Game Notes: Principia College @ North Central College (11/20/15)

Final Score
NCC 124, Principia 68

Game Summary
It was a quick start for the Cardinals (1-1), who scored the game's first 11 points and remained on fire to lead 42-15 after one quarter. They cooled off a bit in the second half as the Panthers (0-2) started to run on the press and got some layups. The Cardinals wouldn't score for three and half minutes, but kept the lead intact, leading 61-34 at the break. North Central poured it on in the third, continuing the barrage of threes before calling off the press late in the third quarter. They got a Mayson Whipple layup just shy of the buzzer to hit the century mark after three quarters, then transitioned to more of an inside game in the fourth to finish the deal.

Key Stats

• Anita Sterling (NCC): 7-13 FG (6-11 3PT); 20 pts, 7 reb (5 off), 2 ast, 4 stl. Anita was on fire early, hitting five first quarter threes and getting the table excited about possible record breaking, but she fell one triple shy of the school record for a single game.
• Therese Pettersson (NCC): 7-14 FG, 2-2 FT; 16 pts, 10 reb (8 off), 1 ast, 2 stl. T struggled from the floor in the early going but got her bearings as the game went on and started to hit her shots. Strong outing.
• Kara Johnson (Principia): 11-22 FG (1-4 3PT), 1-4 FT; 24 pts, 11 reb (7 off), 3 ast, 1 stl. The Panthers' best player of the night took most of the advantage on her layup opportunities and did some damage on the glass as well. She's probably her school's rep on the All-Tournament Team.

North Central System Watch

• Principia Turnovers: 31. The Cardinals did a ton of damage here, logging 21 steals paced by Sterling's four, while Paula Zerante and Jamie Cuny each had three. The Cardinals also forced a five second in bounding call and pulled off a ten second call thanks to the new clock reset rules.
• NCC 3PT: 25-77 (32.5%). This was a much better outing compared to last week, mainly thanks to that first quarter. They shot 50 threes in the first half before slowing down and being a little more efficient. If they can stay in this range all season, they'll win a ton of games.
• NCC Charges Drawn: 0. Nothing doing in this department, though not for lack of trying. Anita didn't get whistles on a couple, and may have tried to sell one or two as well, but no dice.

Tip Off Tournament Watch
Maryville 65, Bethel 43
I'm not used to such low scoring games. This was a tightly contested and well defended game early, with Maryville up 16-15 after one quarter. Then Bethel went cold, hitting a couple free throws midway through the second quarter and going on a ten minute scoring drought and 17 minutes without a field goal while the Scots took control. Mindy Brackins led all scorers with 21 points for the Scots, Rachel Hawn added 12 and Mackenzie Puckett had 11 points and six assists. Shanni Moorse led the Royals with 12 points.

Final Thoughts
North Central's 124 points ties the school record for points in a game, and their 25 made threes is one shy of the school mark. They had a chance at both marks too, but couldn't cash in. They did, however break the program record for rebounds (82) and assists (31) in a game, as well as field goal attempts (131), the latter falling just three attempts shy of the national record.

North Central will play Maryville for the title tomorrow at 5:00 in what should be a tough battle, while Principia will play Bethel at noon.

2015 North Central College Tip Off Tournament Preview

We have an unusual situation this year. Normally, the weekend before Thanksgiving officially kicks off the Division III basketball season, at least for North Central. The women, however, got an early start in their game against Calvin last Friday. The men's season officially begins today.

I've already previewed the upcoming year for both the men and the women, but I'm doing what I did last year and giving the Tip Off Tournament its own preview. Given the format changes again this year, I think it's needed.

Photo from NCC Athletics Department

The women's tournament is returning to its format from prior years, with North Central playing the 5:00 game on Friday, the Friday losers playing at noon on Saturday while the Friday winners play at 5:00. Last year, NCC played both 5:00 games in an effort to deliver a "championship" game, and it succeeded with a double overtime thriller that saw a couple school records fall. Meanwhile, the men's tournament is changing formats again, but out of necessity this time. The school was unable to secure a fourth team to the tournament, so they and their two guest teams will play a round robin with one game apiece on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Obviously, this could complicate the championship, but last year saw a split championship between North Central and Wisconsin-Whitewater after both teams went 2-0 over the weekend.

The tournament's first day will proceed almost like normal, just with no noon games; the women play back to back this afternoon. There will be a neutral men's game on Saturday in between the two women's games, and the North Central men will play their second game on Sunday to spread things out. Here's a look at the five teams coming to Naperville this weekend.