FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. (Jan. 10, 2015) – In a battle of top-25 teams, the North Central College women's basketball team fell behind early and was unable to overcome a double-digit lead, suffering its first loss of the season to No. 13 Wheaton College, 100-86 on Saturday at King Arena.
 
The 24^th-ranked Cardinals (13-1, 2-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) never got going offensively, snapping its 13-game win streak to begin the season.  North Central was outrebounded 67-35, including a 27-12 difference on the offensive boards, as the Cardinals entered the contest leading all of NCAA Division III in offensive rebounds per game.
 
Wheaton (13-1, 3-0 CCIW) jumped out to an early 17-6 lead just under six minutes into the contest and led by as many as 17 points late in the first half, taking a 49-36 lead into halftime.
 
Coming out of the locker room in the second half, North Central connected on five three-point attempts in its first seven possessions, led by a pair from Emily Zgoda, trimming the lead 56-51 with 16:47 to play.
 
The Cardinals continued to hang tough over the next seven minutes, as a Jamie Cuny three-pointer drew the visitors to within four points of the lead with just over 10 minutes to play, but that was as close as the visitors came to the Thunder lead.
 
Over the final ten minutes, North Central shot just 1-of-8 from three-point range while getting in foul trouble late, allowing Wheaton to clinch the game from the free-throw line.
 
Tess Godhardt led the Cardinal offense with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.  Cuny added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Zgoda and Maryssa Cladis each chipped in 12 points off the bench.
 
Hannah Consodine led all scorers with 36 points and 21 boards, while Chantal Meacham added nine points and 10 assists.
 
North Central travels to Augustana College on Wednesday, Jan. 14, with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. at the Carver Center.