Its string of 100-point games was halted at four, but the North Central College women's basketball team's winning streak remains intact at five after the Cardinals negated a halftime deficit for the second straight contest and gutted out a 65-61 victory over the University of Redlands at the Bulldogs' Currier Gymnasium on Tuesday.

The nation's top-scoring offense was held more than 40 points below its average heading into the game, but North Central put together a 16-2 second-half run and limited the Bulldogs to five points over the final 5:32 to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the young season.

Redlands (2-3) knocked down three three-pointers in the first two minutes of play and took an early 11-4 lead. The Cardinals countered with seven straight points over the next four minutes to tie the score on two free throws by Tess Godhardt. North Central briefly took a 14-13 lead followingKimberly Wilson's three-pointer, but the Bulldogs scored the next 10 points in a five-minute stretch to build a 23-14 lead as the Cardinals endured an 0 for 10 dry spell from the floor. 

The Cardinals cut their deficit to a single point at 27-26 near the end of the half, but Redlands' Reyna Ta'amu scored the final two baskets of the half, including a buzzer-beating jumper, to send the hosts into halftime with a 31-26 edge. North Central shot just 8 of 42 (19.0 percent) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but kept pace with 12 second-chance points.

Redlands' largest lead was 48-38 with 12:04 left in the game. Shortly thereafter, the Cardinals got a three-pointer and a layup from Anita Sterling on consecutive possessions to open the game's decisive scoring run, and a layup by Godhardt along with three-pointers from Miranda Grizaffi, Michaela Reedy and Emily Zgoda in a one-minute, 27-second span turned the tide and provided North Central with a 54-50 lead with 8:23 left.

The Bulldogs cut into a 63-58 North Central lead with just under a minute to play on Kameran Dage's three-pointer. Dage drove the lane to attempt a game-tying layup in the closing seconds, but the shot was off the mark. The Cardinals'Maryssa Cladis grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sinking two free throws with nine seconds left to put the game out of reach. North Central scored 18 points on 15 Bulldog turnovers in the second half.

Zgoda led the Cardinals in scoring with a career-high 14 points, including four three-pointers, while Godhardt contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Corrine Rowe handed out three assists and Jamie Cuny blocked three shots.

Dage led all scorers with 16 points, and Redlands also got a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double from Kaity Lykins. 

North Central concludes its west coast schedule on Thursday at the University of La Verne. Tipoff at the La Verne Sports Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. Pacific time.