Minneapolis, MN -- This evening, the North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team returned home to the Clark-Danielson Gymnasium for a matchup against the Cornell College (CC) Rams, who are participants in the Midwest Conference (MWC). Previously, North Central faced Cornell last season in January where they suffered a 61-56 loss. Tonight, NCU would once again fall to CC with a final score of 71-52.
The first half of the game saw Cornell College starting off strong with a 12-0 run thanks to four straight three-pointers. North Central struggled to find their rhythm offensively, but eventually responded with some strong individual efforts.
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg scored all 8 of NCU's points in the first quarter as they found themselves trailing 19-8. North Central slowly started to chip away at the deficit in the second quarter until they finally cut Cornell's lead to just two with 26 seconds left in the half. The Rams went 3-3 from deep as
Jackie Lindsay,
Piper Flemming, and
Alaysia Rusch all connected on 3-point makes.
Brycelyn Brewster also did a good job of blowing past defenders to get to the cup in the quarter. The final minute saw some back-and-forth action. Brewster's free throws shortened Cornell's lead to 3Â points as the visiting Rams led 31-28 at the half.
In the second half of the matchup, NCU started out slow once again. Cornell opened the third quarter on a 9-0 to push the lead back to double-digits Despite strong individual efforts from North Central, notably
McKenzie Latzke and
Piper Flemming, North Central struggled to find consistent offensive output. Ultimately, Cornell College's second-half dominance was built on their defense, fast breaks, and outside shooting. North Central's efforts fell short as they were unable to match Cornell's intensity and execution. The final score of the game concluded at 71-52.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
Up next, the women's basketball team will travel to Wisconsin to face off against the UW-River Falls (UWRF) Falcons, with the game on Saturday, December 7th at 7:00 PM.
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on women's basketball and all things NCU Athletics.
