Saint Paul, Minn. -- In their first matchup with a UMAC foe this winter, the North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team handed the University of Northwestern (UNW) Eagles their first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Rams came back well-rested after Thanksgiving break and managed to knockoff the Eagles by a final score of 64-56.

Game Recap

Coming off a five-game win streak, the Rams looked to continue their undefeated season against the Eagles. NCU put together a strong first quarter, backed by a firework display of shooting beyond the arc from Jocelyn Talso (Ramsey, MN, Spring Lake Park High School). Talso sank four three-pointers along while Naomi Hagstrom (Zimmerman, MN, Zimmerman High School) also managed to chip one in on her own to catapult North Central into the lead. This, and a chaos-inducing press defense, fueled the Rams to a 13-point lead in the first quarter. However, the Eagles weren't about to go down without a fight. They started to chip away the Rams lead in the second quarter, cutting it to 10 and gaining some momentum going into the halftime break. 

While UNW managed to fluster NCU at the start of the third quarter, the paint presence from the Rams proved too much for the Eagles. Emily DiGiorgio (Ironwood, MI, Luther L. Wright High School) had another outstanding night with 18 points and a monstrous 18 rebounds. Hagstrom added 13 points and Joelle Talso (Ramsey, MN, Spring Lake Park High School) grabbed 11 boards as well to help the strong down-low efforts on the night. The Rams never lost the lead in the full 40 minutes of action and had no issues putting the Eagles away in an all-around team effort.

Key Performers

• Emily DiGiorgio had yet another double-double with 18 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocks.
• Jocelyn Talso shot over 50% from downtown for a total of 18 points.
• Naomi Hagstrom had a quiet 13 points with 4 rebounds.
• Joelle Talso was all over the court with six points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

Looking Ahead

NCU women's basketball now heads into the holiday break sitting at a 6-0 overall record, which continues to boast as the best start in program history. As the blue and gold look ahead in their schedule, they will have to wait to see who they will be taking the floor against next. All official schedule announcements can be found by following the Rams on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, while also staying tuned to ncurams.com