St. Bonifacius, MN -- This afternoon, North Central University (NCU) Women's Basketball hit the road once more for a game against the Crown College (CC) Polars. The Rams came into this one following a loss at Minnesota Morris last night where NCU struggled down the stretch. However, North Central would look to get back in rhythm today against a struggling Crown squad that has only managed 2 total wins and a 1-5 conference record headed into this meeting. However, the Polars gave NCU a run for their money as today's game would be neck and neck throughout. The Rams would ultimately come out on top 66-60 thanks to big performances from Kayla Hola (20 pts & 13 reb), Caitlyn Ryan (18 pts & 11 reb), and Kaitlyn VanderPloeg (15 pts & 7 reb).
NCU, plagued by turnovers early in this one, found themselves trailing 11-4 after five minutes. The Rams quickly responded by cutting the lead to just two with a drive to the rim by leading scorer Caitlyn Ryan and a three from freshman sharpshooter NiNi Davenport. Crown would find some rhythm from deep, connecting on three 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead the game 17-11 after the first.
North Central started the second quarter on a 9-2 run to regain the lead at 20-19 with exactly 5 minutes left in the half. The Rams would be able to sustain the lead the rest of the half and go up 31-28 headed into the break. Kayla Hola and Kaitlyn VanderPloeg commanded the paint, scoring 17 of the Rams' 31 in half number one.
Out of the break, Caitlyn Ryan got into the paint and finished to get the first score of half number two. Crown College would then score 9 unanswered to go up 37-35 after almost five minutes gone. NCU did not make another field goal the rest of the quarter, just a handful of free throws from Ryan and VanderPloeg. With three seconds remaining, the Polars drilled a three-pointer to take a 44-40 lead and all momentum heading into the final quarter.
The Rams executed on their first possession of the fourth with Brycelyn Brewster dropping in her first two points of the night. Crown quickly nailed another three-pointer and subsequent jumper to expand their lead to 7 at 49-42. In the final 8 minutes of the game, North Central ramped up their defense, which translated to better offense as the Rams closed out the game on a 24-8 run. Down the stretch, Ryan and Hola did a nice job of working themselves to the free-throw line. Caitlyn Ryan finished with 10 made free throws on the night. Senior Kayla Hola finished with a career-high 20 points and 13 rebounds to secure her second double double of the year. NCU went on to defeat Crown by a final score of 66-60.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
Up next, the women will return home to host the Northland College Lumberjills for a make-up game on Tuesday, January 23rd. Gametime is set for 6:00 pm!
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.
