River Falls, WI -- Tonight, the women's basketball team from North Central University (NCU) made their way across the border to face the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) Falcons. In the previous contest between these two competitors, the Rams suffered a 66-49 loss to the Falcons at home. Tonight, the Rams struggled mightily on offense, committing 26 turnovers and shooting 28% from the field and 0% from deep. The Falcons won big by a final score of 74-31.

Starting in her first career game, NCU freshman Savanni Harris gave the Rams their first and only lead of the game with a layup to start the evening. NCU struggled the rest of the first quarter, shooting just 26% (4-15) and giving up 22 points to River Falls defensively. The Falcons led 22-8 after the first 10 minutes. To start the second quarter, UWRF went on an 8-0 run to continue their momentum. Midway through the quarter, senior Kaitlyn VanderPloeg got going with back-to-back buckets, including an and-one finish. Although they were able to slow down the Falcons slightly, NCU still found themselves trailing 38-17 at halftime. 

The Rams got off to a better start in the second half as Kaitlyn VanderPloeg converted on two post touches down low and Brycelyn Brewster finished at the rim as well. However, North Central went cold offensively as they turned the ball over 9 times in 7 minutes of scoreless action. Meanwhile, UW-River Falls extended their lead to 52-23 by the end of the third quarter. Lydia Schroeder got in the scoring column early in the fourth off a fastbreak layup. As both teams turned to the benches late in the game, the Falcons continued to find success on offense. NCU would lose 74-31 as they are still looking for their first win of the year.  

Top Performers:

• Kaitlyn VanderPloeg: 15 points and 7 rebounds

Looking Ahead:

The Rams will make their way to South Dakota to play an exhibition game against the Dakota State University Trojans. The game is slated for Monday, December 9th at 4:00 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.