GAME NOTES
This week: No. 21 Augustana (13-2, 6-2 NSIC) takes to the road to play Bemidji State (4-7, 1-6 NSIC)?on Saturday and Minnesota Duluth (7-4, 5-2 NSIC) on Sunday. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. for both contests.
Last time out: Augustana resumed Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball in the new year Monday night with an 81-67 victory over St. Cloud State and was again victorious on Tuesday, defeating Concordia University, St. Paul 84-75 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The series: The Vikings are 9-1 in the series against Bemidji State, having first played the Beavers during the 1983-84 season. The contest ended in a 77-72 overtime loss for Augustana and the Vikings have yet to drop another game to BSU. Augustana is 3-0 in BSU's home court. Augustana is 13-6 against Minnesota Duluth in a series that began on Nov. 28, 1986. The last meeting between these two teams was March 12, 2010, for the Central Regional Tournament in Durango, Colo., in which the Vikings topped the Bulldogs 74-57. Augustana also grabbed an 80-69 victory over UMD last season. Krauth is 9-0 against the Beavers and 12-6 against the Bulldogs.
Ranked: Augustana fell five spots and is ranked No. 21 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll released Tuesday by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Vikings received 157 points and moved down from their No. 16 position in the Dec. 14 poll.
Let it snow: Due to weather conditions this past weekend, the NSIC schedule was altered. Augustana's home basketball games against St. Cloud State and Concordia University, St. Paul that were originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday had to be pushed back to Monday and Tuesday. This coming weekend, all conference contests are being played on Saturday and Sunday with a new time of 2 p.m.
Four McDoubles:?Four starters for the Vikings are averaging double-figure scoring.
Megan Doyle (Alexandria, S.D.) leads Augustana, averaging 16.4 points, while
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) averages 14 points.
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) and
Kristi Board (Doland, S.D.) average 12.7 and 10.1 points, respectively.
Double-double: Molly Hayes recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 assists against St. Cloud State. She was one assist away from another double-double outing the following evening with 18 points and nine assists against Concordia-St. Paul.
On the road:?Augustana's only two losses this season have come on the road. The Vikings currently hold a 2-2 away record, first falling 63-56 to Southwest Minnesota State to open conference action. Minnesota State Moorhead then topped the Vikings 63-60 on Dec. 1, the last contest for Augustana in 2010. The two road wins for the Vikings were against Minnesota State (69-55) and Minnesota, Crookston (84-58).
More than 50 percent: ?
Alex Feeney and
Molly Hayes are both shooting more than 50 percent from the field this season. Feeney has made 76 of 145 buckets from the field for Augustana to boast a 52.4 field goal percentage, while Hayes has made 65 of 129 shots to record a 50.2 field goal percentage. Feeney has also hit 21 of 42 3-pointers to shoot 50 percent.
Vikings in the NSIC: Augustana is leading the NSIC in both blocks per game and 3-pointers per game. The Vikings are averaging 4.38 blocks per game behind the lead of
Alex Feeney, who is currently fifth in the conference averaging 1.25 blocks per game. Augustana hit its most 3-pointers against a conference opponent this season while playing U-Mary (12). The Vikings also have three individuals among the top 10 in the conference for 3-pointers made per game.
Megan Doyle (2.00 per game) is No. 2, Feeney (1.75 per game) is No. 5, and
Kristi Board (1.63 per game) is No. 10.
Game leader: Kristi Board led Augustana in rebounds in both of the Vikings' games this week. Against St. Cloud State, Board grabbed seven rebounds to tie
Alex Feeney for the high. In the Vikings' contest against Concordia-St. Paul, she recorded a season-high nine. Board has led the Vikings in rebounds four times this season.
In a groove:?Augustana recorded its two best 3-point field goal percentages this week. In Monday's contest against St. Cloud State, the Vikings were 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) and on Tuesday made 11 of 20 (55 percent) 3-pointers.
