Jan. 15, 2020 – Dominating in all phases and leading from start to finish, the North Central College women's basketball team rolled to a 68-57 win over Carthage College on Wednesday in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) battle behind a season-high 14 three-pointers.

North Central (7-9, 3-4 CCIW) finished the game shooting nearly 44% from three-point range (14-of-32), while the defense held Carthage to just 5-of-20 shooting from long range and 31% shooting from the field overall.  The Cardinals also held a 48 to 31 advantage in rebounds and a 6 to 0 lead in blocked shots.

Maya Walls opened the scoring early with a three-pointer after retrieving her own offensive rebound, while Page Desenberg, Allison Pearson and Natali Dimitrova all followed with long balls as the Cardinals set the tone early, opening the game 4-for-4 from three-point range to take a 12-2 lead.

With 2:31 to play in the opening quarter, Jessica Kowalczyk knocked down the fifth triple of the opening quarter for North Central, extending the lead 22-9.

Carthage (8-7, 3-3 CCIW) battled back over the second quarter, outscoring the Cardinals by six to trim the lead 37-30 at the intermission.

After the Lady Reds cut the lead to five coming out of the half, a jumper from Lyndsay Brennan and another three-pointer from Pearson opened the lead back to double digits 42-32.

Two more three-pointers from Pearson early in the fourth quarter gave North Central its largest lead of the contest 63-41 with just under six minutes to play. 

The Lady Reds fought back however as a full court press caused a slew of Cardinal turnovers late, allowing Carthage to pull to within single digits with 1:08 to play but that proved too little too late as four-straight Cardinal free throws sealed the second-straight victory over the Lady Reds.

Pearson led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.  Walls also finished in double figures with 13 points, while tying IxChel Leeuwenburgh for the team lead with eight rebounds.  Desenberg added nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Brennan also finished with seven boards to go along with seven points and four assists.

The Cardinal defense held Carthage's top-two leading scorers to single digits, as Autumn Kalis and Sammie Woodward entered the game each averaging over 15 points per game, as Kalis shot just 3-of-14 and Woodward, 2-of-16 from the floor. 

Amanda Larson led the Lady Reds with 14 points, five assists and four steals, while Kelsey Coshun also finished in double figures with 13 points.

With a week break in the schedule, North Central returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 22, heading to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois for a mid-week CCIW contest slated for 7 p.m. inside the Carver Center.