CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Park (3-11, 0-5) took on the Augustana Vikings (5-8, 1-3) in the first of two "Battle of the Vikings" matchups today. Augie got out to an early lead in the first quarter as North Park struggled to see a shot fall.
The second quarter saw the Vikings of North Park close the double-digit gap with their defense forcing a handful of turnovers for a total of 10 in the first half, along with tallying 5 blocks. Senior Evelyn Abundes was able to get to the line twice, knocking down all four of her free throws and led all scorers with 10 first half points. North Park was able to limit their turnovers but struggled on the glass with the rebound disparity being 24-16, allowing Augie to nab 8 offensive rebounds. Augie would go into half up six 30-24.
A different story ensued in the second half as it was all Augustana, maintaining their rebound advantage 44-33 and only tallying 3 turnovers for the half. On the other side, after a low turnover half, North Park was not able to handle the press that Augie was putting on them. North Park turned the ball over 19 times which led to numerous Augie buckets. Abundes cooled off only scoring 5 points. Junior Kathryn Keehn and sophomore Caroline Long pitched in 8 points apiece.
Augustana College walked away with the victory 66-41, outscoring North Park 36-17 in the second half. North Park travels to Elmhurst University on Wednesday, January 15th to take on the Bluejays.
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