Box Score
The Augustana women's basketball team came out on top of a close contest with St. Cloud State, Saturday night at Halenbeck Hall. Augie eanred a 77-73 win, thanks in part to a season-high performance by junior guard
Megan Doyle and a career-high effort by sophomore forward
Faith Tinklenberg.
The win improves Augie to 16-4 on the season and 10-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Huskies drop to 8-12 overall and 3-10 in the conference.
The Vikings got things rolling quickly, outscoring the Huskies 10-2 in the first three minutes of the contest. Eight of those points came from Tinklenberg.
SCSU then went on a 16-5 run, taking the lead 18-15 with 11:18 on the clock. SCSU's Talisha Barlow and Becca Friestlben led the charge during that time, combining for 16 points during that run.
A bucket plus one made free throw on the next possession by sophomore guard
Molly Hayes locked the score at 18-18, but a 3-pointer with 9:06 left to play by Doyle gave the Vikings a 21-18 lead.
The teams battled back and forth, tying again at 24-24 when SCSU's Amanda Wagner sank a jumper with 7:07 remaining in the half. Augie caught on fire again though, outscoring the Huskies 15-6 in the last seven minutes to earn a 39-30 lead at half.
The Vikings were better from just 3-point range than they were from the field, shooting 54.5 percent (6 of 11) from behind the arc, and 53.6 percent (15 of 28) from the floor. The Huskies were 37.9 percent shooting (11 of 29) and a dismal 22.2 percent (2 of 9) from downtown.
Both teams had seven turnovers each, but the Vikings dished out 11 assists to SCSU's four.
The teams traded baskets to start the second, until two jumpers in a row by the Huskies made the score 46-40 in favor of the Vikings with 15:37 to play. Augie then went on a 16-9 run to earn its biggest lead of the night, and with 8:36 remaining, the Vikings were in control, 62-49.
The Huskies would not go away, however, scoring 11 unanswered points to make the score 62-60 with the Vikings leading at the 4:51 mark. This forced Augie to take a timeout.
A trey by freshman center
Alex Feeney gave the Vikings a little breathing room after the timeout, but the Huskies came back with back-to-back jumpers in the paint, making the score 65-64 with 3:06 to play.
Tinklenberg was fouled on a jumper with 2:40 on the clock, sinking both that shot and the free throw after. Barlow hit a jumper of her own just seconds later, but another old fashioned 3-point play from Tinklenberg kept the Vikings ahead 71-66 with just 1:39 remaining.
Doyle fouled SCSU's Amanda Wagner with just over a minute left, and she made both free throws. With just 37 seconds on the clock, Hayes drained a clutch three-pointer, giving the Vikings a 74-68 lead.
Barlow made two free throws and Doyle followed suit before the Huskies nailed a trey with eight seconds left to make the score 76-73. The Vikings were able to hold off the comeback, and a free throw by Hayes with two seconds left dashed the hopes of the Huskies.
Augie shot 48.1 percent (26 of 54) overall and 43.5 percent (10 of 23) on 3-pointers. They also shot 78.9 percent (15 of 19) from the charity stripe. The Huskies were 40 percent (26 of 65) for the game and 24 percent (6 of 25) from 3-point range. On free throws they were 65.2 percent (15 of 23).
Augustana committed 16 turnovers to SCSU's 10.
Doyle ended the night with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Tinklenberg recorded a career-high 21 points and Hayes contributed 10 points.
Barlow led the Huskies with 23 points while Booker and Friestleben added 10 each.
The Vikings will play just one game next weekend, taking on Wayne State in Wayne, Neb. at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
