Box Score
The Augustana women's basketball team recorded its eighth consecutive victory Saturday night with a 76-79 win over Wayne State. With the loss, Wayne State drops to 11-9 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC. The Vikings are now 16-4 overall and 10-3 in conference play, including 11-0 at home.
The Vikings led by eight in the first half before the Wildcats scored three unanswered baskets to move to within two at 19-17 with 9:35 left in the half.
Another Viking surge put Augustana up by nine, 32-23 with five minutes on the clock before Wayne State went on a 16-4 run, including a put-back at the buzzer by Julie Wagner.
The Wildcats ended the half up 37-36, despite only shooting 14.7 percent (1 for 7) from three-point range and 40.6 percent (13 for 32) from the field. Augustana was a perfect 15 for 15 from the free throw line in the first half.
In the second, Augustana built an eight-point lead at 54-46 by outscoring the Wildcats 18-11 in the first five minutes of the half, but the Wildcats wouldn't go away and took the lead at 57-56 with 11:14 left to play.
The score remained tight until the Vikings outscored the Wildcats 12-2 in the final four minutes of the game. In that stretch, Augie converted on 9 of 10 trips to the free throw line.
Leading the Vikings was
Megan Doyle with 20 points and 4 steals. This marks her fifth 20+ point game this season.
Whitney Hofer contributed 18 points and 6 rebounds, while
Amy Puthoff chipped in with 14 points.
Mara Hjelle of Wayne State led all scorers with 27 points and narrowly missed the double-double by pulling down nine rebounds. Rounding out the double-figure scorers was Clare Duwelius with 12 and Jodie Boss with 10.
The Vikings will hit the road next weekend as they travel to Upper Iowa on Friday and then take on Winona State on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 6 p.m.
