WHEATON, Ill. – The North Park women's basketball team shot off to a big lead and coasted to victory over Wheaton College on Wednesday night. After only leading by four points after the first quarter, and 31-8 second quarter was all the blue and gold needed to win 82-71.
After leading the first quarter 20-16, it was all NPU in the second. Jayla Johnson started the frame out with a three-point play before Olivia Reed added two free throws soon after. Three consecutive triples from Emily Czuhajewski stunned the opposition, before three straight buckets (including one three) from Esther Miller delivered an early knockout blow. Czuhajewski would add another on a fastbreak right after to give North Park a 21-point lead in the blink of an eye.
Miller, Johnson, and Chantel Hairston would all grab another bucket before the half was over in order to break the 50-point mark by the time the squads would head into the locker room.
Halftime: North Park 51, Wheaton 24
The Vikings would utilize key minutes from many players in the second half, while never putting their lead in doubt. Johnson would have 13 in the second half before fouling out, while Miller had 11 the third and fourth. The defense continued to stay strong as NPU forced eight turnovers as well in the second half, to bleed out a comfortable 11-point victory.
Final: North Park 82, Wheaton 71
Quick Hits:
- Johnson had 24 points to go with eight rebounds. With this scoring total, Johnson moves past Andrea Mendyk (1999-2002) into fifth place on the NPU all-time scoring list with 1,241 points.
- Miller totaled a career-high 20 points along with four boards, four steals, and four assists. Miller and Johnson are tied atop the CCIW with 34 steals each.
- Czuhajewski had the second-best scoring effort of her career with 23, including seven threes, which is a career high and tied with Hannah Rehfeldt for the second most in a single game in school history. Czuhajewski and Rehfeldt also are tied for the fifth most threes in NPU career history with 111. Two more and Czuhajewski will equal assistant coach Annie Shain for fourth most in the record books.
What's Next?
The Vikings (9-2, 2-1 CCIW) will take on Millikin (10-3, 4-0 CCIW) on Saturday, January 8th. Tipoff will come at 2 PM at NPU Gymnasium.