Box Score Daytona Beach, FL -- The North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team made their down to Florida to play in the Florida Sunshine Shootout. NCU played its first match against King's College, Pennsylvania on Thursday morning (12/29). In a tough fought battle, the Rams were able to pull away and win the matchup with a final score of 57-48.

The Blue and Gold got off to a slow start in this one, with the score sitting at 3-9 in favor of the Monarchs seven minutes into the contest. In the final three minutes of the first quarter, NCU started to find a rhythm but still found themselves trailing at the buzzer 9-14. As the second quarter began, the lead for the Monarchs remained between 5 and 9 points. With four minutes remaining in the quarter, Kayla Hola made a couple of big back-to-back baskets for the Rams to bring the score within one point. NCU continued to fight all the way to the buzzer, as Caitlyn Ryan and Mia Mabanag hit back-to-back three-pointers to give NCU a one-point advantage over the Monarchs as the first half came to a close.

The second half was a battle out the gates between the two squads. Both teams traded punches back and forth, as each team tried to grab momentum. It was not until the end of the third quarter that the Rams were able to stretch the lead. With less than a minute to go in the quarter, and just a two-point advantage, NCU got buckets from Piper Flemming and Mabanag to stretch the lead to six with just a quarter left to play. NCU continued to put the pressure on in the fourth, going on a 7-0 run to give the Rams a 48-35 lead. The Monarchs would fight hard to try to come back, but they were never able to bring the score any closer than an 8-point deficit. Flemming's 9-point fourth quarter was the big difference in this one. Kaitlyn VanderPloeg came up big for the Rams in this one as well with a double-double performance, as the game would close in a final of 57-48 in favor of the Rams.

Top Performers:

Caitlyn Ryan (Papillion, NE): 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg (Clear Lake, IA): 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks
Kayla Hola (Bastrop, TX): 8 points and 12 rebounds
Piper Flemming (Saint Paul, MN): 13 points and 8 rebounds

Looking Ahead:

NCU will be back in action tomorrow (12/30) at the Florida Sunshine Shootout. They will take on Emmanual College (Mass.) at 3:00 PM (ET).

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