WHEATON, Ill. -- The women's basketball team went an even 1-1 over the weekend in the Beth Baker Classic hosted at Wheaton College's King Arena.
The Vikings' first of two games came on Friday against Otterbein University of Westerville, Ohio. Neither team was able to secure much of a lead throughout the night, but a strong 4th quarter from Otterbein—who outscored North Park 22-10—was enough to seal them the victory with a final score of 68-61.
For North Park, Jayla Johnson led all scorers with 19 points while securing a double-double, courtesy of her 10 rebounds. The Vikings had four more players who scored 8 or more points, but an overall inefficient night from the field (37.7 FG%, 16.7 3FG%) held the Vikings back from victory even while handily winning the possession battle.
Otterbein was led by Katie McCrary's 24 points on just 13 shot attempts. Despite turning the ball over 30 times, Otterbein beat North Park on the boards 42-32 to compensate for the lost possessions. On top of that, they made the most of their limited shot attempts by going 48% from the field while getting to the line 28 times, converting on 17 of them.
The second of the two games for the Vikings came a day later, this time against the Maryville Scots out of Tennessee—who the Vikings defeated 75-66.
North Park shot the exact same 26-69 (37.7%) from the field, but this time managed to secure the win by protecting the ball and out-rebounding the competition. Jayla Johnson again double-doubled with points and rebounds, putting up a monstrous 30/11 line. Sharpshooter Emily Czuhajewski chimed in with 17 of her own to go with 8 rebounds, sinking three 3 pointers along the way. The Vikings more than doubled their free throw attempts from the first game (24 vs. 11) while converting at a better rate, with Johnson, Czuhajewski, and Lauren Lee all going flawless from the charity stripe.
Speaking of excellent nights from the free throw line, Maryville went a blistering 20-23 (87%), though it wasn't enough to overcome an otherwise poor shooting night. Courtney Carruthers did most of the heavy lifting there, going 12-14 from the line en route to a 29 point performance. Elsa Eckenrod's 16 was second amongst Maryville scorers, though their eye-popping point totals were undermined by going a combined 14-37 from the field.
North Park's Jayla Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team after posting 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds across the two games on 45% shooting, to go with an elite 91% from the free throw line. Her and the North Park Vikings look on towards their next matchup—this time in a tournament where they get to play the role of host. Watch the Vikings take on the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at 6:00 PM on Friday, November 19th as part of the North Park Classic.
