NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Vikings (3-18, 0-12) took the short trip to Naperville to take on the Cardinals of North Central College (8-13, 4-8), trying to turn one of these last four games into a win to snap a losing streak.

The Vikings remained close through the first and second quarters behind strong scoring halves from sophomore Caroline Long with 12 points and freshman Naomi Kaskovitch with 7 points.  North Central got out to a 10-4 start but the Vikings stuck around, however they never obtained the lead in the first half.   

Despite the score, North Park was able to stay tied to North Central when it came to stats, other than the Cardinals' 18-8 bench point advantage it was virtually neck and neck through the first half. The Vikings went down as much as 8 points but went into halftime down 40-34.   

In the second half North Central pulled away from the Vikings extending their lead to as much as 20 points.  The Vikings posted their second highest point total of the season with 71 behind Long's 23 points and three other players scoring at least 10 points.  Long also established a career high with 11 shots made and senior forward Olivia Reed added a career high seven rebounds in the loss.

What's Next?

North Park (3-19, 0-13 CCIW) heads to nationally No. 2-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (20-1, 11-1 CCIW) on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Tipoff against the Titans, who suffered its first loss of the season at Carthage College (16-6, 8-5) this afternoon, is set for 7:00 PM CT.