Game Notes: (WBK) Carroll University @ North Central College (1/2/19)

Final Score
Carroll 72, NCC 65

Game Summary
The game started all right as the Cardinals (3-11, 1-4) began by hitting their first three attempts from beyond the arc to build a 9-4 lead. But the Pioneers (7-6, 2-2) got into the paint and scored almost at will, keeping it close with the Cardinals going up 16-15 after one quarter. After a three to go up four, the Pioneers went on an 11-1 run to take control of the game, pushing the lead as high as seven before the Cardinals fought back, taking a brief lead before going into the locker room down 37-35. The game stayed close early in the third quarter with the Cardinals even taking a 44-41 lead about three minutes in, but Carroll closed the frame on a 15-6 run, then all but put the game away early in the fourth with a flurry of offensive rebounds. The Cardinals would get no closer than five in the final minutes.

Key Players

• Sierra Grubor (CRL): 7-12 FG (1-1 3PT), 5-7 FT; 20 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl. Grubor was lethal off the bench for the Pios, getting some easy layups underneath while also taking advantage of her lone deep look. Grubor scored 13 of her 20 in the first half to get the Pios in control while also contributing everywhere else as well.
• Alyssa Cruz (CRL): 4-9 FG (1-3 3PT), 5-6 FT; 14 pts, 6 reb (1 off), 6 ast. The freshman had an outstanding floor game (albeit with four turnovers, but a 1.5 assist to turnover ratio isn't bad), getting to the rim fairly early and putting the contest away at the free throw line late. The fact that she tied for the game lead in rebounds with six at 5'5" is simultaneously pretty impressive and reflects poorly on North Central.
• Natali Dimitrova (NCC): 6-11 FG (0-2 3PT), 4-5 FT; 16 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 1 ast, 1 blk. In another year that has been kind of dismal, Nat has been one of the bright spots as she's really raised her game to another level this season. She has turned into a dependable weapon in the post on both ends of the floor, a solid rebounder, and has even improved her free throw shooting. I could do without her five turnovers from last night though, including at least one travel because she shuffles her feet a lot.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outrebounded 46-32. The Pioneers did have a little bit of a size advantage, and to some degree I'm used to seeing the Cardinals get outrebounded, but last night was pretty bad. The aforementioned flurry of offensive rebounds to open the fourth was the alarming one; officially the Pioneers had 12 offensive rebounds, six of which I counted occurring in the fourth quarter alone. The third or fourth prompted a Maggie McCloskey-Bax timeout where she reamed the team for giving those second chances up. While Carroll didn't necessarily make the most of them, it took time off the clock that the Cardinals could have used to cut into the deficit.
• CRL: 42 points in the paint. Some of this was defensive breakdown, but it was also good driving and passing on the part of the Pioneers as they controlled the interior for pretty much the entire game. For comparison, the Cardinals scored 26 in the paint.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• WHE 56 (10-3, 4-0), @ IWU XX (11-3, 4-1)
• AUG 70 (9-5, 3-2), @ ELM 64 (5-8, 1-3)
• @ CAR 76 (8-5, 2-2), NPU 39 (6-8, 2-3)
• Bye: MIL (5-8, 1-3)
• MBK: @ AUG 76 (12-1, 4-0), NCC 59 (11-3, 3-2)

Final Thoughts

I came into last night's game thinking we should have won. And I'd argue that the Cardinals should have. But the Pioneers played some stifling defense to force a bunch of turnovers and controlled both the paint and the glass. It's hard to win against that combination, and if the Cardinals had shot a little bit better they could have stolen a home win. Instead, they are out of a tiebreaker and fully in last place in the CCIW. They're 1-4, with the win coming at Augustana. Of their losses, only the one at Wheaton is fully justifiable. The single digit home losses to Millikin, North Park, and Carroll are all games the Cardinals arguably should have won. Realistically, I would be okay with winning even one of those to get to 2-3, and anything beyond that would be gravy. Instead, you have a young team still trying to find its way.

The Cardinals continue their homestand on Saturday by welcoming in another beatable opponent in Elmhurst. While we're not in must-win territory yet, this one is a big one if the Cardinals want to stay relevant in the conference picture the rest of the way.