St. Paul, MN -- Friday, the North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team faced the Macalester College (MC) Scots for the first game of the Twin Cities Invitational. This would be the first matchup between these two programs since 2018. The Ram's offensive struggles continued as they shot just 34.1% from the field and 17.6% from three as they scored just 38 points tonight, their lowest mark in two seasons. Despite the lack of offense, NCU found themselves in the game late against Macalester. The Scots managed to seal the deal late with a 43-38 win. Senior Kaitlyn VanderPloeg posted her fourth double-double in five games with 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead all Rams. 

The home Macalester College Scots got off to a hot start with a three-pointer in the first 10 seconds of the game. Senior Kaitlyn VanderPloeg went to work down low early in this one, scoring the Rams' first four points. Brycelyn Brewster found McKenzie Latzke for her first three-point make of the night as NCU took an early 7-3 lead in the first. However, Macalester closed out the first quarter on an 11-1 run to take a 14-8 lead into the second quarter. Similar to the first ten minutes, Latzke and VanderPloeg provided all the scoring for North Central with a combined 9 points in the second. The Scots scored 13 to lead the Rams 27-17 at halftime. 

To start the second half, Kaitlyn VanderPloeg had an emphatic block to ignite her team. Jackie Lindsay got on the board with her first made bucket to cut the deficit to single digits. At the midway point, junior Alaysia Rusch buried a three-pointer to bring the Rams within six. Unfortunately, NCU went scoreless in the final 4 minutes of the third quarter as they found themselves down 39-26. Entering the final quarter of play, VanderPloeg was doing all she could to will her team to a comeback, scoring the first 6 points. Rusch drove in and put up a pretty right-handed floater to cut the lead to 7 points with 4:17 left. With 1:34 to play, the speedy Brycelyn Brewster put in the left-handed layup to bring NCU within five. Missed 3-pointers and turnovers by the Rams in the final minute would end North Central's chances at completing a comeback. Macalester held on to win 43-38. 
 

Top Performers:

• Kaitlyn VanderPloeg: 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks
• McKenzie Latzke: 8 points and 2 rebounds
• Alaysia Rusch: 5 points and 3 rebounds 

Looking Ahead:

On Saturday, women's Basketball will play Simpson College at 12:00 PM on day two of the Twin Cities Invitational, hosted by Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. 

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