Minneapolis, MN -- This evening, the North Central University (NCU) women's basketball team hosted a with the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) Yellowjackets at home. The last time these two teams faced each other at the beginning of conference play, the Rams fell to the Yellowjackets with a final score of 71-55. In an up and down game, North Central was able to force the UWS to extra minutes. In overtime, NCU would lose steam and the Yellowjackets defeated the Rams with a final score of 60-53. Graduate student
McKenzie Latzke had a season-high 23 points and the game-tying three-pointer that forced OT.
North Central got off to a slow start in this one. They started the game with a strong layup from Kaitlyn Vanderploeg, assisted by
Brycelyn Brewster, but quickly found themselves in a battle. The team tuned the ball over 8 times in the opening quarter and scored just 5 points. However, UWS didn't have the best start either and only led 12-5 at the end of the quarter.
Roles were reversed in the second, as UWS turned the ball over 8 times and only mustered 6 total points. Meanwhile,
McKenzie Latzke caught fire with 8 straight points to open the quarter.
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg and
Jackie Lindsay also contributed offensively and the Rams managed to tie the game at 18-18 headed into halftime.
The Rams started the second half strong, going on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the night. Defensively, North Central was active, with steals from
Brycelyn Brewster and blocks by
Kaitlyn VanderPloeg. The Rams scored on their final possession of the third to make it a 32-26 game in favor of NCU headed into the fourth.
In the fourth, North Central struggled with fouling and allowed UW-Superior to fight back into the game from the charity stripe. The game became a back-and-forth battle in the closing minutes, with North Central holding a slight lead. In the final minute of action, the Yellowjackets took the lead at 48-45 with 26 seconds left. NCU in-bounded the ball to
McKenzie Latzke who pump-faked, took a dribble left, and drilled the game-tying three-pointer to ignite the Rams faithful. However, with 17 seconds on the clock, UWS had time to attempt a game-winner. NCU came up with a last-second stand and sent this one into overtime.
In the overtime period, North Central's starters started to show fatigue as a few surpassed 40+ minutes. UW-Superior rattled off a 9-0 run to take a sizable lead with under two minutes to go. Latzke hit a clutch three-pointer with under 1:30 remaining to stop give the Rams some life. However, the Yellowjackets' late-game surge was too much to overcome and NCU lost 60-53 at home.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
Up next, the women will stay at home to host the Northland College Lumberjills. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, February 5th at 7:15 PM.
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