Box Score
With a 74-57 win over Minnesota Duluth on Friday in Durango, Colo., the Augustana women's basketball team advanced to the semifinal game of the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament. The Vikings outrebounded their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe 56-43 in the victory.
The Vikings improve to 24-6 on the season with the win, while UMD ends their season 20-11.
This was the rubber match for the two teams, with UMD beating Augie 81-63 on Jan. 3 in Duluth, Minn. Augie took the second meeting 80-69 on Feb. 27 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
In a physical first half, the Vikings took the lead right from the start, outscoring the Bulldogs 7-2 in the first 2:35 of the game. A 3-pointer by UMD's Shelly Stemper made the score 7-5 with 17:15 to play.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, until UMD's Monica Mayry made two buckets in a row to pull to within one at 12-11 with 12:20 on the clock.
That was the closest the Bulldogs would get, as the Vikings went on a 8-2 run with 8:15 remaining to take a 20-13 lead.
UMD's Kaiya Sygulla made a bucket at the 7:43 mark, but freshman forward Lydia Nelson made back-to-back treys to build the Augustana advantage to 11 points with 7:02 on the clock.
The Vikings continued to push the pace, and a layup by junior guard Megan Doyle with 2:05 on the clock made the score 34-26 and gave Doyle 1,001 career points. Sophomore guard Faith Tinklenberg then sank a 3-pointer with just under a minute on the clock.
A jumper by UMD's Emma Van Winkle ended the half 37-28 in favor of the Vikings.
The Vikings shot well from the field, shooting 43.8 percent (14 of 32) from the floor and 38.5 percent (5 of 13) from 3-point range. They were also 66.7 percent (4 of 6) from the free throw line.
The Bulldogs were 35.3 percent (12 of 34) shooting and 50 percent (4 of 8) from behind the arc. They didn't get to the free throw line in the first half.
UMD's Kelsey Hewitt scored the first four points of the second half, but the Vikings countered by scoring seven unanswered points to take a 44-32 lead with 16:58 remaining.
The Bulldogs went on a little run of their own, scoring five straight points. Doyle then drove in for a layup at 14:40 to keep Augie in the lead 46-37.
UMD's Jheri Booker made a jumper, but Doyle drove to the hole again, splitting two defenders and laying the ball in at the 13:32 mark to make the score 48-39.
Minnesota Duluth pulled to within six with 11:29 to play, when a jumper by Ella Olson made the score 50-44. But Augie's next four field goals were 3-pointers, with sophomore guard Molly Hayes draining three of them to make the score 62-49 with 7:49 to play.
The Bulldogs were just 2 of 10 on free throws in the last 7:39 of the game, and a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Liz Helsper with 2:17 remaining put the nail in the coffin, and the Vikings walked away with a 74-57 victory.
Augie shot 40.9 percent (27 of 66) from the field and were 30.3 percent (10 of 33) from downtown.
UMD was 31.5 percent (23 of 73) shooting and 25 percent (5 of 20) from 3-point range.
Neither team was very effective from the charity stripe with Augie going just 10 of 17 (58.8 percent) and UMD making just 6 of 14 (6 of 14).
Hayes led the Vikings offensively, scoring 17 points on 6 of 15 shooting. She was 4 of 8 from behind the arc.
Doyle recorded her fourth double-double on the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Nelson netted 13 points and a career-high four blocks.
Augustana will now play in the semifinal game against No. 1 seed Fort Lewis College on Saturday at 7 p.m. (MT).
