A season after finishing as regular season champions for the first time in program history, NCU’s women’s basketball team is on the winning track again.
The Rams started the season with a 12-game winning streak, a record for the team. Despite 3 losses so far this season (two losses to University of Northwestern and one to Bethany Lutheran College), the Rams continue to show a fighting spirit.
The Rams are led by seventh year head coach, Paul Brunner, and assistant coaches Ameh Ogbemudia and Haleigh Filer. Throughout his seven years serving as head coach for North Central, Brunner has led the program to a new level of success.
Brunner brought the women’s basketball team to the UMAC post-season conference tournament for the first time in 2019. In the 2020-2021 season, the Rams won the program’s first ever UMAC regular season championship.
NCU’s women’s basketball team is filled with star players. Nineteen games into the season, six players are averaging 10 or more points per game (PPG). Emily DiGiorgio currently leads that group with 16.3 PPG while shooting an impressive 54 percent from the field and grabbing seven rebounds per game.
Other players have also stepped up and contributed greatly. In their most recent matchup against the University of Northwestern, Bethany Shield provided the team with 17 points as well as 8 rebounds while shooting 80 percent from the three-point line.
There have been several notable team highs for the 2021-22 season. The Rams have scored over 100 points in five different games, with a season-high 104 points against Mount Mary on Nov. 13, 2021. Their 3-point shooting has been especially noteworthy this season. They currently lead all NCAA Division III women’s basketball programs in 3-point field goals per game with 10.8 and have made the second most overall with 195.
The Rams still hold a very impressive record with several record-breaking statistics. Currently, the Rams stand at 16-3 overall and 5-3 in the UMAC.
North Central strives for their athletes to pursue excellence both on and off the court. In addition to the success on the court, Coach Brunner’s team held a fall term GPA of 3.51 combined amongst 18 student-athletes.
NCU’s women’s basketball team has just completed the non-conference portion of their schedule after beating Maranatha Baptist University with a score of 84-47 on Feb. 1, 2022 . They now look forward to completing the second half of their UMAC regular season games. They will be hosting Crown College on Feb. 4, followed by another home game against University of Minnesota Morris the very next day.
