NP @ Augustana College Photo Gallery

Despite double-figure scoring from two of its starters, North Park couldn't overcome a fierce Augustana comeback Saturday night and fell 58-54 in CCIW action.

Both sophomore Liz Rehberger and Rachel Torres tallied 16 and 15 points, respectively, but Augie rode the hot hand of Marissa Pezzopane, who scored nine of her 15 points in the second half to lead the hosts to their first conference victory of the season. North Park dropped its third-straight unfortunately.

After NP seized control early with a 27-22 lead at halftime, both teams seesawed back and forth in the opening 16 minutes of the second half. North Park broke away somewhat at 47-43 on a Torres jumper with 4:48 left, but Augie held the visitors to only two field goals the rest of the way and pieced together a 15-7 scoring run to close out final four minutes. Free throws were a crucial part to AC's success as it converted 8 of its final 10 attempts.

Despite shooting a cool 35 percent in the first half, the Vikings managed to force six Augie turnovers and open up as much as a nine-point lead after Amani Davis connected on a three-pointer with 6:42 left. NP also out-rebounded Augustana 28-15; including 10-2 on the offensive glass and had nine second chance points.

Along with Rehberger and Torres, Davis nearly finished in double-figure scoring as she tallied eight points. She also dished four assists and had a team-high six rebounds. Junior Nicole Kruckman added four points and six rebounds and Soly Roman came off the bench to grab six boards and two steals in 22 minutes of play.

North Park (8-6, 0-3) looks to rebound Wednesday when it hosts Wheaton College for a 7 p.m. CCIW contest.