Game Notes: University of Dubuque @ North Central College (12/19/14)

Final Score
NCC 110, Dubuque 93

Game Summary
After a long road trip, including a couple games in California, the Cardinals (10-0) came back home and struggled early as the Spartans (4-4) opened with a 10-3 run. The Cardinals would work their way back from a deficit as big as 11 to take a brief 38-37 lead answered by a Dubuque 7-0 run. North Central closed the gap, and trailed 51-50 at the half. The Spartans were able to keep pace for a few minutes in the second half, but saw a 66-62 lead vanish in a 20-2 Cardinal run. The Cardinals would lead by no fewer than eight the rest of the way.

Key Stats

• Tess Godhardt (NCC): 6-12 FG, 11-12 FT; 23 pts, 13 reb (9 off), 3 stl. Tess was a major part of the comeback effort in the second half, as she was able to find room inside against a tiring defense. She also dominated at the foul line, which continues to be a great sign for this team.
• Anita Sterling (NCC): 4-9 FG (0-4 3PT), 1-1 FT; 9 pts, 8 reb (4 off), 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk. Anita had a great floor game all around (see more below). She was able to find room down low, including a three point play, and played great defense. She's definitely improved from last year.
• Dubuque 3PT: 11-26 (42.3%). This is mainly what kept the Spartans in the game, especially in the first half. They shot 7-10 in the opening stanza (Meggie Schmidt was 3-4 and Jenna Kotas 3-5) before regression to the mean hit, and hit hard. I called it at halftime: 70 percent from three is unsustainable. Their 25 percent clip in the second half proves that.

North Central System Watch

• Dubuque Turnovers: 29. Many of these were errant passes, plus a few travels. NCC came away with 17 steals, led by Maryssa Cladis' four. 
• NCC 3PT: 19-75 (25.3%). The Cardinals didn't start great, missing their first few threes, but they started to fall as the game went along. The 20-2 run included a few threes, but not a ton. Many shots ended up short.
• NCC Charges Drawn: 3. Anita Sterling drew a pair a few minutes in on consecutive possessions, completely changing the tone of Dubuque's attack. Tess Godhardt also picked one up towards the end of the game.

Final Thoughts
I maintain that "Nobody Believes in Us" is a powerful force. With today's win, NCC has won a program high ten games to start the season, and this was a good win. After struggling early, they settled in and Dubuque's threes stopped falling. Simply put, Dubuque got worn out, something that seems to happen in this system.

North Central is off next week, then closes out the non conference schedule at Eureka on the 30th. Illinois Wesleyan awaits the start of CCIW play in two weeks.