Minneapolis, MN -- The North Central University (NCU) women's basketball competed in the UMAC semi-final match against the University of Wisconsin Superior (UWS) Yellowjackets at the Clark-Danielson Gymnasium. This is the 5^th consecutive year the Lady Rams have made it to the playoffs with last year being the first time NCU went dancing in the NCAA tournament. In the current regular season, North Central swept UWS, beating them both times by 13 and 7 points. Tonight they earned their top two seeding with a nail-biter comeback win of 52-50.

Nerves hit hard at the beginning of the game as North Central had a tough time gaining momentum. Yellowjackets stung the Rams with their 16 rebounds creating the opportunity for UWS to earn a 10-point lead. NCU couldn't get the looks they needed in the first quarter, but buckets started to build going into the second. Ann Smith found her stride with back-to-back sinks as the Rams worked hard to gain the lead. Despite a good battle, Blue and Gold would leave the half trailing by seven.

Coach Szabla's locker room reset established a whole new energy as the Rams went into the third quarter. Defensively, the Rams forced 9 UWS turnovers resulting in some fiery fast break points to close the gap. Momentum started to shift as Destiny Hines tied the game with a three and later stole the lead with another shot from Downtown. North Central only allowed the Yellowjackets to score 7 points in quarter 3, while NCU took the lead with a monster 19 points to gain control of the game.

The fourth quarter became Downtown U's ball game. Even with the lead, both teams could not miss, trading buckets back and forth. Superior's Kaelyn Christian put down 9 points in three minutes which helped tie the game. It was Joelle Talso that brought the crowd to their feet in a hard drive to score the advantage with just 24 seconds remaining. Superior had two close-call opportunities to snag the victory, but North Central shut them down and stormed the court in a big semi-final victory. NCU will play for the chance to dance in the NCAA tournament with a 52-50 win.
 
Top Performers:

Joelle Talso (Ramsey, MN): 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists
Caitlyn Ryan (Papillion, NE): 6 points,10 rebounds, and 2 steals
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg (Clear Lake, IA): 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks
Destiny Hines (Lutz, FL): 8 points
 
Looking Ahead:

Women's Basketball advances in the UMAC playoffs! They will compete on Sunday at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul. NCU is the second seed as they fight UNW for the opportunity to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA.

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