Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. – Augustana fell behind North Park 9-0 right out of the gate Saturday and found itself playing catch up the rest of the game, falling 66-44 to the Chicagoland Vikings at the North Park Gymnasium. Coach Mark Beinborn's squad falls to 7-13 on the season and 1-8 in the CCIW. The hosts avenged an earlier loss to Augustana and improved to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in the conference.
 
Rachel Torres had five points in North Park's 9-0 run to open the game. Senior Valerie VanRoeyen (Libertyville HS, Grayslake, Ill.) scored at the 16:45 mark of the first half to get Augustana on the board and junior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) added a bucket on the visitors' next possession to make it 9-4.The hosts responded by scoring seven straight though, including Torres' second three-pointer, and Augustana wouldn't get closer than seven points the rest of the half. The teams went to the locker room with North Park leading 33-17 following a pair of Katie Villa (Craig HS, Janesville, Wis.) free throws with 1:02 showing on the clock.
 
Augustana chipped away at the deficit early in the second half and a conventional three-point play by sophomore Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) got Beinborn's club to within 37-29 with 15:40 to play. However, North Park answered with 14 straight points to put the contest out of reach. Pezzopane scored off a VanRoeyen assist with 6:44 to play, ending a nearly nine-minute scoring drought for the visitors.
 
Pezzopane, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, was the only Augustana player to score in double figures. Villa and VanRoeyen added seven points each. VanRoeyen led her team with four assists as well, while junior Andrea McNally (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) grabbed eight boards. Augustana shot just .346 from the field, making 18 of 52 attempts, including four of 17 (.235) from beyond the arc. Beinborn's crew outrebounded North Park 37-28, but committed 26 turnovers to just 13 for the hosts.
 
North Park, which shot .426 (23 of 54) from the field and .421 (eight of 19) from three-point range, was led in scoring by Torres' 16 points. Annie Shain added 14, Amani Davis 11 and Liz Rehberger 10.
 
Augustana travels to Naperville, Illinois on Wednesday, February 4 to take on high-scoring North Central. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.