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This week
No. 25 Augustana (16-3, 13-2 NSIC) makes road trips to Minnesota State (13-6, 9-6 NSIC) and Southwest Minnesota State (5-14, 4-11 NSIC) on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both games will begin at 6 p.m.
Series records
Augustana and Minnesota State have squared off 60 times since 1983-84, and the Vikings lead the series 38-22. On Dec. 3, Augustana hosted MSU and topped the Mavericks 62-57. Augustana has won its last five games against MSU. The Vikings moved to 13-8 in their series with Southwest Minnesota State after Augustana beat the Mustangs 85-54 at home to open conference action in December. Augustana has won nine of its last 10 games against SMSU. Head coach
Dave Krauth is 35-11 against MSU and 11-5 against SMSU. For more information on each series, turn to pages 9 and 10.
Last time out
The Vikings extended their win streak to 10 games after defeating Concordia University, St. Paul and St. Cloud State at home last weekend.
Alex Feeney tallied 13 points to reach her 1,000th-career point and
Lydia Nelson scored a season- and game-high 21 points to lead Augustana to a 78-69 victory over CU Friday evening.
Molly Hayes netted a layup with 27 seconds remaining to remove SCSU's lead and
Emily Schulte followed it with a free throw to allow Augustana an 80-78 victory over the Huskies Saturday afternoon.
The win column
Augustana is entering into February having won 10-consecutive games. The Vikings won nine games in January to have a perfect month. If Augustana extends its win streak throughout February, the Vikings will be three games shy of their 20-game win streak in 2006-07.
1,000-point club
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) became Augustana's 26th member of the 1,000-point club last Friday. Entering the game against Concordia University, St. Paul, Feeney needed just seven points to reach 1,000. After turning in a mere three points during the first half, she dumped in another 10 in the final 20 minutes to pass a grand.
Lights out
Despite making only 1 of 9 from 3-point range,
Lydia Nelson (Lake Preston, S.D.) finished the Vikings' game against Concordia University, St. Paul as Augustana's leading scorer with a season-high 21 points. Nelson connected on 9 of 19 from the field and went 2 for 2 at the free-throw line. It was Nelson's second time as Augustana's game-leading scorer.
Happy trails to you
Trailing at the half is not a common occurrence for the Vikings as it has only happened three times this season. However, in two of Augustana's last three games, the Vikings have faced a one-point deficit at the half-time buzzer. When Augustana played at Winona State on Jan. 21, the Vikings trailed 30-29 at half time. Augustana was in a similar situation last Saturday when St. Cloud State held a 44-43 advantage at the break. The Vikings were able to make that deficit disappear in both games, outscoring their opponents by three-points in the second half to win the game.
Free throws
In the Vikings' 22 trips to the free-throw line against St. Cloud State, Augustana made 15 buckets (68.2 percent). It marked the first time since Nov. 19 that Augustana shot less than 70 percent from the foul line. The Vikings, who have been ranked among the top-10 in the nation all season for free-throw percentage, dropped from No. 6 to No. 7.
Put your hands up
Augustana is currently outblocking opponents by a margin of 4.2 per game. It comes as no surprise that the Vikings outblocked their two foes 11-3 last weekend. Augustana notched five stuffs against Concordia University, St. Paul and another six against St. Cloud State.
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) leads the team in blocks (2.1 per game) and is tied for fourth in the NSIC at 1.93 blocks per game (conference games only).
Molly Hayes
Senior guard
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.)?tallied 36 points for Augustana last weekend, averaging 18 points per game, to be the Vikings' leading scorer. She also tied to lead the team in assists totaling 10.
Shaunteva Ashley
Redshirt freshman
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) scored in double-figures in both of Augustana's games last weekend and has now accomplished that feat in 11 games this season. She is averaging 9.7 points per game off the bench.
National news
Augustana is ranked No. 25 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll released Tuesday by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Vikings received 63 points to crack the ranking for the first time this season. Augustana was last ranked Jan. 4, 2011, when the Vikings checked in at 21st. California-San Diego, which is 20-0, earned all 32 first-place votes and 800 points to take the top spot. Conference-neighbor Wayne State is ranked fourth (656 points).
On the road again
Augustana will be road warriors in February, playing five of its last seven regualr-season games outside of Sioux Falls. The Vikings are 5-1 on the road this season, having lost 61-53 to Northern State. Augustana will have the chance to seek revenge on the Wolves on Feb. 10 when NSU travels to Viking territory.
Steals from Schulte
Four of the Vikings' 13 steals last weekend came from
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls). Schulte averages 2.53 steals per conference game for the top spot in the NSIC.
Next assists leader
Now in her fourth season as a starter for Augustana,
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) could become the next career-assists leader. Hayes is 28 assists away from taking over the top spot on the list. Last season, Hayes recorded 155 assists.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 542 Molly Hayes (2006-08, 2009-12)
NSIC honors
Augustana has had one Viking win a weekly conference award twice this season.
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) earned the honor on Jan 4 and Jan 16.
Movin' on up
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) is creeping higher on the all-time scoring list and is now 14 points away from breaking into the top 10. Hayes is averaging 10.7 points per game and has scored 204 points this season.
1. 2001 Melissa Olson (1983-87)
2. 1978 Dana Nielsen (1989-93)
3. 1740 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
4. 1667 Cindy Heyden (1979-82)
5. 1505
Megan Doyle (2007-11)
6. 1502 Heidi Morlock (1990-94)
7. 1476 Candi Nielsen (1984-88)
8. 1389 Tamera Oltmanns (1998-02)
9. 1384 Amy Puthoff (2005-09)
10. 1382 Lori Anderson (1987-91)
11. 1369 Molly Hayes (2006-08,09-12)
What the coaches say
Augustana was selected third in the 2011-12 NSIC 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 University-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
History lesson
Augustana enters its 39th season of women's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 650-391 all-time and have racked up 30 winning seasons with 21 of them occurring under head coach
Dave Krauth.
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 457-205. 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 NSIC at 13-9. Krauth is assisted by
Mark Stavenger, Megan Stadler,
Katie Bourk and Shawn Bergan.
