CHICAGO, Ill. – Despite shooting well and dominating the boards Saturday, Augustana couldn't overcome 28 turnovers and fell 78-70 at North Park. Coach Mark Beinborn's squad dropped to 8-8 on the season and 3-4 in the CCIW, while league leading NPU moved to 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
 
Jeni Crain (Woodstock HS, Woodstock, Ill.) scored the Vikings' first five points and her three-pointer gave Augustana a 5-4 lead that it would maintain until midway through the third quarter. A Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) trey pushed the advantage to 12-7 and consecutive Maddy Murillo (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) buckets made it 16-7. A pair of Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) free throws gave the visitors their biggest lead of the night at 18-7, but North Park's Emily Czuhajewski, drained a triple to draw her team to within 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Augustana extended its advantage back to 11 points twice in the second period. A Gabriela Loiz (Alleman HS, Davenport, Iowa) layup with 7:19 left in the half put the Vikings up 24-13 and another Lambert three-pointer made it 35-24 at the 3:33 mark. A 10-2 North Park run trimmed its deficit to 37-34 before a pair of Emily Ness (Sandwich HS, Sandwich, Ill.) free throws with two seconds left sent Beinborn's crew to the locker room with a 39-34 edge.
 
Lambert finished the half 4-of-4 from long range for 12 points.
 
Augustana was able to hold off the hosts through the first part of the third quarter, but a Czuhajewski three-pointer at the 4:47 mark gave NPU its first lead (49-47) since 4-2. North Park took a 58-55 edge to the final quarter.
 
A Hall trey to open the fourth tied it at 58-all and she scored in the lane to make it 60-all. A Daina Riser (Lake Park HS, Medinah, Ill.) triple with 6:08 to play regained the lead for Augustana at 63-61, but Czuhajewski's layup at the 3:34 mark put her team up for good at 65-63. Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) scored with 2:14 left to get the Vikings within a point, but consecutive three-pointers by Zakiya Newsome and Czuhajewski gave NPU some breathing room at 75-68. North Park hit three free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
 
Augustana shot .471 from the field, making 24 of 51 attempts. The Vikings were nine of 17 (.529) from beyond the arc and converted 13 of 14 (.929) free throws. They outrebounded North Park by a 38-25 margin, but committed 28 turnovers to 17 for the hosts. NPU hit 26 of 57 (.456) field goal attempts, including nine of 24 (.375) from three-point range, and 17 of 28 (.607) at the foul line.
 
Individually, Loiz and Lambert led four Augustana players in double-figure scoring with 15 points each. Hall added 11 and Crain 10. Although limited to eight points, Jones had a game-high 14 rebounds and a team-best six assists.
 
Jayla Johnson scored a game-high 26 for North Park.
 
Augustana is back in action on Wednesday, January 22, hosting North Central at Carver Center beginning at 7:00 p.m.