December 16, 2006

Maroons Stay Unbeaten with 81-55 Win over North Park

CHICAGO -- Junior forward Nicaya Rapier (Munster, Ind./ Bishop Noll) notched a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds as the 18th-ranked University of Chicago women's basketball team defeated North Park University 81-55 Saturday at the Ratner Athletics Center.

Rapier connected on eight of 10 shots from the field and collected 10 defensive boards en route to her first double-double of the year and fifth of her career. Rapier's 19 points matched her career high.

Chicago (8-0) trailed 17-14 at the 12:37 mark of the first period before launching a 23-6 run that gave the Maroons a 40-20 advantage with 5:09 left in the half. Nine different players scored during that run, including Rapier with six points and junior Lori Tanaka (Chicago, Ill./ Lane Tech) with five.

Chicago entered the intermission with a 46-28 lead and maintained a double-digit edge throughout the second stanza.

Junior Nofi Mojidi (Silver Spring, Md./ Bullis School) finished with 17 points for the Maroons, who shot 57% from the field (31-for-54) and 80% from the foul line (16-for-20) on the day.

Evie Peterson paced North Park (5-2) with 18 points, while Laura Mount added 12. Chicago held the Vikings to a 29% field goal shooting (21-of-72).

The victory gave the Maroons their 23rd consecutive non-conference win and improved them to 4-0 at the Ratner Center this season.

Box Score