Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana committed 29 turnovers and it proved to be a costly statistic as the Vikings fell to North Central 95-82 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action on Wednesday, January 14 in the Carver Center. A four-minute stretch in the latter stages of the first half was also a pivotal juncture in the game.
 
Augustana led 20-19 with 9:04 in the first half when sophomore Kayla Freeman (Nazareth Academy, Chicago, Ill.) hit a basket. North Central answered immediately with a three point field goal from Mayson Whipple at 8:56 to reclaim the lead at 22-20 and that ignited a 17-0 Cardinal run. The visitors surge was finished when Bobbi Johns hit a three point basket at the 5:15 mark and that made the score 36-20.
 
The halftime margin was 12 points thanks to a three point field goal by North Central's Miranda Grizaffi at the buzzer to make the score 51-39.
 
In the second half Augustana trimmed the lead to four points (62-58) on an old-fashioned three point play by Freeman at 12:37. However, North Central scored the next five points to go ahead by 10 (68-58) with 11:52. The Vikings did get to within five points on a three point play by junior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) at 9:51 but eight seconds later the Cardinals' Emily Zgoda answered with a three point field goal to make it an eight point game (75-67).
 
Pezzopane led Augustana in scoring with 27 points and she had 11 rebounds with an assist, a steal and a blocked shot. Junior Andrea McNally (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) scored 15 points and hauled in a game high 12 rebounds with two assists, one blocked shot and one steal. Also in double figures was senior Valerie VanRoeyen (Libertyville HS, Grayslake, Ill.) with 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Augustana won the rebound battle with a margin of 53-45 and shot .464 (32-69) from the floor compared to just .342 (27-79) for North Central. The Cardinals did manage to snare 19 offensive rebounds.
 
Zgoda led North Central in scoring with 19 points while Tess Godhardt and Marissa Cladis had 12. Also in double figures for the Cardinals was Whipple with 10. North Central launched 54 three point field goals in the game and hit 16 for a .296 percentage.
 
Augustana falls to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the CCIW while the Cardinals are now 14-1 and 3-1. The Vikings will host Wheaton at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 17 in the Carver Center.