GAME NOTES (PDF) | WATCH LIVE | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS
This week
No. 22 Augustana (22-5), the second seed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament, has advanced to the semifinals and will travel to Rochester, Minn., to take on No. 3-seeded U-Mary (19-8) Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Taylor Center.
Television
Midco Sports Network 2 will carry this weekend's semifinal and final match ups live from the Taylor Center. MidcoSN2 can be found on channel 322 for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
Series record
Augustana and U-Mary have met nine times in a series that began in 2005-06, and the Vikings are ahead 6-3. The teams have already squared off two times this season, and Augustana beat the Marauders in both contests. On Dec. 9, the Vikings hosted U-Mary and cruised past the Marauders 93-65. Augustana then traveled to Bismarck, N.D., on Feb. 11 to edge U-Mary 77-72. All meetings with U-Mary have come under head coach
Dave Krauth. For more on the series, turn to page 9.
Last time out
Six double-figure scoring efforts helped No. 22 Augustana to an 89-77 victory over MSU Moorhead Wednesday night in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament.
Emily Schulte tied her career-high with 19 points and
Lydia Nelson scored another 18 points.
Alex Feeney had 14 points for the Vikings and
Shaunteva Ashley added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Molly Hayes recorded her first double-double of the season and the fifth of her career with 11 points and a season-high 10 assists. She also had a game-high three steals.
Andrea Whitney contributed another 10 points off the bench to finish off Vikings in double-figures.
All-NSIC
Senior
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) and junior
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) were selected All-NSIC first team, the league announced Thursday. It is the first appearance on the All-NSIC first team for both Hayes and Feeney. Hayes is a two-time choice for second team honors, while Feeney was named the league's freshman of the year for 2009-10. Hayes, a 5-foot-6 guard, became the Vikings' all-time assists leader this season with 585. The North Central Conference freshman of the year for 2007-08, Hayes is averaging 11.9 points a game and leads the team in assists with 129. Hayes led the NSIC in two categories this season--assists (4.73) and assists-to-turnover ratio (2.21). She was third in field goal percentage (53.6) and 3-point field-goal percentage (45.8). Feeney, a 6-foot forward, leads the Vikings in scoring with 16.1 points a game and is the top rebounder at 7.5 per contest. Feeney was the fifth leading scorer in the NSIC (16.1), fifth in 3-point shooting percentage (43.8), sixth in free throw percentage (83.9) and sixth in rebounds (7.7 per game).
Sioux Falls superstars
Two products of Sioux Falls,
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) and
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls), also received postseason awards from the NSIC on Thursday. Ashley was named freshman of the year and was selected to the all-freshman team. Schulte earned a spot on the all-defensive team. Ashley is Augustana's leading scorer off the bench, averaging 10.0 points per game. She has 34 steals and has handed out 64 assists this season. She is the second player under head coach
Dave Krauth to earn freshman of the year laurels in the NSIC. Schulte was one of the best defenders in the conference in 2011-12. She led the NSIC with 2.41 steals per game. Schulte finished the year with a team-best 67 swipes.
Game changer
Not only was
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) one of six Vikings to reach double-figures in scoring Wednesday against MSU Moorhead, but the 5-foot-8 guard led Augustana in rebounds for the first time in her career. Ashley collected five of her nine boards in the first 20 minutes of the game. She also led the team in 3-pointers for the first half, drilling two buckets from behind the arc to help the Vikings take a 10-point lead at intermission. The Vikings have led at the half in 22 of 27 games this season.
Buckets from the bench
The Vikings made productive use of their bench Wednesday night against MSU Moorhead.
Shaunteva Ashley (Sioux Falls) and
Andrea Whitney (Sartell, Minn.) combined for 22 of the Vikings' 24 points off the bench. The last time Augustana's bench contributed more than 20 points in a game was on Feb. 3 at Minnesota State when the Viking non-starters put together a 29-point effort. Augustana's bench has poured in 20 or more points 12 times this season and reached a season-high 36-point performance on Nov. 26 against Mount Marty.
Movin' on up
The 11 points
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) scored against MSU Moorhead on Wednesday allowed her to pass Candi Nielsen's (1984-88) 1,467-career points and take over No. 7 on Augustana's all-time scoring list. Hayes has recorded 1,485-career points and needs 21 more to become the fifth leading scorer for the Vikings. She has scored 320 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. 1485
Molly Hayes (2007-08,09-12)
Augustana's Assists
Augustana dished out 13 more assists than MSU Moorhead Wednesday evening, thanks to
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) who recorded a season-high 10 in the game. She tacted on 11 points against the Marauders to notch the first time this season she has had a double-double. The Vikings are leading their opponents in assists 417 to 330.
Take it to the ship
This is Augustana's fourth-straight year in the NSIC Tournament, and last season was the first time the Vikings didn't make it past the opening round. In 2008-09 and 2009-10, Augustana dropped contests during the semifinals of the tournament, but the Vikings were defeated 87-79 at Winona State in first-round play in 2010-11. WSU went on to win the tournament title.
March 4, 2009 Minnesota Duluth W 82-73
March 7, 2009 vs. Concordia-St. Paul L 67-58
March 3, 2010 Northern State W 67-55
March 6, 2010 vs. Wayne State L 77-60
March 2, 2011 at Winona State L 87-79
A look ahead
If the Vikings win their semifinal game against U-Mary Saturday, Augustana would advance to the championship of the conference tournament, scheduled to take place Sunday at 2 p.m. Poor weather conditions caused the fourth-seeded Minnesota Duluth and fifth-seeded Minnesota State quaterfinal contest to be postponed until Thursday at 3 p.m. Wayne State, the top seed in the tournament, will play the winner of that match up Saturday at noon in the semifinals.
Selection Sunday
Following the conclusion of the NSIC Tournament on Sunday, March 4, the NCAA will make its selections for the NCAA tournament, which includes eight teams from each of the country's eight regions. The winner of the conference tournament will be guaranteed a spot in postseason play. The NCAA produces a live webcast of the selections, which will be streamed at NCAA.com.
Regional rankings
Augustana is third in the Central Region Rankings for the third week in a row, the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee released Wednesday. The Vikings, who are ranked No. 22 in the nation, held an in-region record of 19-5 at the time the rankings were released. Augustana has held the third position in the Central Region since the inaugural region rankings on Feb. 15.
DII In-Region LW
1 Wayne State (NSIC) 25-2 25-2 1
2 Metro State (RMAC) 23-2 23-2 2
3 Augustana (NSIC) 19-5 19-5 3
4 Fort Lewis (RMAC) 21-4 21-4 4
5 CSU-Pueblo (RMAC) 21-5 20-5 5
6 U-Mary (NSIC) 16-8 16-8 6
7 Minnesota Duluth (NSIC) 17-8 17-8 7
8 Minnesota State (NSIC) 15-9 13-9 8
9 Winona State (NSIC) 14-10 14-10 9
10 MSU Moorhead (NSIC) 13-11 12-11 10
Dropped Out: None
National news
Augustana moved up three spots to No. 22 in the latest
USA TODAY/ESPN Division II Top 25 women's basketball poll, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced Tuesday. The Vikings were 21-5 overall at the time the rankings were released and received 113 points in the poll. California-San Diego received 17 first-place votes and 717 points to keep its No. 1 ranking. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference-opponent Wayne State checked in at No. 2 with seven first-place votes and 709 points. Turn to page 8 to view the complete poll.
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 to finish 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.
