CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Central (6-9, 2-4) came to North Park (3-13, 0-7) today to take on the Vikings.  Two struggling teams record wise faced off looking to right the ship after a string of losses for both squads.   

The first half was close and a low scoring affair until North Central went on a run halfway through the second quarter.  North Park took control of the game early in the second quarter taking a 16-12 lead which was short lived when North Central forced numerous turnovers with their full court press to go on a 15-0 run.  The Vikings were able to stop the bleeding some getting to 21 points before half, but they went into half down 32-21 as the Cardinals closed the second quarter on a 19-9 run. 

North Park's forwards for the Vikings led the way as sophomore Caroline Long and Brooke Panush scored 6 and 5 points respectively.  Long tallied a steal and Panush had a then game high 5 rebounds. 

The effort was still there from the Vikings as the second half started, getting as close as 6 points in the third with junior Kathryn Keehn putting up 7 points in the quarter and Long adding to her total.  Once within six points at 40-34, the Cardinals proceeded to go on another prolonged 19-3 run stretching into the midway point of the fourth quarter. 

North Central's run fizzled out the momentum the Vikings had going and would hold on to the lead the remainder of the game winning 71-45.  With today's loss, the Vikings dropped their 10th game in a row falling to 3-14 and 0-8 in CCIW play.  They will travel to Decatur, Illinois to take on Millikin on January 25th at 2pm. 

Top Performers 

Caroline Long – 11 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL 

Kathryn Keehn – 7 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST 

Brooke Panush – 5 PTS, 5 REB 

Evelyn Abundes – 5 PTS, 6 REB, 2 BLK, 2 STL