Minneapolis, MN -- Tonight, the North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team remained at home in Minneapolis to take on the St. Olaf College (STO) Oles for their second game of the season. November of 2019 marked the last matchup between these two competitors, with the game resulting in an 87-53 loss for the Rams. Tonight, NCU's offensive whoahs would continue as they shot just 31.6% from the field as they lost 66-51 to St. Olaf.
Things did not look good early for the Rams, as they went 0-8 from the field and turned the ball over twice. Meanwhile, the Oles got off to the start they were hoping for as they led 14-0, jump-started by two back-to-back three-pointers to start the game. NCU finally got on the board after 6 scoreless minutes on a
Brycelyn Brewster driving layup. STO extended their lead to 16 with 2:20 to play in the first as the Rams' offensive struggles continued. To end the quarter, a pair of big moral boosting three-pointers from
Alaysia Rusch and
Savi Rael helped cut into the lead. NCU trailed 18-8 after the first 10 minutes. STO opened the second quarter with yet another three-point bomb. The Rams started to get going a little bit after a pair of three-point makes from senior
Piper Flemming and Bycelyn Brewster.
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg got on the board with her first bucket at the 5:30 mark in the second. Grad transfer
McKenzie Latzke made her presence known late in the half with two threes to cut the deficit to 7 at 33-26 headed into the break.
The Rams started out slow again in the second, with their first bucket coming off another Mckenzie Latzke three-ball at the 7:15 minute mark. Alaysia Rusch dropped her second three of the game, providing a much needed spark for North Central. The only thing keeping NCU in the game was indeed the three-ball as Piper Flemming knocked in another before the end of the third quarter. Freshman Moriah Landry provided good minutes off the bench for the Rams with 4 points and 5 rebounds in 12 minutes. To start the fourth, St. Olaf continued their hot shooting from deep. Savi Rael had an answer from the Rams with a three of her own. NCU's offense would then stall out for the next five minutes while STO grew their lead to 19. ST. Olaf went on to win 66-51 to hand North Central its second straight loss on the year.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
The Rams will stay at home for yet another matchup against the Carleton College Knights. The game is slated for this Saturday, November 16th at 1:00 PM.
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