BOX SCORE

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A late shooting drought by the Augustana women's basketball team proved to be too much to overcome in a 76-66 loss to Saginaw Valley State on Saturday. The Vikings fell to 6-2 on the season, while the Cardinals improved to 4-1 with the win.

Augustana finished 2-1 in the North Star Invitational, its only loss coming in the championship game to SVSU.

Shaunteva Ashley, back from an injury suffered late in Friday's victory, led all scorers with 24 points. Ashley also tied her career high with four steals in the loss.

Logan O'Farrell finished with 10 points and a career-high six steals in for the Vikings.

Sophie Kenney added 14 points.

Saginaw Valley State's Emily Wendling led her team with 19 points despite a 5-for-18 night from the field shooting. Wendling also pulled down a game-high 12 boards.

Samantha Zirzow also had a double-double for the Cardinals with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

SVSU got off to a hot start to open the game, taking a 10-5 lead before the first media timeout. Wendling led the charge by working her way to four quick points.

Augustana answered coming out of the timeout, using an 11-0 run in just under two minutes to take a seven-point lead with 10:38 left in the half.

Sydney Rome provided the Vikings with some quality minutes during the run, scoring all five of her points during the stretch, highlighted by a made 3 from distance to help get the team going on the offensive side of the court.

Another strong performance by the Augustana defense in the first half allowed for the Vikings to build their lead to as many as 13 after two made free throws by Kenney late in the half.

Saginaw Valley State used a late burst of their own to get back into the contest, going on a 7-0 run in the final 2:17 to cut the Augustana lead to five and enter halftime trailing 44-39.

Despite not making a field goal the final 5:09, the Vikings were still able to get to the line and earn points from there, scoring their final seven points from the charity stripe.

Augustana finished the first half shooting 48.4 percent (15 for 31), while holding the Cardinals to just 37.5 percent (12 for 32).

SVSU continued their strong play from late in the first half into the second, taking their first lead since 14-13 on a made 3-pointer by Alex Green at the 13:23 mark, her only made 3 in the game.

A mini 6-0 run capped off by an Ashley layup tied the game up at 59 going into the final eight minutes of the game but the Vikings would go cold from there.

Saginaw Valley State made its move shortly after the Ashley layup, attacking Augustana's zone defense and getting shots in the paint, sparking an 11-0 run for the Cardinals.

O'Farrell's steal-and-score play got the Vikings to within five with 34 seconds remaining. It was only the second and final field goal by Augustana in the last seven minutes of the contest.

SVSU would convert their free throws the rest of the way, winning 76-66.

A rough 20 minutes
The Vikings couldn't sustain a nice opening half in which they scored 44 points while shooting 48.4 percent (15 for 31) from the field. Instead, the second half saw the Vikings score 22 points, a season low for points in a half and shoot just 26.7 percent.

Streak snapped
The Vikings' five-game winning streak when it manages to get at least 10 steals in a game came to an end in the loss. Augustana finished with 15 on the night.

Up next
The Vikings returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play by heading on the road to take on Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul next weekend.