NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The North Central (Ill.) College women's basketball team rallied for a 61-59 win over Lawrence University in the title game of the Cardinals' tournament on Saturday.
Jenny Stoner paced Lawrence (1-1) with 16 points. Carrie Van Groll added 12 points and Kelly Mulcahy had 10. Caresse Reiland pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with six points and three blocks. Both Stoner and Van Groll were named to the all-tournament team.
Jessica Davis paced North Central (2-0) with 14 points.
Lawrence led by as many as eight points in the first half before the Cardinals rallied to trim the lead to 31-28 at the break.
The Vikings scored the first six points of the second half to grab a 37-28 edge. Lawrence had its biggest lead at 41-30 on Mulcahy's layup with 16:40 remaining, but the Cardinals slowly began chipping away at the advatage.
North Central took its first lead since the 12:48 mark of the first half on Meghan McGuire's jumper with 4:56 left to make it 56-54.
Lawrence tied the game at 57-57 on Van Groll's layup, but Davis hit a 3-pointer for the Cardinals. Erin Henzi's layup with 1:59 left cut the lead to 60-59, but Lawrence turned the ball over on its final two possessions.
McGuire then hit a free throw with three seconds left for the final margin.
Lawrence opens its home season on Tuesday when it hosts Marian College in a nonconference game.