ST. PAUL, Minn. – North Central University women's basketball posted solid numbers against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul on Saturday night, keeping pace with the Eagles in nearly every statistical category and even boasting the game's top two scorers. But in the end, it was UNW's sharp shooting that doomed the Rams, as NCU dropped the conference road contest 65-76.

For most of the first quarter, North Central (3-14, 1-10 UMAC) trailed Northwestern (12-7, 8-3 UMAC) by just one or two possessions, even tying the game twice, with the second time knotting the game at 17 with just 2:30 remaining. However, UNW made back-to-back three-pointers in the final minutes of the frame to take a 23-19 lead. Despite the Eagles continued strong shooting, NCU pulled within one point several times in the second quarter, thanks in part to a pair of threes from junior Lizzy Swanson (Askov, Minn./East Central) and freshman Rachel Stevenson (Ramsey, Minn./PACT Charter). In the final three minutes of the half, Northwestern went on a 10-3 run to take a 42-34 lead into the break.

North Central's offense struggled to re-start after halftime, as the Rams were outscored 18-8 in the third quarter and the Eagles recorded their best shooting percentage of the night. Northwestern extended its lead to 22 with just a few minutes remaining in the fourth before junior Haley Modahl (Minneapolis, Minn./Edison) hit a three-pointer and two free throws, followed shortly by two three-pointers from Swanson, to help the Rams go on an 11-0 run to end the game. North Central outscored UNW 23-16 in the final frame but could not keep up with the Eagles' shooting percentages, which never dipped below 46 percent in the contest.

Swanson scored a game-high 24 points, 11 of which came in the last 10 minutes. Freshman Annabel Morrisroe (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet) added another 18 points for the Rams, plus a game-high 10 rebounds. As a team, NCU won the turnover battle with 14 compared to UNW's 16, while the Eagles edged the Rams' in rebounding, 37-35. North Central shot .333 from the field and hit nine three-pointers, tying a season-high.

The Rams will be back in action on Tuesday night, as they host Faith Baptist Bible College in a make-up game from last week's postponement because of bad weather. North Central will also host a pair of conference contests next weekend, with Finlandia University coming to town on Friday night and Northland College visiting on Saturday afternoon.