rams trailing just 15-10 with 4:22 to play in the opening quarter the Eagles closed the period on a 7-0 run. While the Rams had plenty of chances over the next 30 minutes the difference was never closer than 12 after the opening minute of the second quarter.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Northwestern shot lights out (.500) from the floor while North Central never got their scoring stroke going (.339)
• The Eagles beat the Rams on the glass, 41-33, and controlled the paint with a 32-20 scoring advantage down low
• The Eagles depth was the difference as the UNW bench outscored the Rams reserves 23-3.

KEY PERFORMERS

Lizzy Swanson led all scorers with 23 points along with 5 rebounds. Senior Jamie High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) added 16 points while Jenna Cielocha added 12.

UP NEXT

Friday the Rams host Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. Saturday NCU hosts Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) at 3 p.m.