Wheaton 69, NCC 61
Game Summary
Dressing just eight players tonight, the Thunder (10-1) got off to a bit of a slow start while the Cardinals (2-9) built a small early lead and kept it the rest of the frame, leading 13-11 after the first ten minutes. Wheaton turned it into a back and forth affair for a bit, though the Cardinals would push their lead as high as six with 4:22 to play and led by four with about two and a half to go. But the Thunder closed the half with eight straight to take a 32-28 lead to the locker room. The second half couldn't have started any better though, as the Cardinals scored nine straight to retake the lead. Wheaton fought back and made it a tight affair the rest of the quarter, as we went to the final stanza tied at 48. But as has been the theme for most of the season, the Cardinals went cold in the fourth, with the obvious sign coming on the opening possession as a perfectly drawn play saw Bekah Foley wide open in the lane, but she missed a floater, and the Thunder followed with back to back second chance buckets. NCC seemed to stay right in it with a three a minute or two later. But the Thunder put it away with a 9-0 run, keeping the Cardinals off the board for nearly five minutes, and late free throws iced Wheaton's 25th consecutive win over the Cardinals.
Key Players
- Hannah Williams (WHE): 8-18 FG (2-6 3PT), 6-8 FT; 24 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 3 ast, 2 stl. Wheaton's best player lived up to the billing, even though she wasn't the most efficient in this one. But she played the full 40 minutes with her team shorthanded, and her biggest play was probably a three that really sparked the 9-0 run, doubling Wheaton's lead late and pretty much killing any shot the Cardinals had at coming back.
- Annie Tate (WHE): 9-15 FG, 1-1 FT; 19 pts, 9 reb. The reigning CCIW Player of the Week showed up again in this one, getting a bunch of great looks in the paint and led the Thunder in rebounding to help give them an edge in that category.
- Allison Pearson (NCC): 8-19 FG (4-11 3PT), 1-2 FT; 21 pts, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl. Pearson was probably the main reason the Cardinals stayed in this one. While not the most efficient night, it was still a good one for her.
- WHE: Outscored NCC in the paint 40-26. I was a little surprised to see that the Cardinals outscored the Thunder on second chances (14-4), so this more or less washes it out, but when a majority of your points come from in the paint, you're doing something right. North Central played pretty good defense, for what it's worth, with the Thunder making some circus-style shots as well. This also notes that NCC missed some opportunities. Speaking of...
- NCC: 3-9 FT (33.3%). Take the missed layups from Foley and others, add in six missed free throws (including a 1-5 mark in the final quarter)... and that's your game. NCC has done okay in other games from the line, but they're a 61 percent team for the season. That explains a lot of why this team is 2-9.
- @ NPU 65 (8-3), IWU 63 (3-3)
- CRL 73 (6-4), @ AUG 64 (3-5)
- ELM 65 (3-8), @ CAR 62 (2-9)
- BYE: MIL (8-3)
- MBK: @ WHE 79 (10-0), NCC 73 (5-5)
I keep getting myself all hyped up for the Wheaton games, knowing full well I'm going to end up getting hurt again. The Cardinals haven't beaten the Thunder since 2009, and not at Merner since 2008, a game that I called on WONC way back in the day. But in a lot of these games, the Cardinals have been in it and just can't close the deal. And unfortunately, I think that was the case today. I continue to be impressed with this North Central team though, despite the 2-9 record. This is a good team with a lot of heart, and an invested bench group. There's been other rough years, but this is a year that I think with a lot of young pieces that will be back next year, this could be a dark horse team for 2022.
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