Minneapolis, MN -- The North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team hosted the Grace Christian University (GCU) Tigers for their much awaited home opener. The Rams would look to bounce back off a road last against Edgewood College this past Saturday. NCU would do just that as they put on an absolute scoring clinic with 12 different Rams finding the back of the net in this one. North Central would cruise to a 95-40 victory over the Tigers.
The first quarter of action would be closer than the Rams had hoped as there would be a total of 5 ties and 3 lead changes in the first 10 minutes of play. The Rams would score instantly off an inside bucket from forward
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg. The teams would then trade baskets back and forth until the game was tied at 6-6. Then GCU would go on a 4-0 run as NCU would go scoreless for a 3-minute stretch. The Tigers' lead of 4 points would be their largest of the game. North Central would battle back to regain the lead at 18-16 at the end of the quarter.
Quarter number two would start out rocky for both squads as a flurry of turnovers and empty possessions would lead to neither team scoring in the first two minutes.
Bryce Brewster would end the drought with a speedy take to the rack for two. This would begin a huge 24-0 run for the Rams as they led 42-16. The Tigers would score once before NCU would score 9 unanswered to close out the half. The Rams stifling defense only gave up a whopping 2 points, while their offense was running on all cylinders with 5 made threes and 33 total points scored. NCU led 51-18 at halftime.
The second half of action would start very similar to the previous quarter, as neither team could find any sort of rhythm. GCU would get on the board first with a pair of free throw makes almost three and a half minutes into the third. Head Coach
Leah Szabla would go deep into her bench in the second half, which led to 8 different Rams scoring in quarter number three. North Central led 74-26 heading into the final quarter.
Senior
Abby Howe jumped out to a hot start in the fourth quarter as she scored the Rams' first 8 points. Also not able to be stopped would be sophomore forward
Fernanda Sanchez as she scored 8 points in the quarter as well. The final buzzer sounded and the Rams walked away with the commanding 95-40 blowout win.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
Following the Thanksgiving break, the women will be right back in Clark Danielson Gymnasium on Wednesday, November 29th as they host the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams
Instagram,
Facebook, and
Twitter pages for updates on women's basketball and all things NCU Athletics.
