Box Score
The Augustana women's basketball team had its hopes of a conference championship dashed as they suffered a 75-60 loss to Wayne State Saturday in the semifinals of the NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament.
The win improves the Wildcats to 25-4 on the season while the Vikings drop to 23-6.
Augie struck first, when sophomore forward Faith Tinklenberg sank a three from the corner on the first Viking possession. Wayne State answered by scoring 11 unanswered points to take an 11-3 lead with 15:43 on the clock.
The Vikings picked up the pace and a bucket by freshman center Alex Feeney plus a coast-to-coast layup by junior guard Megan Doyle made the score 11-7. A 3-pointer by Doyle at the 10:03 mark capped off a 12-7 run by the Vikings and pulled them to within three at 18-15.
The Wildcats then scored another 11 straight, with the last six coming from Wayne State's junior center Mara Hjelle.
Augie put together a string of points, and a layup by Doyle with 5:05 to play made the score 31-21; however, the Wildcats continued to control the pace for the remainder of the half, and a buzzer beater by Alyssa Fischbach made the score 42-30.
Turnovers were the story in the first half, with Augie committing 11 while Wayne State had six. The Wildcats played strong defense, with 10 steals in the half.
The Wildcats also outshot the Vikings, shooting 43.6 percent (17 of 39) from the field and 45.5 percent (5 of 11) from behind the arc.
Augie shot 38.7 percent (12 of 31) from the field and 33.3 percent (3 of 9) from 3-point range.
Both teams were 3 of 3 from the free throw line.
The Vikings played with the Wildcats for the first five minutes, trading baskets. At 14:47, Augie was still in the game, trailing 50-41. The Wildcats then went on another run, scoring nine unanswered points, seven of which came from sophomore forward Claire Duwelius.
Augustana wouldn't come close again, and the Wildcats advanced to the championship game against the winner of the Concordia-St. Paul-Minnesota Duluth semifinal game.
The Vikings ended the game shooting 35.9 percent (23 of 64) from the field and 28.6 percent (6 of 21) from behind the arc. They were 8 of 9 from the charity stripe.
Wayne State was 47.6 percent (30 of 63) from the field and 38.9 percent (7 of 18) from 3-point range.
Tinklenberg led the offense for the Vikings with 15 points. Doyle added 11 points and nine rebounds with freshman forward Lydia Nelson contributing 10 points.
Ashley Arlen led the Wildcats with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
The Vikings, who were ranked tfourth in the latest Central Region Poll, will now wait until 8 p.m. Sunday to hear their seed for the NCAA Division II Central Regional Championships, held March 12, 13, and 15. The selection show can be viewed via webcast at NCAA.com.