Halfway mark: With 29 regular season contests in the Vikings' 2010-11 schedule, Augustana has hit the halfway point. The Vikings have competed well in the first half of teh season, recording an 86.7 win percentage.
Roster breakdown: The Vikings return all five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's NCAA Tournament squad that had 24 wins. Augustana features seven guards, seven forwards and three centers on its 2010-11 roster. There are also four seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and three freshmen.
Coaches' corner: Dave Krauth enters his 22nd campaign at the Viking helm. His 434-194 won-loss record is unmatched in school history. In his 21 years on the bench, Krauth has experienced just one losing season. The veteran head coach has guided his squads to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and finished second in the NSIC in 2009-10 before qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and advancing to the region semifinals. Krauth is assisted by
Mark Stavenger, Amy Puthoff and Shawn Bergan.
According to the coaches: Augustana was selected second in the 2010-11 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Vikings received two first-place votes and 152 points from the conference's 14 head coaches. Wayne State received 11 first-place votes and 166 points to take the No. 1 position. Concordia-St. Paul was third (one first-place votes, 150 points), while Minnesota Duluth and Winona tied for fourth (125 points).
1. Wayne State (11) 166
2. Augustana (2) 152
3. Concordia-St. Paul (1) 150
4. Minnesota Duluth 125
Winona State 125
6. MSU Moorhead 97
7. Northern State 93
8. Minnesota State 91
9. Minnesota, Crookston 63
10. St. Cloud State 69
11. U-Mary 51
12. Southwest Minnesota State 49
13. Bemidji State 40
14. Upper Iowa 13
( ) First Place Votes
NCAA Tournament time:? The Vikings advanced to the NCAA?Tournament in 2009-10 for the second consecutive year. Last season, the Vikings made it to the semifinals before dropping to Fort Lewis. Krauth has 11 NCAA?Tournament appearances under his belt.
Coach Puthoff: Amy Puthoff has not always enjoyed basketball from the sidelines as a graduate assistant coach. She once had a successful career at Augustana herself. In her senior season, the Hartford, S.D., native became the 24th player in school history to score 1,000 points and ended her career eighth on the all-time scoring list with 1,384 points. In addition, Puthoff is fourth on the all-time career 3-point field goal chart with 207.
Vikings add three for 2011-12:?Head coach
Dave Krauth announced Nov. 9 that Alex Kneeland from Summit, S.D., Sophie Kenney from Fargo, N.D., and Nicole Kerkhoff from Morgan, Minn., have all signed letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at Augustana beginning in 2011-12. Kneeland, a 5-foot-7 guard, averages 26.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and is a two-time All-State first team selection. Kenney, a 5-foot-10 guard, lead Shanley High School to the consolation championship and averaged nine points, four rebounds and 6.5 assists per game during her junior season. Kerkhoff is a 5-foot-11 forward who averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game to earn All-Area first team honors as a junior.
Follow live: There are several ways to get up-to-the-second updates from Augustana basketball games--both home and away. Jeff Fylling calls all the games live on KXRB-AM 1000; that broadcast can also be picked up at www.kxrb.com/stream. All of the Vikings' home games are video webcasted at ?www.northernsun.org/live.cfm. Each conference road contest is also webcast by the host institution. A link for broadcasts on the road can be found on the “schedule” page on the women's basketball home page. Live statistics for all of Augustana's home games can be viewed by logging onto www.GoAugie.com/livestats. For live stats of each road game, check out www.GoAugie.com/livecentral or go to the “schedule” page on the women's basketball homepage.
The Augustana Coaches' Show: Live from the Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics.
Stay connected: Follow Augustana all season long on its official online home, www.GoAugie.com. You can also get the latest news and updates on the Vikings on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoAugie) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/GoAugie). To view video highlights and the latest episode of the Augustana Sportscene, log onto the Vikings' official YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/GoAugie).
