SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana University women's basketball team (12-3, 6-3 NSIC) defeated Concordia-St. Paul (5-9, 1-7 NSIC) Friday night, 80-71 behind Nicole Kerkhoff's third double-double of the season.

The Vikings opened the game with a shooters stroke, shooting over 50 percent in the first quarter on an impressive 10-of-19 shooting. They ended the half shooting over 40 percent.
Kerkhoff got hot early for the Vikings by hitting three triples and earning 13-points in the first quarter.

Augustana had extended their lead to 13-points late in the second before Concordia-St. Paul would get a layup at the end of the half and then open the third quarter on an 11-0 run. The Vikings went over five minutes without scoring to open the second half but were picked up by the strong play of Kerkhoff and junior Sydney Rome, who each scored in double-figures during the second half.

The two teams traded punches in the fourth-quarter, each team scoring over 20-points but it was the Vikings who were able to come away victorious.

Augustana By the Numbers
• Kerkhoff earned her third double-double of the season with 24-points and 11-rebounds. Her 24-points led all scores
• Rome was second on the time in scoring with 13-points. Rome was 3-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line
• Sophie Kenney and Shelby Selland each had 11-points in the ball game. Kenney was clutch late from the free-throw line, going 4-of-4 in the final minute of play. Kenney scored nine of her 11-points from the line
• Augustana shot 42 percent from the field on 25-of-59 shooting and 25 percent from beyond the arc on 8-of-32 shooting
• The Vikings as a team found success from the Charity stripe shooting 33 percent from the line on 22-of-30 shooting
• There were four lead changes and two ties in the contest
• Augustana was outscored in the paint for just the fourth time this year. The Vikings are 3-1 when being outscored in the paint
• This was just the second time all season that the Augustana bench has been outscored, 16-24. The only other time that occurred was against Concordia-St. Paul back on Dec. 5

Next Time Out
The Vikings will end their weekend road trip tomorrow afternoon as they take on Minnesota State at 4 p.m. The last time the two teams met, Augustana defeated MSU in double-overtime 96-93.