NAPERVILLE, Ill. –Junior forward Jayla Johnson dominated the game from start to finish, posting her first double-double of the year, but it was her clutch jumper with three seconds left in overtime that gave the North Park women’s basketball team a 55-53 win over the North Central Cardinals Monday night at Gregory Arena.
The Vikings would not be denied coming out of the gates, firing out in front by a score of 14-0 less than six minutes into the ball game. Johnson, Esther Miller, Chantel Hairston, and Sinead Molloy were all a part of the scoring during that quick start.
A tenacious Cardinals team battled back in the second quarter, led by Haydn Braun, who finished with a team-high 12 points for North Central on the day. After Emily Czuhajewski hit a layup with less than a minute to go to knot the score at 24, Braun beat the buzzer for the Cardinals to put them up two at the break by a score of 26-24.
The Cardinals hot second quarter bled into the third quarter as their lead reached nine points with 6:44 left to go in the quarter. The Vikings refused to let the lead get out of hand and a Josie Summerville layup with eight seconds left in the third sent North Park into the final 10 minutes only down five points.
Picture Source: Dr. Jeff Nelson
