ST. PAUL, Minn. - Augustana ended their weekend road trip in heartbreaking fashion, losing a close game to conference rival Concordia-St. Paul, 83-77.

The two teams opened the game scoreless for the first two minutes of the contest before Concordia- St. Paul (0-0, 0-0 NSIC) was able to hit a three to get onto the scoreboard. The Golden Bears opened a five point lead before Shelby Selland knocked down a triple from the top of the arc for the Vikings first points of the day.

The Golden Bears held the led for much of the quarter and enjoyed a six point lead at the midway point. Sydney Rome and Lynsey Prosser though knocked down back-to-back buckets to get the Vikings to within a point. Augustana took their first lead toward the end of the period on a long triple from Rome. The Vikings were unable to maintain the lead as they went into quarter two trailing by one at 19-18.

Presley O'Farrell tied the game at 19 from the free throw line but CSP quickly scored six straight to once again go up by six. Following a jumper by Rome, the Golden Bears took their largest lead of the game at nine points. Augustana then went on a 13-3 run to take a one point lead at 34-33. Augustana was able to grow their lead to five but CSP battled back. The Vikings went into the locker room with a 40-39 lead.

Out of the locker room, the Vikings got a layup by Selland to go up three but eight straight points by the Golden Bears put Concordia-St. Paul up by five points. Selland ended the CSP run with a triple but then CSP went on another 8-0 run to go up 10. The Vikings were only able to get as close as eight points the rest of the quarter as they went into the final frame down 64-56.

In the fourth, the Vikings came out firing with a triple from Prosser and a jumper from Presley. Rome got the Vikings to with a point after sinking two free throws but much like the third-quarter the Vikings were unable to get over that hump. CSP extended their lead to seven and the Vikings were unable to get closer than a four point deficit in the final 5:17 of the game, falling to Concordia-St. Paul 83-77.

Viking of the Game
Senior guard shot her way out of a shooting slump with a career-high 25-points against the Golden Bears. Rome tied a season-high with five 3-pointers on seven attempts. She was 7-of-10 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Rome grabbed a season-high seven rebounds while also picking up two steals and an assist.

Viking Notables
• Augustana drops to 14-11 in the all-time series against CSP
• The Vikings struggles in St. Paul continued as the Vikings are now 2-7 all-time on the road against the Golden Bears
• When the two teams play as conference foes, each team has won eight games
• This is the first time in the last five games that Augustana has lost to CSP
• Three Vikings reached double-digit points: Rome (25), Selland (15) and Presley (10)
• Rome also led the team in rebounding with seven
• Prosser had a team-high four steals and four assists
• The Vikings shot 33 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the arc
• Augustana was outscored in the paint 34-16
• Augustana only led for 3:48

Up Next
Augustana will be at home next weekend in two key matchups against No. 24 MSU Moorhead on Friday, January 13 and Saturday against No. 25 Northern State. Saturday's game against Northern State will be streamed live online via ESPN 3.