Game Notes: Benedictine University @ North Central College (11/29/17)

Final Score
Benedictine 75, NCC 61

Game Summary
This one looked like it was going to be ugly early as the Eagles (3-1) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led by ten just four minutes into the game. But the Cardinals (0-4) would rally back, closing the quarter on a 12-4 run to make it 19-17. North Central would take the lead right away on a Siarra O'Neill three, but the Eagles got the lead right back and imposed their will, opening up a nine point advantage, but a 7-0 Cardinal run closed the gap before the Eagles took a 38-34 lead into the break. The Cardinals came out of the intermission strong and tied the game at 42, but the Eagles went on an 11-2 run to regain control of the contest and held a 59-50 lead after three. Mayson Whipple hit a three to open the fourth, but that was as close as the Cardinals would get, with the Eagles leading by as many as 16 in the final frame to snap North Central's five game winning streak over them.

Key Stats

• Madisyn Fischer (BEN): 6-13 FG (4-7 3PT); 16 pts, 5 reb (2 off), 6 ast, 1 stl. The Eagles shot pretty well for the game, but I think Fischer had the best night of all of them. She was able to get a couple clean looks at the basket while doing a great job finding open teammates. She effectively ended the game in the fourth quarter last night when up seven, she launched a corner three and somehow banked it in. I think even she was in disbelief about it.
• Mayson Whipple (NCC): 7-15 FG (1-5 3PT); 15 pts, 4 reb (1 off), 2 ast. Mayson was a big reason why the Cardinals overcame their slow start. Early in the game, the Eagles couldn't guard her and she was able to get to the rim almost at will. For some reason I feel like North Central went away from that a little bit, but the Eagles also adjusted and better defended the dribble-drive. Still, Mayson has looked pretty good to start the year.
• Andrea Dickerson (NCC): 4-7 FG (3-6 3PT); 11 pts, 6 reb (1 off), 2 blks, 1 stl. Andrea started her collegiate career at Murray State, and I think was at NCC last year but was hurt all year. Getting some action now, she's looked good. She's an excellent shooter, one who I thought did a little more damage than just a trio of triples, but also played some pretty good defense. The best play I saw from her last night was midway through the third quarter with NCC down nine. After a turnover, she got back and played some solid help defense on Venita Parsons on the right wing, then somehow got over to the left wing where Parsons had passed to an open Fischer and blocked her attempted three.

North Central "System" Watch

• Benedictine Turnovers: 17. This number, on one hand, isn't good enough. I know North Central isn't going full "System" anymore, but when you put full court pressure on a fair amount of the time, you should get more than 17 takeaways. Six of them came on steals by six different Cardinals.
• NCC 3PT: 9-33 (27.3%). The Cardinals caught a little fire in the second quarter but went ice cold (0-6) in the final nine-plus minutes. This has always been a team that is live and die by the three, and with attempts down this year, this percentage needs to go up a little bit.
• NCC Charges Drawn: 1. Hannah Vitkus drew one in the first half, which prompted me to bring this feature back. Anita Sterling being gone means that we aren't going to see many of these anymore, but it's something I still intend to keep track of.
• NCC FT: 2-7 (28.6%). Ye gods. There weren't a ton of fouls in this game, so North Central's trips to the line were limited, but even when they got there they didn't take advantage. Not helping the team line is Natali Dimitrova, who went 1-3 at the line last night to take her season average to 31.3 percent. For the season, the Cardinals are now at an even 50 percent from the line. In fairness, Benedictine wasn't great at the line either (7-13), but this continues to be an alarming trend four games in.

Final Thoughts

I told my assistant SID this late in the game, but I'm getting flashbacks to the 2011-12 campaign. That was the last pre-System year, and that team wasn't very good. The difference is that I like the pieces on this year's team, but I definitely think they're still adjusting to a more traditional style of play. Relearning how to play basketball on the fly is going to lead to some growing pains. There was definite effort all game, as I don't think they really had a lapse like they had in the first three games, but this is a pretty good Eagle team.

Last night's game was the quickest NCC women's game I've worked in a long time. For the last few years I've gotten used to these games taking two hours to complete. This one was done in just over an hour and a half. I just wish we could have gotten a better result on the three year anniversary of this fun game.

#THREEEEEEEEE years ago this afternoon, UW-Eau Claire’s women’s basketball team blew a 19 point lead to @NCCWBB. It’s the greatest comeback I’ve ever seen. Hoping on this anniversary we pull out a win against Benedictine! #WeAreNC pic.twitter.com/MxDXQE7cby

— Lucas Mitzel (@northsider89) November 29, 2017

NCC have a couple days to go over the film and get ready for CCIW play. I mentioned in my preview that I could have seen the Cardinals going into the North Park game at 4-0. Instead, it's the exact opposite and the Vikings haven't been too bad to start the year. Hopefully the kinks continue to get worked out and they're ready for The Gauntlet.