KENOSHA, Wis. -- North Park Women's Basketball suffered a 78-50 loss to the Carthage Firebirds inside Tarble Arena on Wednesday night.
The Vikings found early success on offensive rebounds and quick moves from the perimeter to under the hoop to keep up with the Firebirds. Junior forward Caroline Long and sophomore guard Naomi Kaskavitch were catching any errant shots off the rim while finding the open player on the perimeter to run the offense while junior guard Aliyah Hershberger made hay by driving the lane and finishing underneath. Unfortunately, a career night for Carthage's Nora Ahram disrupted any success the Vikings were building early. Ahram finished the evening a perfect 7-for-7 from the field including 5-for-5 from deep to total 21 points.
Carthage (7-7, 1-4 CCIW) forced turnovers into quick buckets in the first quarter, denying the inbounds pass with a full-court press before swinging into the corner for seemingly automatic threes. The Firebirds generated more than 20 points off of Vikings turnovers as their lead continued to balloon throughout the game.
North Park (4-9, 0-4 CCIW) saw four players reach double-digit scoring totals, including a near double-double for Long who finished with a team-leading 13 points and 9 rebounds.
What's Next?
The Vikings will face the only undefeated team in conference play this Saturday, January 10, when they play 17th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (8-4, 4-0 CCIW) on the road. Tipoff inside the Shirk Center is set for 2:00 PM CT.
