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This week
Augustana (0-0) opens its season against the University of Sioux Falls (1-0) Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. in the Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Vikings will then begin a five-game, non-conference homestand Saturday against Minot State (1-1). Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The series
This will be the 27th meeting between Augustana and Sioux Falls in a series that began during the 1972-73 season. The Vikings lead the series 24-2 and recorded their first of just two losses to the Cougars during that first meeting, dropping to USF 41-30. Augustana's only other loss to the Cougars occurred in 1988, and the Vikings have put together a string of 11 wins since then to make head coach
Dave Krauth 11-1 against USF. Last season, Augustana topped the Cougars 66-49 during the Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge and the Vikings also beat USF in 2009 85-55 during the challenge. This marks Augustana's first meeting against Minot State.
Television
Midco Sports Network will carry Tuesday's contest live from the Sioux Falls Arena. Tom Nieman will handle play-by-play, while Kevaney Martin will provide color commentary. MidcoSN can be found on channels 26 or 622 for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
What the coaches say
Augustana has been selected third in the 2011-12 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 25. The Vikings received four first-place votes and 148 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points
1 Wayne State (7) 162
2 Winona State (2) 152
3 Augustana (4) 148
4 MSU Moorhead (1) 122
5 Minnesota Duluth 114
6 Northern State 113
7 Concordia-St. Paul 109
8 U-Mary 92
9 Minnesota State 71
10 St. Cloud State 62
11 Minnesota, Crookston 44
12 Southwest Minnesota State 39
13 Bemidji State 31
14 Upper Iowa 15
Hayes receives praise
Augustana guard
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.)?was cited as a preseason player to watch by the NSIC. Hayes started all 30 games for Augustana in 2010, averaging 14.3 points and 3.1 rebounds a game. She shot 52.2 percent from the field, led the team in assists (155) and was second in steals (59). Hayes was named NSIC Player of the week twice last season. In 2008, she earned NCC Freshman of the Year honors and was selected to the All-NSIC second team in 2010 and 2011.
Feeney paces Vikings on glass
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.)?notched 5.9 rebounds per game last year to lead Augustana. She was the game-leading rebounder for Augustana in six contests last season and had 13 rebounds against Minnesota, Crookston in 2010 to share the Vikings' season game high. Feeney also recorded her career-high for rebounds in that game.
Next assists leader
With three seasons in Augustana's starting lineup under her belt,
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) is on track to become the next career-assists leader for the Vikings. She enters her final year on the squad with 456 career assists, 114 assists away from taking over the top spot on the list. Last season, Hayes recorded 155 assists.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 456
Molly Hayes (2006-08, 09-11)
Vikings in season openers
Augustana is 8-3 to open its season since 2000. In 2009, the Vikings opened their season against Sioux Falls for a 85-55 victory. The last time Augustana lost to begin its season was on Nov. 3, 2006, to Stonehill in a 65-62 decision at the Disney Tip Off Classic in Orlando, Fla. Below is a record of the Vikings' season-opening results since 2000.
11.19.2000 Dakota Wesleyan W 75-54
11.20.2001 Concordia-St. Paul W 64-46
11.08.2002 vs. Bentley L 58-66
11.25.2003 at Winona State L 77-82
11.15.2004 Winona State W 67-41
11.15.2005 Minnesota Crookston W 79-62
11.03.2006 vs. Stonehill L 62-65
11.02.2007 vs. Western Washington W 83-58
11.16.2008 Chadron State W 102-89
11.18.2009 vs. Sioux Falls W 85-55
11.17.2010 vs. William Penn W 103-60
Roster breakdown
This year's team will be built around senior guard
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) and junior forward
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.), Augustana's only two returning starters from its 2010-11 roster. Augustana has four-returning letterwinners in junior forward
Lydia Nelson ( Lake Preston, S.D.), sophomore forward
Katie Meister (Sioux Falls), junior guard
Cami Koehn (Egan, S.D.) and sophomore guard
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls). Last year's medical redshirts,
Faith Tinklenberg (Pipestone, Minn.) and
Rhianna Gullickson (Alexandria, S.D.), will join the Viking roster again in 2011-12. Freshman centers
Emily Bose ( Hadley, Minn.) and
Andrea Whitney (Sartell, Minn.), and freshman guard
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls)?are back after redshirting last season, and new to Augustana in 2011 are guards
Sophie Kenney (Fargo, N.D.) and
Alex Kneeland (Summit, SD), and forward
Nicole Kerkhoff (Morgan, Minn).
Krauth signs two for 2012-13
Dave Krauth announced that student-athletes Riley Nordgaard, a native of Canby Minn., and Sydney Rome from Sioux Falls, have committed to Augustana during the early signing period and will join the Vikings for their 2012-13 season.
Coaches' corner
Dave Krauth enters his 23rd season as the Vikings' head coach 2011-12 and has the most wins of any coach in Augustana history with a career record of 441-202. In his 22 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 tutored 45 all-conference players, including three conference MVPs. The Vikings posted a 20-10 record in 2010-11 and finished in a tie for fifth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference at 13-9. Krauth is assisted by
Mark Stavenger, Megan Stadler,
Katie Bourk and Shawn Bergan.
History lesson
Augustana enters its 39th season of women's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 634-388 all-time and have racked
up 28 winning seasons with 21 of them occurring under head coach
Dave Krauth.
NCAA Tournament time
Augustana fell to Winona State in the first round of the conference tournament last season to be eliminated from post-season play after having advanced to the NCAA Touranment the two consecutive years prior in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Dave Krauth has 11 NCAA?Tournament appearances under his belt.
Video webcasts
The NSIC and Penn Atlantic have again teamed up to webcast each conference basketball game in 2011-12. A complete broadcast schedule is available at www.northernsun.org.
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).
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011-12. Join Fylling for each broadcast on KXRB-AM 1000. You can also stream the broadcast at
www.kxrb.com/stream.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join
Jeffy Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also
stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
