Joplin, MO -- In what would be their final game of this season, North Central University (NCU) women's basketball took on the tournament hosting Ozark Christian College Ambassadors (OCC). The winner of this contest would earn the 5^th place finish in the 2022-23 NCCAA National Championship Tournament. Ozark was seeded higher in the initial rankings, but North Central would embrace its underdog status and come out on top. NCU capped off their season with a dominating win, beating OCC 71-48.

Mia Mabanag would open up the scoring in this one with a huge tone-setting 3-pointer. Caitlyn Ryan would catch fire for the Rams, trading buckets back and forth with OCC, scoring 7 straight points of her own. NCU would lead the home team 14-9 after the first quarter. The Rams would open up an impressive 8-0 to start the second quarter, led by Kaitlyn VanderPloeg who is coming off a career-high scoring game from yesterday. As the clock was winding down, the Ambassadors were struggling to get anything to go on offense, while NCU was finding the back of the net with ease. The Blue and Gold absolutely dominated the boards with 34 total team rebounds in half number one. North Central headed to the locker room with all momentum on their side leading 33-21.

As the second half set underway, Blue and Gold were able to easily maintain their lead, as Mia Mabanag was drilling shots from downtown. Defensively, the Rams kept Ozark Christian frustrated collecting double-digit blocks led by VanderPloeg and Caitlyn Ryan. Kayla Hola made ley contributions with her shot-blocking and finished the quarter with consecutive layups. North Central made sure to leave a mark with their final game of the season as they silenced the Ambassadors for 7 straight minutes in the fourth quarter. They would eventually stretch their lead to 30 points with just under 4 minutes to play. In a game where the Rams never found themselves trailing, NCU would finish 5th place in the NCCAA Championship Tournament with this commanding 71-48 victory over Ozark Christian.

Top Performers:

Kaitlyn VanderPloeg (Clear Lake, IA): 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks
Mia Mabanag (Danville, CA): 19 points, and 4 rebounds
Caitlyn Ryan (Papillion, NE): 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks
Kayla Hola (Bastrop, TX): 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks

Looking Ahead:

NCU Women's Basketball finished on a high note with an overall season record of 21-11. This season's successes would rank top three in program history. North Central added a lot of new athletes to their starting roster this 2022-23 season and still remained an all-around dominant force. This was Coach Szabla's first year as the helm for the Lady Rams and proved to be exactly what the team needed in a big transition year. With very few graduating seniors and a strong program culture, the future looks bright for women's basketball.

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