RIVER GROVE, ILL. - The Madison College women's basketball team has never lost a conference opener since joining the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) in 2009-10, and they continued that trend Wednesday with an 88-74 victory at NJCAA Division II Triton College. The WolfPack, powered by the fourth 30-plus scoring effort of the season by sophomore Rachel Slaney and a key 21-8 second quarter scoring differential, have now won ten consecutive league lid lifters.

Playing for the first times after an 18-day break for the holidays and end of semester, Madison College struggled early and trailed 23-16 after the first quarter. Coach Lois Heeren's club connected on 7-of-23 shots from the floor in the opening ten minutes, including a 1-for-5 effort from long range. Seven early turnovers and a span of ten consecutive misses allowed the Trojans to turn a one-point WolfPack lead into a ten-point Triton College (7-9, 0-1) with an 11-0 run late in the quarter. The second quarter began with a 11-0 surge for the visitors to retake the lead, followed by a six-point burst to break a tie game over the final 90 seconds and own a 37-31 advantage at the half.

Following eight ties and seven lead changes in the first half, Madison College (11-3, 1-0) never relinquished their edge after the break as as Slaney took control of the game. The All-American poured in 23 of her game-high 33 points over the final two quarters, shooting 9-for-15 from the floor and 4-for-6 at the free throw line during that span. Slaney, a former Barneveld (WI) HS standout, raised her scoring average to 25.7 with her 13th straight double-digit scoring effort. The 5'10" forward also led the 'Pack with 15 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals en route to her fourth consecutive double-double and eighth of the season.



Freshmen Megan Corcoran, Mackenzie Ripp, and Peyton Trapino also tallied double-digit scoring nights. Corcoran scored 16 points to snap a streak of four straight games with at least 20 points, though she did extend her consecutive games mark for multiple three-pointers to five with a 2-for-6 effort beyond the arc. Ripp, a graduate of Lodi (WI) HS, registered 11 points, and Trapino had ten.

Overall, the WolfPack shot 44% (35-82), six percentage points better than the Trojans. Madison College also made as many free throws (15) as Triton attempted, and limited the home team to a 1-for-13 mark from long distance to improve their overall record to 14-2 in the head-to-head series.

The home N4C opener for Madison College is Saturday when Joliet Junior College (10-6, 0-1) visits Redsten Gymnasium for a 1:00 p.m. tip. The Wolves were receiving votes in the latest NJCAA Division III Poll, which saw the WolfPack drop out of the national rankings. In the all-time series, Madison College owns a 16-9 advantage, including wins in three straight games and six of the last eight. JJC dropped their league opener, 75-52, at home against #2 Rock Valley College.

The game will be broadcast live on MadisonCollege.TV or via the Madison College Athletics Facebook page.

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