BOX SCORE

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Needing a late rally in the second half, the Augustana women's basketball team turned in its grittiest performance this season with a 93-83 overtime win at Mary on Friday night.

The win pushed the Vikings' winning streak to three, tying their longest this year in conference play, and improved their record to 14-8 (8-7 NSIC), while the Marauders fell to 8-13 (6-9 NSIC) with the loss.

Shaunteva Ashley turned in perhaps her best single-game performance of her illustrious career, finishing with a team-high 30 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and five steals in 43 minutes. Ashley's 14 rebounds and five steals both were career highs for the senior.

Nicole Kerkhoff racked up her sixth double-double this season, coming up big in the late moments of the contest with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Augustana.

Sydney Rome provided a major spark off the bench, knocking down four 3-pointers en route to a season-high 12 points.

Mary's Sloan Turner recorded her fourth double-double of the year with her 27-point, 12-rebound performance.

Hannah Larson added 21 points in the loss.

A cold start from the field put the Vikings in the hole early, trailing 11-6 going into the under-15 media timeout. Augustana opened the contest with a 1-for-9 shooting slump in the opening minutes at the McDowell Activity Center.

Coming out of the timeout, a 3-pointer by Rome sparked a quick 8-4 run in just a 1:26 that brought the Vikings to within one at 15-14, forcing the Marauders to take a 30-second timeout to regroup.

Turner, picking up her 12th point of the half after a pair of made free throws, gave Mary its first double-digit lead of the night at 26-16 with 9:49 remaining, part of an 11-2 run.

Augustana cut the Marauder's lead to six going into the under-five minute media timeout after a jumper by Allie Koehn with a little more than five minutes to go in the first half. The basket gave Koehn her first two points of the contest and snapped a streak of four straight misses to start the game for the redshirt freshman.

Still stroking a hot hand in the half, Rome knocked down her third 3 of the half to make it a one-point game and give her nine points in the first 20 minutes with about 3:28 left on the clock.

The Vikings finally took their first lead since 6-4 after Logan O'Farrell's layup while being fouled put them up 37-35. O'Farrell failed to make the free throw to convert the three-point play.

Mary was able to close out the half strong late, taking a 39-37 lead into the break.

Augustana was able to overcome its cold shooting and stay in the game with its aggressive defense, forcing the Marauders in 15 first-half turnovers, resulting in 18 points off turnovers.

A great 7-0 start by the Vikings to open the second half gave them a five-point lead within the first two minutes after baskets by Paige Peterson, Ashley, and L. O'Farrell.

A 3-pointer by Dani Clarke, her second of the game, gave Mary the lead at 57-56 with 11:45 remaining in regulation.

Forcing the Marauders into tough shots -- a theme in the second half -- Augustana reclaimed the lead midway through after Ashley's jumper gave her 18 in the game and put the Vikings up 60-57.

Mary made its move in the half beginning at the 8:10 mark with what turned out to be a 14-3 run that pushed its lead to eight at 71-63 with 2:35 remaining. The Marauders' big run was powered by Larson, who scored six of the 14 points in a variety of ways.

The Vikings, refusing to let this one slip away, came storming back with 14-6 in the final 1:53 to force overtime with the score tied at 77 all. Kerkhoff came up clutch during the run, scoring eight of 17 points of the night in the key part of the game.

In overtime, it was all Augustana, who hit Mary with a quick 6-0 run to open the extra period and never looked back, cruising to a double-digit win at 93-83. The Vikings' defense was the hero in the extra time, holding the Marauders to just six points and forcing them into multiple turnovers and bad shots.

You gotta go there to come back
Augustana showed just how much it has grown this year as a young team by the way it fought to pick up the come-from-behind win. The Vikings got down by double digits on multiple occasions to Mary, but showed its fighting spirit and worked its way back into the contest late before seizing control in overtime and never letting up as they got the huge road victory.

Up next
A game at Minot State on Saturday closes out the two-game road trip for Augustana. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.