SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana University women's basketball (9-2, 4-2 NSIC) avenged their early season loss to the Wildcats of Wayne State College (5-6, 2-4 NSIC) Saturday night in dramatic fashion thanks to sophomore forward, Paige Peterson.

With the Vikings leading by one and under a minute to play, Paige Peterson thought she cost her team the game after committing a foul and giving the Wildcats an and-1 opportunity that they converted to take a one point lead.

With under 10 seconds to play senior Sophie Kenney, drove to the basket but her layup hit off the back of the iron and went long, but a perfectly positioned Peterson would become the hero.

Peterson, about four-feet from the bucket, corralled the Kenney miss and put up a jumper. According to Peterson it was the "best arced shot of her career." As the clock reached zero, the ball was going through the basket and the Vikings celebrated a hard fought victory.

A Back-and-Forth Affair
The first half was a back and forth battle, as no team was able to take control of the game. The two teams traded buckets for much of the half, with no one being able to extend a lead past five, which was held by the Vikings in the second quarter before being erased by the Wildcats.

The second half was much like the first, neither team able to pull away from the other as they traded baskets on just about every possession of the second half. There were a total of 12 ties and 19 lead changes in the game.  

In the fourth quarter the Vikings were able to string a few baskets together and grab a five point lead with under four minutes to play but the Wildcats would not go away, scoring 5-straight points of their own to tie the game again to tie the game once again.

Clutch Shooting
Joining Peterson in the clutch department were sophomore Logan O'Farrell and senior Sophie Kenney. With the Vikings trailing by one, Kenney was able to knock down two free-throws with 2:02 left in the game to give the Vikings the lead at 54-53.

With the team struggling all night from behind the 3-point line, 3-of-27 shooting for a season-low 11 percent shooting, O'Farrell was able to knock down a triple to give Augustana a two point lead late.

By the Numbers
• Paige Peterson led the Vikings in scoring with 19 points, a new career-high
• Three Vikings reached double figures against Wayne State: Peterson (19), Sydney Rome (10) and Nicole Kerkhoff (10)
• Rome led the Vikings in rebounds with a season-high eight rebounds
• Augustana shot 30 percent from the field on 22-of-72 shooting
• For the ninth time this season Augustana has scored the opposing team's bench. The Vikings are 7-2 when their bench outscores their opponents. One of those losses came at Wayne State
• This was the Vikings seventh straight game scoring at least 30-points in the paint. They had 32 against the Wildcats.
• The Vikings outscored the Wildcats 32-20 in the paint. In their last meeting, Wayne State outscored Augustana 30-14
• After scoring just seven points in the second quarter, Augustana scored 16 in the third and 18 in the fourth-quarter

NEXT UP
Next up for the Vikings will be a contest with the Midland University Warriors on Dec. 29. Tip-off against the Warriors is set for 4 p.m. in the Elmen Center. This will be the Vikings final game in the Elemn Center this season and their last game of the calendar year.