Box Score
The Augustana women's basketball team defeated Minnesota Duluth 80-69, Saturday at the Elmen Center in its final regular-season home game. Junior guard
Megan Doyle scored 21 points in the effort.
The win gives the Vikings a 22-5 overall record, and they finish the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule 16-4.
Minnesota Duluth falls to 18-8 on the season and 13-7 in the NSIC.
The teams played a rough first half, and traded the lead for the first 11 minutes. A 3-pointer by
Molly Hayes at the 10:50 mark sparked a 14-3 run for the Vikings. This gave them a 30-20 lead with eight minutes to play after a trey by sophomore forward
Teri VerSteeg.
The Bulldogs came back with a run of their own, scoring nine points to Augie's two and making the score 32-29 with just over four minutes left on the clock.
The Vikings then kicked it into another gear, outscoring UMD 13-5 in the final 3:25 of the half.
Augie shot well for the first half, making 50 percent (16 of 32) from the field. They were also 66.7 percent (4 of 6) from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs were 38.9 percent (14 of 36) shooting and 66.7 percent (4 of 6) from behind the arc.
The Vikings crashed the boards in the first half, out-rebounding the Bulldogs 28-13.
All nine Vikings who played in the first half scored and collected at least one rebound.
UMD battled back at the start of the second half, and a jumper by UMD's Jheri Booker at the 11:46 mark made the score 49-42 in favor of the Vikings.
The teams traded baskets for a few hard-fought possessions until the Vikings went on a run again, outscoring the Bulldogs 17-6 and taking a 70-51 lead with 3:54 to play.
With 3:33 on the clock, UMD's Kelsey Hewitt made a layup, but the Vikings scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer by sophomore guard
Faith Tinklenberg. The trey, plus a pair of made free throws each by Doyle and Hayes made the score 77-53.
The Bulldogs outscored the Vikings 16-3 in the final 2:42 of the game, but were unable to come back from a deficit that was as large as 24 points.
Augie finished the game shooting 42.1 percent (24 of 57) from the field and 33.3 percent (5 of 15) from behind the arc.
The Bulldogs were 34.8 percent (24 of 69) for the game and shot better from 3-point range than the Vikings. They were 40 percent (6 of 15) from downtown.
Augie outrebounded UMD 50-37, but the Bulldogs collected nine steals and forced 20 Viking turnovers while committing 17 turnovers of their own.
In addition to her 21 points, Doyle narrowly missed a triple-double. She pulled down eight rebounds (five offensive) and dished out nine assists.
VerSteeg scored 16 points and collected five rebounds while Hayes poured in 10 points and had seven assists.
Tinklenberg tied her career-high by grabbing 10 rebounds, and freshman center
Alex Feeney almost had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
The Vikings are guaranteed to host a first-round matchup in the 2010 NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament, with the opponent yet to be determined. The game will take place on Wednesday at the Elmen Center, and will tipoff at 6 p.m.
