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This week
Augustana (5-1, 2-0 NSIC) is on the road for the first time this season Friday and Saturday, facing U-Mary (4-2, 1-1 NSIC) and Northern State (5-2, 1-1 NSIC), respectively. Both games will begin at 6 p.m.
The series
Augustana moved to 4-3 in its series against U-Mary after splitting with the Marauders last season. The Vikings hosted U-Mary last December and narrowly beat the Marauders 76-74 before suffering a 99-94 overtime loss in the second meeting on the road. Augustana leads 20-14 in its series against Northern State. The Vikings broke a five-game winning streak against the Wolves with 67-54 loss on Feb. 11, 2011. Augustana also had 71-62 victory over NSU last season.
Dave Krauth is 4-3 against U-Mary and 14-8 against NSU. For more information on Augustana's series with U-Mary and NSU, turn to pages 9 and 10.
Last time out
Alex Feeney scored a game-high 20 points and
Shaunteva Ashley added 17 points to help give Augustana a decisive 75-37 victory over Dakota State last Tuesday evening in the last non-conference game of the season for the Vikings. Double-figure scoring outings from five players keyed an 85-54 Augustana victory over Southwest Minnesota State in both teams' NSIC openers last Friday evening in Sioux Falls. Ashley's jumper with 22 seconds left gave Augustana a three-point lead, and
Emily Schulte's block 14 seconds later made it stick as the Vikings held on for a 62-57 victory over Minnesota State Saturday afternoon.
Consider it stolen
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls) had 18 steals in Augustana's three games last week and averaged 5.50 steals per game in the Vikings' NSIC contests over the weekend to now lead the conference in the category. Schulte wasn't the only Viking to play tough defense last week as Augustana outstole its opponents 38 to 13. The Vikings didn't waste those precious swipes, converting their opponents' turnovers into 80 points.
Clutch from the charity stripe
Not only did
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls) lead the Vikings in steals last week, but she also posted the best percentage from the free-throw line, making all 11 attempts. She is tied for the conference lead in free-throw percentage (conference games only) and is 15 of 15 from the charity stripe this season.
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) also has a perfect free-throw percentage (9-9), while
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) (8-9),
Faith Tinklenberg (Pipestone, Minn.) (6-7),
Emily Bose (Hadley, Minn.) (6-7) and
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) (20-23) are all shooting better than 80 percent from the charity stripe.
Triple threat
Three Vikings averaged double-figure scoring last week to help Augustana outscore its opponents 222-148 in its three games.
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) averaged 17 points per game and scored 51 total points to lead the Vikings. Next in line was
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls), shooting an impressive 56.5 percent from the field to average 13 points per game. Rounding out Augustana's double-digit scoring leaders was
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls) with 11.7 points per game.
Put your hands up
Augustana's defense does more than just steal the ball from its opponents. The Vikings also uses blocks to keep their opponents' scoring at bay. The Vikings have outblocked their opponents 42-12 this season, including 18-2 last week.
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) and
Andrea Whitney (Sartell, Minn.) each blocked four shots last week, and
Faith Tinklenberg (Pipestone, Minn.) recorded three.
Shaky shooting
Augustana wasn't so sharp from behind the arc in its game against Minnesota State last Saturday, making just 2 of 16 3-pointers.
Lydia Nelson (Lake Preston, S.D.) and
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) made the only two 3-pointers for Augustana in the game. The Vikings also struggled from the field at 29.5 percent (18-61). Augustana made up for the poor shooting in free-throws, recording 24 buckets and shooting 88.9 percent.
No place like home
While Augustana went 10-1 in conference action at home last season, it wasn't as successful on the road, experiencing eight losses and only three wins. The Vikings were able to beat U-Mary and Northern State in the Elmen Center during the 2010-11 season, but then lost to both teams later in the season on the road.
Next assists leader
Now in her fourth season as a starter for Augustana,
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) is on track to become the next career-assists leader. Hayes is 91 assists away from taking over the top spot on the list. Last season, Hayes recorded 155 assists.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 478
Molly Hayes (2006-08, 09-12)
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
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 446-203. 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 639-389 all-time and have racked
up 30 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.
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.
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.
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.
Next time
Augustana is at home Dec. 16 and 17, hosting Minnesota, Crookston and MSU Moorhead. Those will be the last games of 2011 for the Vikings as they will resume competition after the new year.
