BOX SCORE

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana women's basketball team got its first victory of the season in the newly renovated Sioux Falls Arena on Wednesday night, defeating Dakota Wesleyan 84-75. The Vikings' record jumped to 3-0 with the win.

Shaunteva Ashley captained the Augustana attack, leading the team in points (26), rebounds (six), and assists (five). Ashley's 26 points were also a new season high. The Sioux Falls, S.D. native also had two steals in the contest.

Sophie Kenney poured in a career-best 13 points for the Vikings in 25 minutes of play. Kenney also had a five steals, another career high, in the victory.

Freshman Paige Peterson showed off some nice moves in the post, chipping in with 10 points, her most in three games this year.

The Tigers were led by Erica Herrold's 21 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. Herrold was the lone player in double figures for DWU.

Josie Huber added seven points and a team-leading six rebounds in the loss.

Dakota Wesleyan outshot Augustana 48.0 percent (24 for 50) to 44.3 percent (31 for 70) in the game.

The Vikings' defense forced a season-high 28 turnovers from the Tigers.

Both teams battled back and forth in the first 20 minutes of play, with Augustana slowly being able to build a nine-point lead in the half with 8:44 remaining. Dakota Wesleyan was able to cut the Viking lead the three in the final 5:50 and going into halftime trailing 36-33.

The Vikings had had a tough time finding their shot in the first half, shooting just 41.2 percent from the field while the Tigers finished up the half going 13 for 25 (52.0 percent).

Koehn and Ashley helped power to the Augustana scoring in the first half, with each scoring eight points apiece. Ashley also grabbed five of her six rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

The Vikings' defense was able to create some easy fast-break chances for the offense in the half, forcing 14 turnovers.

DWU tied the contest up at 40-40 early in the second half after a made 3-pointer by Beck, her fifth point of the contest.

Augustana responded with a big 9-0 that was highlighted by several steals that created fast-break opportunities that it took advantage of, forcing Dakota Wesleyan to rethink its attack going into the under-15 media timeout.

Ashley put this one out of reach coming out the media timeout, scoring the first seven points out of the break for the Vikings, upping her total to 19 on the night.

 The Tigers were unable to get any closer than nine points in the final 15 minutes, eventually falling to Augustana 84-75.

Quite the first impression

In her first game in the Arena, Kenney turned in possibly her best game of her career with 13-point, five-steal performance. The former Shanley High star really did a great job of getting into passing lanes and getting steals, and getting the team into transition.

Now that's efficient

Ashley continues to just continue to make the most of her possessions this year, scoring 26 points on just 17 shots, resulting in 52.9 percent shooting. The senior guard added another five assists, but committed her first turnover of the season, bringing her assist-to-turnover ratio to an impressive 19-to-1 on the season.

Up next

The Vikings are back in action on Friday in a game with William Penn at the Elmen Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.