Game Notes: (WBK) North Park University @ North Central College (2/8/25)

Final Score
NCC 82, NPU 71

Game Summary
Senior Day got off to a great start for the Cardinals (9-13, 5-8) as they started all four of their seniors and took a 10-4 lead in the early going. The Vikings (3-19, 0-13) stayed with it though, tying the game twice at 10 and then again at 13. A good NCC response led to a 20-16 Cardinal lead after one. The Cardinals briefly pushed the lead to double digits midway through the second quarter, but the Vikings fought back to within three late, though a late layup helped push the Cardinal halftime lead to 40-34. The third quarter was where the game was effectively decided though, as Cardinal pressure finally ramped up enough, as an extended 14-2 NCC run pushed the Cardinal lead up to 20 as the Vikings went over six minutes without a field goal. NCC led by as many as 22 early in the fourth, with some Viking garbage time scoring bringing the margin down to a more reasonable level.

Key Players

• Biz Daly (NCC): 8-13 FG, 2-2 FT; 18 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl. Coming off the bench for senior Ceyda Yucel on Senior Day, Daly looked back to her form from early in the season. She had a very efficient day and led the team in scoring. While I'd like to have seen more rebounds, her paint presence and scoring touch has improved from her rough stretch recently.
• Jocelyn Trotter (NCC): 4-6 FG, 5-5 FT; 13 pts, 7 reb (4 off), 3 ast, 5 stl. I feel like Trotter is very much a pass-first player, despite multiple calls from Coach McCloskey-Bax to take advantage of open looks. In this one, Trotter was a big key in the Cardinals taking early control as most of her makes came off putbacks, and she took advantage at the free throw line as well. Her five steals in this game give her 47 for the year, which is pretty good given the months she missed due to injury, but she will need to match this game's pace over the final three (a little less if the Cardinals can sneak into the conference tournament) if she wants to join the top ten mark for a single season in program history.
• Caroline Long (NPU): 11-17 FG, 1-3 FT; 23 pts, 3 reb (1 off). Long had the best game out of any of the Vikings. She had a personal 6-0 run once the margin hit 20 in the fourth, and she added another bucket at the end for the last score of the game to give herself high scorer honors for the contest. Unfortunately for her and her team, it wasn't enough to get them over the top.

Key Stats

• NCC: 31 points off 22 NPU turnovers. This is the recipe for NCC's success: get into your full court defense, force turnovers, and cash in. 13 of the giveaways came off Cardinal steals, paced by the aforementioned five from Trotter, with Grace Keiffer notching four more. By comparison, the Cardinals coughed the ball up 16 times, which the Vikings turned into 20 points.
• NPU: 6-12 3PT (50.0%). This was largely buoyed by a 3-5 fourth quarter, but that was part of why this margin was as tight as it was in a game that the Cardinals largely seemed to control. The Vikings' free throw shooting did them no favors (11-19).

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ MIL 59 (8-13, 7-5), AUG 51 (9-13, 5-8)
• @ CAR 87 (16-6, 8-5), IWU 81 (20-1, 11-1)
• CRL 71 (15-6, 10-2), @ WHE 63 (11-10, 6-6)
• CRL clinches a CCIW Tournament berth
• BYE: ELM (12-8, 4-8)

Final Thoughts
This caps a solid week for the Cardinals, who after losing a couple rough games last week, had a good bounce back including a huge win in Kenosha this past Wednesday. The twin victories keep North Central's season alive and will hopefully provide a confidence boost. They will need all the help they can get, with a trip to Carroll coming this Wednesday.