MINNEAPOLIS – Despite trailing 13-2 early in the first quarter of Friday night's game against Crown College, North Central University women's basketball used strong rebounding and post play to push back and take a 67-52 win in their penultimate home game of the year.

The first few minutes of the Rams' game against Crown (St. Bonifacius, Minn.) were marked by turnovers—three for NCU and five for the Storm before either team scored. Crown and North Central then traded buckets before the Storm went on an 11-0 run. Freshman Amy Hoover (Royalton, Minn./Royalton) hit a three-pointer to stop the surge, quickly followed by another three from junior Lizzy Swanson (Askov, Minn./East Central) and a free throw from sophomore Sydney Steele (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) to pull NCU within four at the end of the first period.

North Central and Crown once again traded buckets and turnovers to start the second quarter before NCU went on a run of its own: the Rams trailed 13-18 with just 7:17 remaining in the first half but scored 13 unanswered, including six in the paint from freshman Annabel Morrisroe (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet), to take a 26-18 lead at the break.

The Storm chipped away at the Rams' lead through the third and beginning of the first quarters, pulling to within a point with just 8:39 remaining in the game. However, NCU outscored Crown 26-12 in the final minutes of the contest, thanks in part to 14 free throws down the stretch, to secure the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference victory.

Swanson and Morrisroe both scored 24 points for the Rams, and Morrisroe pulled down a monster 15 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Sydney Steele chipped in another 10 points and nabbed seven steals.

North Central (6-15 overall, 3-10 UMAC) returns to action Saturday afternoon for the final home conference game of the 2016-17 season. The Rams will host the University of Minnesota-Morris (16-5 overall, 11-1 UMAC) with tip-off slated for 2:00 p.m.