From University of Chicago Athletics
Four players reached double-figure scoring and the host University of Chicago women's basketball team used a big second quarter to storm past North Central College, 89-62 Monday night in nonleague action.
Junior forward Olariche Obi controlled the paint en route to her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and a team-high 14 rebounds, adding three steals and a block and an assist while shooting 7-of-9 from the field. Sophomore teammate Mia Farrell chipped in 18 points, three assists and two steals and was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making 8-of-9.
Sophomore Taylor Lake added 15 points, five boards and four steals and first-year Marissa Igunbor rounded out the top scorers with 14 points, one off her career best, and added nine boards for UChicago (7-2).
The first quarter was tight after both teams struggled to find their rhythm, with UChicago leading 20-16. But the second frame was all Maroons, as the hosts outscored the Cardinals (2-8) by a 26-12 margin. The biggest run during the period was a 9-1 advantage, kickstarted by an Elizabeth Nye triple at the 7:05 mark.
Lake, Ionie Banner, and Farrell added baskets to give UChicago a 35-21 advantage with just under five minutes to play in the half, and the Maroons defense held NCC to just five more points to go into the locker room up, 46-28.
UChicago led by as many as 23 in the third quarter and the closest the Cardinals would get was 17, 71-54, at the 6:45 mark of the fourth. But the Maroons would go on to close out the game on a 18-8 run – emptying its bench in the process – to seal their fifth-straight win.
The Maroons finished the game 44.7 percent from the field and held the Cardinals to just 34.9 percent from the floor and 20 percent from the 3-point line. Both teams struggled from the free-throw line, with North Central hitting 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) and the Maroons making 18-of-30 (60 percent).
The hosts edged NCC on the boards, 50-43, and forced the Cardinals into a game-high 29 turnovers, collecting 18 steals – four each from Lake and senior Madison Dunbar.
Lyndsey Brennan and Haydn Braun led North Central with 10 points each in the loss.