Covenant News

Vikings Earn Conference Playoff Berth with Victory

CHICAGO, IL (February 25, 2004) - Tiffany Campbell made 6 of 10 shots from 3-point range and finished with a game high of 20 points as the North Park University (NPU) women's basketball team beat visiting Illinois Wesleyan University 60-53 Tuesday night.

With the victory, the Vikings moved to 15-10 overall, 7-7 in College Conference of Illinois (CCIW) play and clinched a berth in the CCIW playoffs this weekend in Decatur, Illinois. Megan Slattery added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Laura Mount totaled 11 points as North Park won its third straight contest to end the regular season.

Coach Jack Surridge's team will play at 8 p.m. Friday against tourney host Millikin University in the first round of the conference playoffs. Wheaton College plays Carthage College at 6 p.m. Friday and the two semifinal winners play Saturday for an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III women's basketball playoffs. North Park lost twice to Millikin in conference play, but the second was a 71-67 nail biter on January 13.

NPU trailed for nearly the entire game and was down 34-26 at the end of the first half. A defensive adjustment and the energy of reserve forward Angie Watt helped the Vikings limit Illinois Wesleyan to just 4 of 19 field goal shooting (21 percent) in the final 20 minutes. They held the visitors without a field goal in the final 3:49 and scored six of the game's final seven points after leading 54-52.

Watt finished with six steals in 23 minutes and Mount guarded Brooke Bailey of the Titans in the second half and harassed her into 2 for 12 overall field goal shooting. Bailey, Illinois Wesleyan's top scorer this season, managed 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead her team in both categories but the rest of her teammates struggled offensively.

The home team scored the game's initial basket and then Illinois Wesleyan took control during the midway point of the first half. Surridge's offense started clicking with the first possession of the second half as NPU immediately cut their eight point deficit. A Mount field goal, a Campbell 3-point shot and an inside basket by Slattery narrowed Illinois Wesleyan's lead to 34-33 with 17:46 left in the game.

The Titans continued to keep the lead during the next 10 minutes by making 10 of 12 foul shots (they made 25 of 31 overall. But a Campbell 3-point shot with 7:27 left gave NPU its first lead since the game's opening possession, 49-47, and a 3-point shot by Shandrel Young with 2:07 remaining put the Vikings ahead 58-52 and gave an energetic partisan crowd reason to celebrate.

Printable version of this page.