BOX SCORE
WAYNE, Neb. - No. 8 Wayne State had four players in double-figure scoring to top Augustana 73-69 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference basketball in Wayne, Neb., Saturday afternoon.
WSC improves to 14-1 (11-0 NSIC). Augustana drops to 13-5 (6-5 NSIC).
Molly Hayes and
Alex Feeney each had 19 points to lead Augustana.
Megan Doyle had 17.
Mara Hjelle led all players with 20 points.
The game was tied with just more than two minutes remaining, but Wayne State hit five free throws down the stretch to pull away.
Augustana led 33-29 at halftime.
Renee Wood drilled a 3-pointer at 14:50 for WSC to take a 10-8 lead, its first of the game.
The Wildcats continued to pull ahead of the Vikings with an 8-2 run that ended midway through the half.
A jumper by
Teri VerSteeg jump started a comeback by Augustana to cut its deficit to just one at at 8:16.
Alex Feeney hit a 3-pointer at 7:13 to earn her team a 22-21 lead.
Augustana was able to hold onto the lead the remainder of the half, building a seven-point advantage twice.
The Vikings led 33-29 at the break.
Molly Hayes shot a perfect 4 of 4 from the field in the opening half and was 2 of 2 from the free-throw line to lead Augustna with 12 points.
Alisha Brown led the Wildcats in the half with eight points.
Augustana was 48.1 percent from the field and held WSC to a 31.3 scoring percentage.
WSC began the second half with a 9-4 run that put them ahead of the Vikings 39-38.
The score remained tight as the lead continued to change hands.
The score knotted at 53-53 and again at 57-57 with five minutes remaining.
A jumper from
Lydia Nelson and a lay-up from Doyle followed a double pair of free-throws from Mara Hjelle to tie the score at 59-59 and again at 61-61.
With just more than a minute left of action Hjelle made a lay-up for the Wildcats to take a 68-63 lead.
Doyle worked to erase WSC's lead, making 3 of 3 from the charity stripe for Augustana to trail by four points with 25 seconds remaining.
The effort would not be enough as WSC would close the game with a 73-69 victory.
The Vikings were an impressive 50.9 from the field to finish the afternoon, while WSC was 39.7.
Augustana returns home next weekend to host Upper Iowa and Winona State.
