ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – North Park forced 22 Augustana turnovers and led nearly wire-to-wire Thursday in downing the hosts by a score of 66-52 at Carver Center. Augustana dropped to 3-2 on the season and in the CCIW, while NPU improved to 5-3 overall and in the conference.
 
Sinead Molloy drained a pair of three-pointers and Linnea Johansen (Parkway South HS, Manchester, Mo.) tallied two conventional field goals as North Park took an early 6-4 advantage. Molloy's third trey of the opening quarter made it 11-6 before two Johansen free throws sparked a 6-0 Augustana run that gave the hosts their first lead. Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) scored in the lane to put her team up 12-11 and again after two Zakiya Newsome charity tosses to make it 14-13 Augustana after one.
 
Newsome's conventional three-point play keyed a 6-0 North Park run to open the second quarter and the guests wouldn't trail again. Two Gabriela Loiz (Alleman HS, Davenport, Iowa) free throws pulled Augustana to within 20-18 3:32 before halftime, but Molloy had another triple and Josie Summerville an old-fashioned three-point play in a 10-2 spurt that extended North Park's advantage to 30-20. Justice Edell (Rock Island HS, Milan, Ill.) answered with five points in the last 15 seconds of the period and Augustana went to intermission trailing 30-25.
 
After Newsome and Molloy opened the second half with three-pointers that stretched the margin to 36-25, freshman Hannah Simmer (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) hit a deuce and a trey to pull her team within 36-32. However, North Park responded again with two Esther Miller buckets and the lead bounced between four and eight points until Newsome's runner in the lane gave North Park a 50-40 edge after three quarters.
 
With 7:33 to play, Johansen drilled a three from the right wing that cut the deficit to 50-45, but nine straight NPU points stretched the margin to double digits for good. The final spread of 14 points equaled the largest of the night.
 
Simmer finished with 10 points and eight rebounds off the Augustana bench. Loiz and Johansen added nine points apiece and Hall grabbed a team-high nine boards. Molloy (5-of-6 three-pointers) and Newsome (six assists) led four North Park players in double figures with 15 each. Jayla Johnson was held to two points—15 under her team-leading average—but snared a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Augustana shot .353 from the field on 18 of 51, .500 (5-10) from beyond the arc and .611 (11-18) at the free throw line. North Park converted 24 of 70 (.343) field goals, eight of 21 (.381) three-point tries and 10 of 12 (.833) at the foul line. The hosts had a 44-40 edge on the glass, but committed 22 turnovers to just 10 for their guests.
 
The two teams square off again on Saturday, February 20 in Chicago, Illinois. Tipoff at the North park Gymnasium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.