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This week
Augustana (17-4, 14-3 NSIC) is at home for the last time during regular-season competition this weekend, hosting Northern State (13-10, 8-9 NSIC) and U-Mary (15-6, 12-5). The Vikings face NSU on Friday at 6 p.m. and U-Mary on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Series records
Despite dropping its last two meetings with Northern State, Augustana is leading the series 20-15. One of the Vikings' two road losses this season was a 61-53 defeat at NSU on Dec. 10. Augustana's series with the Wolves dates back to 1972-73, and head coach
Dave Krauth is 14-9 against NSU. Jan. 17, 2006, marked the Vikings' first meeting with U-Mary, and Augustana leads the series 5-3. The Vikings traveled to U-Mary in December and topped the Marauders 93-65. All of the Vikings' games against U-Mary have come under Krauth.
Last time out
Augustana split on the road last weekend, dropping to Minnesota State and beating Southwest Minnesota State. The Vikings rallied from a 15-point deficit and forced overtime on MSU, but the effort fell short as the Mavericks snapped the Vikings' 10-game win streak with a 98-95 overtime victory Friday evening in Mankato, Minn. Double-figure scoring efforts from four Vikings helped Augustana to a 71-61 victory at SMSU Saturday.
Oh snap!
Before Minnesota State defeated the Vikings last Friday, Augustana had a blemish free record in 2012. The Vikings followed their Dec. 17 73-70 loss at home to Minnesota, Crookston with 10 wins in a row to make it half way to Augustana's 20-game win streak during the 2006-07 season.
Movin' on up
After scoring 47 points last weekend,
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) broke into the top-10 on Augustana's all-time scoring list. She scored a career-high 33 points at Minnesota State and netted another 14 points against Southwest Minnesota State. Hayes is averaging 12.0 points per game and has scored 251 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. 1416 Molly Hayes (2006-08,09-12)
Blocks for Bose
Emily Bose (Hadley, Minn.) made a strong defensive appearance at Southwest Minnesota State, recording a career-high five blocks. She notched three the previous evening against Minnesota State to lead the Vikings with a total of eight for the weekend. Her effort helped Augustana outblock its opponents 13-4 in its two games.
First-half firsts
Augustana experienced a few firsts during the opening half at Minnesota State. For starters, it was the first time the Vikings entered the second half without having made a single bucket from behind the arc. Augustana also faced its largest deficit of the season during the opening 20 minutes against MSU. With under four minutes left until half time, Augustana trailed the Mavericks by 15 points and entered half time down by nine points, which is the greatest margin in a game so far. Augustana also attempted 40 shots from the field in the first half against MSU, the most by the Vikings this season.
NSU
Augustana will be seeking revenge on Northern State Friday as the Wolves' 8-point win over the Vikings last December is the greatest margin of victory for an opponent this season. Augustana scored a season-low 21 points in its second half against the Wolves to be defeated 61-53.
Who's on board?
There have only four games this season Augustana has recorded more than 40 rebounds. Friday's contest was one of those games. The Vikings collected 46 boards against Minnesota State and
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) and
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls) each tallied nine to lead the team.
Home-court advantage
Augustana is 11-1 on its home court this season, and the Vikings are outscoring opponents by 18 points in the Elmen Center. The Vikings have won six-straight games in Sioux Falls with their last loss at home occurring to Minnesota, Crookston on Dec. 17.
Pouring in the points
The 33 points
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) netted against Minnesota State is the most by a Viking this season. Hayes' career-high outing topped her season-record by seven points and her previous career-record by three points. She connected on 11 of 18 from the field (61.1 percent), 5 of 9 from 3-point range (55.6 percent) and made all six of her free-throws. She was also a stand-out player in the game five assists and three steals. Her five 3-pointers is also a team-season high.
Career-high
Prior to
Emily Bose's (Hadley, Minn.) strong defensive performance at Southwest Minnesota State, she netted a career-high 12 points against Minnesota State. Bose picked up eight of her points from the free-throw line. It's the second time this season she has notched a double-figure scoring effort. She is the fourth Vikings to shoot 8 of 8 from the charity stripe this season. Along with Bose,
Lydia Nelson (Lake Preston, S.D.) and
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls) have gone 8 for 8 once, while
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) has accomplished the feat twice.
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 18 assists away from taking over the top spot on the list. Hayes has tallied 96 assists this season and recorded 155 assists in 2010-11.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 552 Molly Hayes (2006-08, 2009-12)
Viking points
The 98 points Augustana put up against Minnesota State is tied for the most poitns the Vikings have scored all season. The Vikings also reached 98 points against MSU Moorhead. Augustana is averages 78.8 points per game in NSIC contests to be first in the conference for scoring.
National news
Augustana, who earned a national ranking last week for the first time since Jan. 4, 2011, fell out of the
USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll on Tuesday and instead received 31 votes. Wayne State (No. 3) is the only ranked conference opponent.
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 651-392 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 458-206. 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.
