Box ScoreThe Augustana women's basketball team saw its memorable 2006-07 season end on a bad note as Nebraska-Kearney upset the 14th-ranked Vikings 75-68 in the opening round of the North Central Regional Championships in Grand Forks, N.D. Friday night at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
The Vikings end the season with a 25-7 record, 1 victory shy of the school record. UNK, meanwhile, improved to 21-9 and will face Concordia-St. Paul in the regional semifinals Saturday night.
Augustana, the No. 2 seed, got off to a solid start behind the sharpshooting of senior guard
Alison Adamson. Augie led by a slim 12-11 margin when Adamson scored 11 straight points to give the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 23-11 with 6:25 to play in the first half. She scored 17 of Augustana's first 23 points.
UNK responded moments later with a 13-3 run to pull within 2 at 28-26 with 2:33 left in the half. The Lopers, the No. 7 seed, then outscored Augustana 8-2 in the final 2 minutes of the half to lead 34-32 at the break.
In the second half, UNK's Jade Meads took over, scoring 21 of her game-high 28 points in the second half. She scored UNK's first 12 points of the second half as the Lopers built a 48-42 lead with 14:38 remaining.
But Augustana answered with an 11-0 run as Adamson,
Whitney Hofer and
Jamy Eckstaine knocked down 3-pointers during the rally as the Vikings regained the lead 53-48 with 9:45 to play.
The score remained tight the rest of the way. Adamson drained her sixth 3-pointer of the game with 2:19 left to put the Vikings ahead 65-64, and less than a minute later,
Andrea Walsh made a 3-pointer, the Vikings' 14th of the game, with 1:27 left to give Augie a 68-66 advantage.
But that would be the last time Augie would score. Meads buried a 3-pointer with 1:07 on the clock and Melissa Hinkley added a free throw to put UNK ahead 70-68 wth 53.7 seconds left.
On Augie's next possession, Adamson missed a pair of free throws with 37.8 seconds remaining. UNK then made 5 of 6 free throws to secure the win.
Adamson finished her career with 1,300 points, 13th all-time, and 404 assists, 5th all-time. She is the third Viking in school history to eclipse 1,300 points and 400 assists.
Walsh was the only other Viking in double figures with 15 points.
Augustana outshot Nebraska-Kearney 40 percent to 36.5 percent, but the Lopers made up for that on the offensive glass (17 offensive rebounds) and at the free throw line. UNK was 24 of 32 at the line, while the Vikings were just 6 of 15.
