The Millikin women's basketball staged a major comeback to overcome a terrible first quarter and upset North Park University 82-68 on February 19 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Illinois. The Vikings entered the game with a 10-4 conference record tied for first place in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) standings.

         The victory clinches the Big Blue no lower than fourth place in the CCIW race and the opportunity to host an opening round game on Tuesday, February 25.  After action on Wednesday, Wheaton is now alone in first place at 11-4 followed by North Park and Illinois Wesleyan who are tied for second at 10-5.  The Big Blue are currently in fourth at 9-6. If Millikin wins its regular season finale at Elmhurst on Saturday and North Park and Illinois Wesleyan lose their contests, the Big Blue could find themselves in a three-way tie for second place.  Millikin went 1-1 on the season against both North Park and Illinois Wesleyan.  The top two teams in the CCIW standing get an opening round bye in the six team CCIW Tournament.

         Millikin trailed 18-6 after the first quarter when the Big Blue went 0-9 from the field. The young Big Blue team never panic and begin to fight their way back in the second quarter. Millikin trailed 36-27 at the half.  The second half was all Millikin with the Big Blue shooting 65 percent (11-17) from the field in the third quarter and 80 percent (8-10) from the field in the fourth quarter.  Millikin outscored the Vikings by 11 in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth quarter.

         North Park led the entire first half with the second half featuring seven lead changes and seven ties.  The Big Blue opened the first four minutes of the third quarter with a 16-6 run and took its first lead of the game at 43-42 on two Kelle Knopp free throws with four minutes left in the third quarter.  The Vikings keep the game close for the rest of the quarter with Millikin leading 54-52 at the end of the third quarter.  The Big Blue got rolling in the fourth quarter using a 23-10 run to push the lead to 77-63 with 4:23 left in the game.

         On the game, Millikin shot 52 percent (26-50) from the field and went 7-16 (44 percent) from three-point range. There were 50 fouls in the game with Millikin going 23-32 (72 percent) from the free throw line.  North Park shot 34 percent (21-61) from the field and went 6-15 from three-point range. The Vikings were 20-28 (72 percent) from the line.

         Millikin had six players score in double figures led by Aubrey Staton with 14.  Staton went 3-3 from three-point range. Abby Ratsch had 13 points and five rebounds.  Jordan Hildebrand, Briana Anthony and Bailey Coffman each had 11 points.  Knopp had 10 points and a team high seven rebounds.

         Jayla Johnson led North Park with 21 points and eight rebounds followed by Zakiya Newsome with 16 points.

         Millikin is now 16-8 overall and 9-6 in the CCIW conference. North Park is 17-7, 10-5.

         The Big Blue travel to Carroll University on February 22.