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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana women's basketball team got its season started the way it wanted with a big win at the Elmen Center against Chadron State on Friday night. The Vikings jumped to 1-0 after an 85-59 win over the Eagles, who fell to 0-1 in the loss.

Augustana improved to 22-4 in season openers under head coach Dave Krauth with the victory, who picked up his 510th career win.

The Vikings overcame a rough shooting first half from deep to knock down 11 threes, eight coming in the second half, against CSC on the night. Augustana finished the game shooting 32 for 75 (42.7 percent), including hitting 50 percent (17 of 34) in the second half from the field.

Redshirt Freshman Allie Koehn made a nice debut for the Vikings in the first outing of her collegiate career, scoring a game-high 22 points. Koehn was especially effective from beyond the arc, with a 6-of-8 performance from deep – the most threes made in a single game by an Augustana player since Sydney Rome hit six against Presentation College early on last year.

Shaunteva Ashley turned in an all-around game in the first game of the 2014-15 season, scoring 13 points to go along with six rebounds and nine assists in the win. The Sioux Falls, S.D. native also finished the contest with zero turnovers in her 31 minutes on the floor, showing terrific command of the offense and getting the young Vikings easy looks throughout the night.

Logan O'Farrell, also making her collegiate debut, chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds.

Junior Nicole Kerkhoff added 10 points and six rebounds for Augustana.

Chadron State was led by Maka Daysh, who finished with a team-high 15 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting in 22 minutes of action.

Havannah Newens was the Eagles only other player in double figures with 14 points. Newens did her damage from the three-point line, connecting on 4 of 6 from deep.

The Vikings used a 13-2 run late in the first half to break open a somewhat close game into a 19-point Augustana lead with just under two minutes remaining in the first half. Koehn's three-pointer at the 1:51 mark capped off the big run for the Vikings.

CSC was able to cut its deficit a little bit, scoring the final five points to make it a 35-21 game in favor of Augustana going into the break.

Ashley did a little bit of everything for the Vikings in the first half, recording seven points, five rebounds, and five assists in the first 20 minutes of play.

Newens tried to keep Chadron State in the game, going 3 for 3 from beyond the arc in the first half, resulting in all nine of her first-half points.

In the second half, the Vikings picked up right where they left off, using a 12-7 run to start the half to push their lead to 21 after a pair of made free throws by Sophie Kenney with 14:31 left in the game.

Koehn picked up right where she left off in the first half, providing instant offense off the bench for Augustana, scoring 19 of her 22 in the half. The Brandon, S.D. native proved to be a weapon for the second unit going forward this season. She also hit five of her six threes in the half.

The Vikings wouldn't be challenged the rest of the way, winning comfortably against the Eagles.

Nice Debut Kid

Goes to Koehn, who scored 22 points in her first college basketball game. The freshman forward has stayed patient and continued working on her game, even after missing all of last season due to injury, and it showed by her performance tonight.

New Year, Same Result

Even in his 26th season as the head man of Augustana women's basketball, Krauth still knows how to have his troops prepared for the start of the year, as he is now 22-4 in season openers.

Up Next

Augustana returns to action in the Elmen Center on Saturday in a meeting with Presentation College. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.