BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -
Molly Hayes netted a layup with 27 seconds remaining to remove St. Cloud State's lead and
Emily Schulte followed it with a free throw to allow Augustana an 80-78 victory over the Huskies Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball.
Augustana moves to 16-3 (13-2 NSIC), while SCSU falls to 9-10 (6-9 NSIC).
SCSU's Jessica Benson scored a game-high 23 points.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair between the two teams with the lead changing a total of 10 times.
Feeney's 3-pointer at 12:30 was followed by a long shot from SCSU to give the Huskies an 18-17 lead. SCSU held onto its advantage for seven minutes before back-to-back 3's from Feeney gave the Vikings a 37-32 lead.
SCSU finished off a 12-6 run with a 3-point bucket with 36 seconds remaining until the buzzer to take a 44-43 half-time lead.
Both teams shot evenly in the half-Augustana connected at a 53.6 percent clip from the floor, while the Huskies shot 51.7 percent.
Alex Feeney netted 14 her team-high19 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Augustana started off the second half on the right foot and used a 14-6 run to lead 57-50 at the 13 minute, 12 second mark.
It would take SCSU the next 11 minutes to cut its deficit and capture a 78-77 lead at 1:42.
The Huskies had opportunities to extend their lead, but missed three-consecutive layups with just less than a minute remaining.
Hayes and Schulte made their buckets in the final 30 seconds to hand Augustana its win.
The Vikings outblocked SCSU 6-1 and finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field. The Huskies shot 43.1 percent.
Besides Feeney, Augustana had double-digit scoring performances from Hayes (17),
Lydia Nelson (14) and
Shaunteva Ashley (13).
Augustana travels to Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State next weekend.
