GAME NOTES (PDF)
This week: Augustana (18-6, 11-6 NSIC) travels to Northern State (15-6, 12-5 NSIC) on Friday and U-Mary (11-10, 8-9 NSIC) on Saturday for its last conference road games this season. Tipoff is at 6:05 p.m. both evenings.
On the tube: Both of this weekend's games will be regionally broadcast. Friday's meeting with Northern State will air live on Midco Sports Network. Tom Neiman will handle the play-by-play, while Al Bahe will provide color commentary. Midcontinent Communications subscribers can find MidcoSN on Channel 26. Saturday's tilt at U-Mary will be broadcast by NBC North Dakota Sports and will air on KFYR-TV in Bismarck, KQCD-TV in Dickinson, KUMV-TV in Williston and KMOT-TV in Minot. KFYR-TV sports director Lee Timmerman, a multiple recipient of the North Dakota Sportscaster of the Year honor , will do the play-by-play, while Scott Westerberg, the weekend sports anchor, will offer color commentary.
Last time out: Augustana's home win streak extended to 18-games last weekend with wins over Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State.
Megan Doyle (Alexandria, S.D.) hit two free-throws with 7.1 seconds left to give Augustana a three-point lead and help her Vikings to a 68-65 victory over MSU Friday evening. The Vikings then picked up a 72-66 win over SMSU Saturday afternoon.
The series: The Vikings faced Northern State on Dec. 11 and topped the Wolves 71-62. Augustana is now 20-13 in the series against NSU with the win earlier this season. The series began during the 1972-73 season, and the Vikings have been victorious in the last five meetings.
Dave Krauth is 14-7 against NSU. The Vikings opened up conference home action against U-Mary earlier this season and notched a 76-74 victory. Augustana is 4-2 against the Marauders and all six meetings have been with Krauth as the Vikings' head coach.
On the road again: The Vikings have not performed as well on the road as they have at home this season owning a 3-6 away record. Beginning in December and extending into January, the Vikings were riding a five-game road losing streak before snapping it with a victory over St. Cloud State on Jan. 29.
Slow start: The Vikings shot just 25.8 percent from the field in the opening half against Minnesota State and had a complete turnaround after the break, making 17 of 24 (70.8 percent) from the field. MSU shot just as poorly from the field in the opening half (27 percent) but didn't have as strong of a showing as Augustana in the second half (41.9 percent). Each team also had their moment of weakness in 3-point shooting. Augustana made 1 of 8 3-pointers in the first half of the game, while MSU was just 1 of 6 in the second half.
Can I get your digits?: Megan Doyle (Alexandria, S.D.) has recorded double-digit scoring in all 24 of the Vikings' games this season. She is averaging 16.5 points per game and recorded a season-high 26 points against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on Nov. 26.
Trey bomb: It's no wonder
Alex Feeney (Bismark, N.D.) is ranked No. 2 in the conference for her 3-point field goal percentage (49.1 percent). She has shot perfect from the 3-point range in six games this season and 50 percent or better in another 10 games.
Top 10: Megan Doyle (Alexandria, S.D.) combined for 32 points last weekend to put her career total at 1,415 and place her at No. 7 on the list of the top scorers at Augustana.
Top Scorers
1. 2001 Melissa Olson (109 games) - 1983-87
2. 1978 Dana Nielsen (116 games) - 1989-93
3. 1740 Sandra Zwach (106 games) - 1993-97
4. 1667 Cindy Heyden (77 games) - 1979-82
5. 1502 Heidi Morlock (116 games) - 1990-94
6. 1476 Candi Nielsen (110 games) - 1984-88
7. 1415
Megan Doyle (114 games) - 2007-11
In the lead: Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) is leading the conference in assists, averaging 5.06 per game. The junior is No. 4 on the career assists list at Augustana with 428. Hayes also is among the top in the conference for her assist to turnover ratio (1.65) and her field goal percentage (53.3). To find the complete list of how the Vikings rank in the conference in various categories, turn to page 3.
Grab it: Tessa Wilka's (Sioux Falls, S.D.) nine rebounds on Friday against Minnesota State and seven rebounds on Saturday against Southwest Minnesota State were game highs.
Megan Doyle (Alexandria, S.D.) shared the game-high with Wilka, also grabbing seven rebounds agasint SMSU. Wilka now leads the Vikings, having recorded the game-high for rebounds eight times this season.
Regionally speaking: Augustana fell one spot and is ranked No. 7 in the latest Central Region rankings released Feb. 2 by the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee. The Vikings have a Division II and in-region record of 10-6.
Rank/Team/DII Record/Region Record
1 Fort Lewis 18-1 17-1
2 Metro State 17-1 16-1
3 Wayne State (Neb.) 17-2 17-2
4 Colorado Christian 13-4 13-4
5 Northern State 13-5 13-5
6 Concordia-St. Paul 11-8 11-7
7 Augustana (S.D.) 10-6 10-6
8 Winona State 12-5 11-5
9 Nebraska -Kearney 10-8 10-8
10 Mesa State 11-7 11-7
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 439-198 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.GoAugie.com/webcast 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).
