Box Score
In their only Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference meeting this season, the Augustana women's basketball team made a big statement against Minnesota, Crookston Saturday night, as the Vikings were able to put together a strong second half of play to beat up on the Golden Eagles 71-51 in Crookston, Minn.
With the win, Augustana now sits at 10-4 overall and 4-3 in NSIC play, while the Golden Eagles drop to 7-7 overall and 3-5 in NSIC action this season.
Strong play from the Vikings bench and an offensive explosion in the second half propelled the Vikings to outscore the Golden Eagles 38-23 in the second half, with the Vikings bench scoring 24 total points in the game.
Kristi Board scored a season-high 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the game off the bench for the Vikings, while freshman
Faith Tinklenberg also had a big night off the bench, scoring eight points and swatting a career-high two blocks.
Amy Puthoff had a solid second half scoring nine points to finish the night with 11 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
The Vikings shot 41 percent on 28-of-68 shooting on the night and 9-for-24 from beyond the arc, while holding the Golden Eagles to 33 percent on 20-of-61 shooting.
In the first half, the three-ball played a key role in the as both teams shot better from beyond the arc than from inside the three point line in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Vikings' offense came alive to make 7-of-16 three-pointers in the first half, while the Golden Eagles countered with five of their own on 5-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc.
Crookston got off to a hot 6-0 start in the first 53 seconds of the game after two made 3-pointers, but Augustana fired back with a 7-0 run to earn their first lead of the night at 7-6 with 17:10 to play.
From that point, Crookston only made two baskets in the next seven minutes of play, but 3-pointers kept the Golden Eagles in the game, while the Vikings battled to keep the game at 12-11 in favor of the Golden Eagles half way through the first half.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, both teams picked up their offense and fought back and forth through six lead changes and two ties to before Augustana went on a 16-7 run to finish out the half heading into halftime with a 33-26 lead.
Megan Doyle had the hot hand in the first half of play for the Vikings, scoring 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc.
For the second night in a row Tinklenberg had a solid first half, scoring eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 shooting from the 3-point line, while
Whitney Hofer set a season-high with six assists in just one half of play, while scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.
As a team, Augustana shot 12-of-29 from the field, good for 41 percent, while holding Crookston to 31 percent on 9-of-29 shooting in the first half of play.
Augustana had four players score in double-figures Saturday night as Doyle led all Vikings with 13 points, while Hofer scored 12 points and finished with six assists to go along with Board and Puthoff's double digit scoring nights.
The Vikings did not allow a single Crookston player to score in double figures but Jamie Zelinsky led all Golden Eagles' with a team-high eight points.
The Vikings will be back in the Elmen Center for their next game against Upper Iowa (5-10, 1-7 NSIC) at 6 p.m. Friday night in Sioux Falls.
