A fast start unfortunately led to a slow ending for the Vikings Wednesday night.

North Park raced out to an early lead against host Wheaton College, but the Thunder overcame the deficit and ran away with a 63-48 victory in CCIW action.

The Vikings connected on five of their first eight shots and opened up an 11-5 advantage after sophomore Liz Rehberger connected for a three-pointer at the 14:34 mark, but Wheaton responded with a 7-0 scoring run to claim a 14-11 lead four minutes later. NP didn't back down though as it countered with a 6-2 spurt on back-to-back threes from senior Annie Shain to move ahead 17-16, but Wheaton held the visitors to only four points the rest of the half and seized a 27-21 halftime lead by closing out the last 10 minutes with 11 points.

North Park kept things close in the first 10 minutes of the second half as they trimmed the deficit to as little as two at 39-37 after sophomore Rachel Torres connected for a jumper off an offensive rebound, but Wheaton exploded over the next eight minutes, utilizing an 18-4 run to command a 57-41 lead.

Sophomore Nikki Przybyslawski finished with a team-high 11 points for the Vikings, while Rehberger added 10 points and Torres eight. Ellie Zeller led the Thunder with a game-high 19 points as she was a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line.

North Park (12-9, 4-6) returns to action this Saturday when it travels to Decatur for a 5 p.m. contest with Millikin University.