NAPERVILLE, IL - The Benedictine University women's basketball team ran away from North Central College on the road

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 70, North Central 56

THE DETAILS
• The opening 20 minutes of the contest were tight with neither team leading by more than four points
• North Central built an 11-8 lead on a three-point play with 4:36 left in the first quarter and then did not score for nearly eight minutes
• Benedictine struggled from the floor but battled back with a 5-0 run to open a 13-11 lead with 7:44 remaining in the half on a pair of free throws from Alex Fanning
• Fanning completed a three-point play with 5:24 to go in the half to put Benedictine ahead 18-14
• North Central came back to tie the game at the 1:53 mark, but Allison Michalski put Benedictine in front at the half
• Benedictine shot only 19.4 percent in the first half but held a 24-22 halftime advantage
• The team just seven field goals but finished 10-of-11 from the free throw line
• Benedictine stormed out of the gates in the second half, scoring the first six points including four in transition from Britney Pitzer to open a 30-22 edge
• Benedictine increased the tempo, opening a double-digit lead at 39-27 on a three from Claire Gibler at the 6:03 mark, the first made three of the game after missing on the first 10 attempts
• The lead would reach 16 points at 43-27 as the run reached 21-5 from the end of the second quarter into the third with Benedictine making 7-of-10 field goals
• Benedictine held North Central to just three field goals in the third and led by as many as 19 points at 50-31 after a second chance basket from Elisa Diorio
• Fanning, who was limited due to foul trouble, contributed a three-point play with 6:34 left in the game to push the lead over 20 points at 62-41
• The points were the start of a 10-0 run that saw Benedictine open a 66-41 edge

STAT LEADERS
• Michalski led all scorers with 20 points, adding seven rebounds, four assists a block and a steal
• Fanning notched her second double-double of the year, logging 18 points to go with 10 rebounds
• The 2018-19 Central Region Rookie of the Year finished 8-of-9 from the free throw line and added three assists to go with a block and a steal
• Pitzer tacked on 11 while Diorio tallied 10 points off the bench in 18 minutes
• Benedictine shot 34.8 percent from the field and turned 18 turnovers into 18 points
• The team shot 61.5 percent in the fourth quarter to seal the win and overcame 11.1 percent from behind the arc
• Both teams finished with 47 rebounds while Benedictine finished 22-for-28 from the line in the win

UP NEXT
Benedictine (3-1) returns to conference play on Saturday afternoon against Lakeland