Women's Basketball Battles Through Tough Opening Stretch; Jusczak Named All-Tournament Team at NWC

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central Women's Basketball opened up their season with a challenging slate of NCAA Division III games verses teams from the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Despite falling to 1-4 to start the season the Rams have shown promise and look to be a contender for their third straight NCCAA Division II Championship.

North Central opened the season at home verses The College of St Scholastica (Duluth, Minn.) on November 17 and fell to the Saints 87-33. Junior Caitlin Jusczak (Moose Lake, Minn.) led the Rams with 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting from behind the three point arc. Sophomore Charity Bowers (Milwaukee, Wis.) cleared off 17 rebounds while scoring 10 points to post her first double-double of the year. 

North Central then traveled across the Twin Cities to play in the Northwestern College Tip-Off Tournament. On November 20 the Rams fell to host Northwestern (St. Paul, Minn.) 78-47 in the opening game. Freshman Elisabeth Trickey (Waseca, Minn.) led NCU with 15 points and junior Amber Helmin (Rice, Minn.) chipped in 12 points. The next evening NCU fell 83-49 to Marion University of the Northern Athletic Conference in the consolation game. Caitlin Jusczak led the Rams once again, scoring 16 on 5 of 10 shooting from the three point area. Charity Bowers grabbed 14 rebounds and sophomore Deb Rowland (Milaca, Minn.) chipped in 11 points. Jusczak was named the NWC Tip-Off All-Tournament Team for her strong shooting performances in both games. 

NCU got in the win column for the first time this season with 73-68 road win at Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn) on November 24. In a back and forth contest the Rams rallied from an eight point deficit with around eight minutes to play in the second half to lead by as many as eight points before closing out the five point victory. Caitlin Jusczak exploded for 29 points verses the Storm which is a career high and is the sixth most in a single game in NCU history. Her six made three point baskets is the third most in a single game in Rams history. Freshman Christina Goodman (Hopkins, Minn.) added 14 points while Elisabeth Trickey and Amber Hutton each chipped in 10 points.

North Central then traveled to play a neutral site game verses defending Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Champion Northland College. The LumberJills and Rams moved what was originally a home game for Northland to The College of St Scholastica gymnasium as the Northland gym is being remodeled. The Jills jumped out to a 24-4 lead and never looked back, defeating NCU 68-31. Elisabeth Trickey led the Rams with 10 points and 5 steals. 

The Rams will continue their season next Tuesday with a road rematch with the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth at 5:30 pm. NCU will then travel to Aberdeen, S.D. to face UMAC opponent Presentation College Thursday December 10. The first semester schedule wraps up with a home game on December 12 at 2 pm verses Finlandia University (Hancock, Mich.).