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North Park University Athletics

Liz Rehberger
48
Wheaton College WHEATON 13-2, 3-1
62
Winner North Park NPU 9-6, 1-3
Wheaton College WHEATON
13-2, 3-1
48
Final
62
North Park NPU
9-6, 1-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wheaton College WHEATON 16 32 48
North Park NPU 32 30 62

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Kevin Shepke

Vikings upend No. 12 Wheaton 62-48

Rehberger tallies game-high 18 points, finishes 10-10 at FT line

The Vikings showed Wednesday night that good things come to those who wait.

In their first three CCIW contests of the season, North Park jumped out to sizeable leads but unfortunately couldn't hold them as they saw their opponents time after time rally back for a victory. But with visiting Wheaton College, NP staked an early lead, stayed poised and never looked back.

Led by a game-high 18 points from sophomore Liz Rehberger, North Park earned an upset 62-48 win over No. 12 nationally-ranked Wheaton, shooting better than 45 percent for the game, and building as much as a 23-point advantage late in the second half.

The victory marked the second-straight for the Vikings over the Thunder in Chicago as it improved their record to 2-1 in the last three meetings with their conference foe.

North Park held Wheaton to a season-low 16 points in the first half as its stifling defense frustrated the visitors into only 25 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. The Vikings forced nine turnovers and opened a 10-point lead at 20-10 on a jumper from Soly Roman with 7:50 left.

With the Vikings ahead 40-19 after a pair of free throws from Rehberger, who finished a perfect 10 of 10 from the line, five minutes into the second half, Wheaton fought its way back with a 10-2 scoring run to close the deficit to 13 at 42-29 on a jumper from Moriah Reeves. North Park didn't budge though as it countered with a 10-0 run of its own, highlighted by two steals from Shaylee Sloan and one from Nicole Kruckman which led to transition baskets for Sloan and Rehberger, giving the Vikings a 52-29 lead. Wheaton didn't draw any closer than the final score thereafter as the Thunder suffered only their second loss of the season.

Along with Rehberger, Roman added a career-high 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting, while Nikki Przybyslawski had 11 points in 23 minutes off the bench. Katie McDaniels led the Thunder with 11 points.

North Park (9-6, 1-3) returns to action this weekend when it travels to Bloomington for a 5 p.m. contest with Illinois Wesleyan University.

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