CHICAGO, Ill. (November 22, 2019) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team led by 10 at the half against North Park University on Friday, but the Vikings held the Beavers to only 14 second half points and rallied for a 53-46 victory. The game was the nightcap on day one of the Chi-town Classic.
BVU shot 54 percent from the field in the opening half, using a 4-of-7 effort from downtown to build a 32-22 lead at the break. North Park held a slim 15-12 advantage after the first 10 minutes, but the Beavers turned right around and outscored NPU 20-7 in the second quarter to help build the 10-point cushion. They then couldn't get a shot to fall over the final 20 minutes, making only three second-half field goals, but was able to stay within striking distance by going 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.
The Beavers took a 37-36 lead to the fourth quarter, but the Vikings scored the first seven points of the final stanza to build a six-point lead at 43-37 and never let BVU get within three from there. The lead reached 10 with just over two minutes remaining, but the Beavers got a pair of free-throws from
Jennifer Schneider and
Destiny Einerwold to end the game.
"We played a great first half, but we needed to match their defensive intensity in the second half of the game," said BVU head coach
David Wells. "I made some mistakes in a tight game that I didn't do on Tuesday. I will be better and the team will get a chance to bounce back tomorrow versus Elmhurst."
Einerwold finished with a team-high 15 points in the contest on 6-of-14 shooting with
Erin Gerke right behind with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals. Schneider chipped in with nine points and hauled in seven rebounds. Gerke connected on a pair of three-point buckets as BVU was 5-of-16 overall.
Jayla Johnson posted a game-high 18 points and was the only Viking to score in double figures.
North Park improves to 3-0 with the win while the Beavers dip to 1-3. BVU will close out the trip on Saturday against Elmhurst College in a game that tips-off at 1 p.m.
