BOX SCORE

WINONA, Minn. – The Augustana women's basketball team locked up the No. 4 seed and first-round home game in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament with an 83-65 win at Winona State on Saturday in the regular season finale.

The victory improved the Vikings' record to 20-9 (14-8 NSIC), while the Warriors fell to 19-7 (15-7 NSIC) with the loss.

Augustana notched its 17th season in program history with at least 20 victories, all coming under head coach Dave Krauth, with the win.

The Vikings also picked up their ninth win in their last 10 games, a great sign going to into conference tournament play next week.

Shaunteva Ashley closed out the final regular-season game of her career in style, finishing with a game-high 30 points to go along with five assists and five steals. Ashley used her speed and quickness to get into the lane throughout the course of the game for easy shots around the basket.

Sydney Rome continued to her hot-shooting ways from deep, pouring in 18 points (all from 3) off the bench, a new season high. The six 3-pointers tied the sophomore's career high, set last season against Presentation College.

Logan O'Farrell showcased her defensive abilities in the win, pulling down a career-best 12 rebounds. O'Farrell also added two blocks and a steal in 28 minutes of action.

Sophie Kenney added 11 points.

WSU was led by Kayla Timmerman off the bench, who scored a team-high 16 points.

Connor Nagle chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Augustana's defense was again the story of the game, forcing Winona State into 22 turnovers, which resulted in 34 points off turnovers.

A good inside-outside shot balance in the opening minutes put the Vikings up 11-8 going into the first media timeout of the afternoon. Augustana's solid mix on offense gave them good, uncontested looks, which resulted in a strong 5-for-10 shooting start in the game.

The Vikings were able to get some separation midway through the first half thanks to a 15-3 run in a little over three minutes that was capped off by a 3-pointer by Rome - her second of the half – to make it 26-15.

Nicole Kerkhoff's 3-pointer at the 7:12 mark gave Augustana an 18-point lead. For Kerkhoff, the deep ball was her fifth point in the game.

The swarming defense of the Vikings, which has given teams fits over the last month, continued its dominant play, forcing Winona State into lots of turnovers in the first half, which allowed for them to build their lead to 19 at 48-29 going into halftime.

The Warriors just couldn't handle the press of Augustana, turning the ball over 15 times in the opening 20 minutes, which resulted in 28 points off turnovers for the Vikings.

Solid shooting by several Augustana players resulted the team shooting 51.4 percent (19 for 37) in a high-speed half.

Rome's off-the-bench scoring prowess was again on display with her three 3-pointers in the first half.

Ashley led all scorers with 18 in the half.

WSU came out firing in the second half, using a 10-1 run in the first 2:42 to cut the Viking lead to 10 after a layup by Timmerman made it 49-39 and gave her eight points in the game.

But a pair of 3s by Rome kept Winona State from getting the game back to within single digits, and upped her total to six for made 3s in the game, tying a career high.

Augustana kept control from there, never letting the Warriors have a chance to make a run and get back in this one, winning 83-65.

News & notes

• The Vikings improved to 14-1 this year when scoring at least 80 points in a game.
• Augustana is now 7-3 when Ashley scores at least 25 points in a game.
• The Vikings 11 3s mark the eighth time this year they have drained at least 10 in a game.

Tourney time
The Vikings are peaking at the right time of year and look like the league's hottest team heading into the big dance next week. With its current conference-leading four-game winning streak and ability to force teams into turnovers with its aggressive defense, Augustana is going to be a very tough out for teams.