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This week
No. 23 Augustana (19-4, 16-3 NSIC) embarks on a three-game road swing to wrap up regular-season play, beginning with No. 3 Wayne State (23-2, 17-2 NSIC) Saturday at 4 p.m.
Series records
Augustana snapped a four-game losing skid to Wayne State in January by upsetting the then No. 6 Wildcats 71-52 at home. The Vikings are 15-8 against WSC, having opened up the series with seven-straight wins. The last time Augustana beat the Wildcats on their home court was on Dec. 13, 2008. With the teams' first-meeting occuring in 1989-90, all 23 meetings against WSC have come under head coach
Dave Krauth. For more on the series, turn to page 9.
Last time out
The Vikings earned a pair of wins in the Elmen Center last weekend to finish the regular season having won a total of 13 contests at home.
Faith Tinklenberg scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help Augustana to a 72-61 victory over Northern State last Friday evening.
Shaunteva Ashley and
Alex Feeney contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively. Augustana outstole NSU 11-3, and
Emily Schulte led the way for the Vikings with four swipes.
Lydia Nelson finished with three. Feeney poured in a career- and game-high 29 points to lift Augustana to a 77-72 victory over U-Mary Saturday night. Schulte added 13 points, and Ashley notched 10. Tinklenberg led the Vikings in rebounds for the second evening in a row with nine, and Feeney had eight.
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 nine assists away from taking over the top spot on the list. Hayes has tallied 105 assists this season and recorded 155 assists in 2010-11.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 561 Molly Hayes (2006-08, 2009-12)
Sixty
The game- and career-high 29 points
Alex Feeney's (Bismarck, N.D.) scored last Saturday against U-Mary put the number of contests the junior forward has recorded double-figure points at 60. Feeney's previous career-high was set earlier this season when the Vikings beat Wayne State. She netted 25 points on the Wildcats in the contest that took place on Jan. 14.
Bringin' it from the bench
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) consistently shows productivity off the bench as Augustana's fourth leading scorer, averaging 10.2 points per game. The redshirt freshman averaged 12.0 points last weekend, recording 14 points against Northern State before dropping 10 on U-Mary. Ashley is second on the team for double-figure scoring efforts this season. She has scored double figures in 15 games.
Master of stealing
Augustana reached 11 steals for the third time this season in its game against Northern State. It's the most by the Vikings since their 12-swipe effort against Wayne State on Jan. 14. Augustana hit its season-high 20 steals against Bemidji State on Jan. 7. With 205 steals this season, Augustana has 65 more than its opponents.
Winning in Wayne
A win for Augustana at Wayne State on Saturday would bring an end to the Wildcats' 41-game win streak at home. WSC has a chance at recording a perfect record at home for the third-straight year as the game this weekend is the final regular-season home contest for the Wildcats. The last time WSC dropped a contest in Rice Auditorium was on Feb. 25, 2009, to Southwest Minnesota State.
Trey bombs
Augustana is currently leading the NSIC in 3-pointers per game, averaging 7.84 (conference games only). The Vikings weren't able to reach this number in its game against U-Mary, though. The Marauders allowed Augustana to make only four 3-pointers in the game. However, it's not the fewest treys scored by the Vikings this season. Wayne State held Augustana to two 3-pointers back in January.
Turnovers
Augustana committed just nine turnovers against U-Mary last Saturday. It's just the third time the Vikings have recorded less than 10 turnovers in a game this season. Augustana had a season-low seven turnovers against Mount Marty on Nov. 26.
Freebie's
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) and
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) went to the foul line a combined 25 times last weekend. Luckily for Augustana, the pair ranks among the top 10 in the NSIC for free-throw percentage. Feeney drilled 12 of 13 (92.3 percent) from the charity stripe, while Ashley nailed 10 of 12 (83.3 percent).
Securing second
With only three games left of the regular season, Augustana's win against U-Mary last Saturday guarenteed the Vikings at least a second-place finish in the conference. Augustana is, however, still in the running to capture a first-place finish. At just one-game back from the Wildcats, the Vikings would need to defeat WSC Saturday and win their final two games to tie for the top spot. For Augustana to win the NSIC crown outright, WSC would need to lose at least two of its final three games.
Get stuffed
Emily Bose ( Hadley, Minn.) moved to No. 7 in the NSIC statistics for blocks after the three she had against U-Mary. She is second on the team with 28 blocks this season and averages 1.41 block per conference game.
Movin' on up
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) needs to score 47 points in order to take over Candi Nielsen's spot at No. 7 on the all-time scoring list. Hayes is averaging 11.5 points per game and has scored 265 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. 1430 Molly Hayes (2006-08,09-12)
National news
Augustana entered back into the national rankings and is No. 23 in the latest
USA Today/ESPN Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll released Tuesday by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Vikings garnered 68 points in the poll to receive a ranking for the second time this season. Augustana was first ranked on Jan. 31 when the Vikings checked in at No. 25. Turn to page 8 to view the complete poll.
Ranked
Augustana is 1-0 against ranked opponents this season, having beat then No. 6 Wayne State in January.
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.
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 653-392 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 460-206. 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.
