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This week
Augustana (1-1) continues action at home on Saturday in a non-conference contest against Mount Marty (6-4) at 3 p.m.
The series
Augustana began facing Mount Marty during its first season of basketball in 1972-73 and the Vikings dropped 36-30 in the contest to suffer their first of six losses in the series. Augustana has been victorious in 13 games against the Lancers, including stringing together six-consecutive wins since Augustana's last loss in 1988. The Vikings most recently squared off against MMC on Dec. 29, 2009, for a 67-57 home victory to make head coach
Dave Krauth 6-0 against the Lancers.
Last time out
Augustana went 1-1 to begin its 2011-12 campaign last week. The University of Sioux Falls shot 47.3 percent from the field--including a 59.3 percent second-half performance--to hand Augustana a 65-59 season-opening loss last Tuesday evening in the Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Vikings rebounded Saturday when
Alex Feeney notched her second-straight double-double to lead Augustana to a 66-55 victory over Minot State.
Phenomenal Feeney
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) led Augustana in scoring and rebounds against both the University of Sioux Falls and Minot State, recording a pair of double-double in each game to move her career-total to six. Feeney was one point and one rebound shy of tying her career record as she scored 21 points against USF and grabbed 12 rebounds against MSU. She added 10 rebounds when playing the Cougars and 16 points against the Beavers. Feeney also totaled eight blocks and six assists last week.
Vikings against NAIA opponents
Augustana went 3-0 against NAIA opponents in 2010-11, beating William Penn, the University of Sioux Falls and Gustavus Adolphus. In fact, Augustana has not lost to an NAIA opponent in more than ten years. Last season, the Vikings outscored their NAIA competitors 262-166.
Keepin' it clean
The Vikings went to the charity stripe just six times to earn a mere four points off fouls last Saturday against Minot State. The last time Augustana received single-digit points off fouls was on Feb. 19, 2011, when Augustana went 3-4 from the foul line while playing Wayne State.
Can't stop Koehn
Cami Koehn (Egan, S.D.) connected on 5 of 8 shots from the field to record 13 points against Minot State. The last and only other time Koehn has put up 10 or more points in a game was on Jan. 21, 2011, against Upper Iowa when she also tallied 13 points, setting a career-high.
Second-half trouble
Augustana lost its four-point halftime lead against the University of Sioux Falls, suffering from shooting trouble in the final 20 minutes of the contest. The Vikings connected on only one 3-pointer and made just 7 of 22 from the field in the second half.
Home sweet home
Augustana is riding a three-game winning streak at home dating back to last season with its victory over Minot State last Saturday. In 2010-11, Augustana went 13-1 in the Elmen Center. The Vikings' lone slip up happened on Feb. 19, 2011, when hosting Wayne State.
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. Hayes is 105 assists away from taking over the top spot on the list. Last season, Hayes recorded 155 assists.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 465
Molly Hayes (2006-08, 09-11)
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
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.).
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 442-203. 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 635-389 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 Tournament 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
Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also
stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
