SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - For the third straight season the Augustana women's basketball team reached the 20-win milestone. The Vikings picked up win No. 20 with their 68-57 win over Southwest Minnesota State at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minn.

The game started out slow with neither team being able to get a basketball to fall for more than two minutes. After Naomi Rust got the scoring started with a free throw, the half went back-and-forth with no team getting a lead larger than four points.

The Vikings (20-7,15-5 NSIC) took the first 4-point lead of the game after Logan O'Farrell drilled a three but a 5-0 run by the Mustangs put the Vikings in a 1-point hole. After SMSU (3-21,3-17 NSIC) went on 6-2 run, the Vikings scored five straight to take a 3-point lead before the Mustangs scored seven straight between the end of the first and the beginning of the second-quarter.

With just under 7:30 to play in the second, the Vikings again went on a 5-0 run to regain the lead at 19-18. After Southwest Minnesota State scored seven of the next nine points the Vikings turned up the defensive pressure, forcing seven Mustang turnovers in the final 4:38 of the half and going on a 9-2 run to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room.

The Mustangs scored first to open the third-quarter but back-to-back layups by Logan and Lynsey Prosser gave the Vikings a 7-point advantage early in the second-half. After the two teams traded baskets to a 44-38 score, SMSU scored five straight to cut the Vikings lead down to just three. A few possessions later the Vikings their largest lead of the quarter at nine points after Prosser grabbed an offensive board and put it back up for two. After SMSU went on a 5-2 run to end the quarter, the Vikings took a 54-48 lead into the final frame.

Augustana opened the fourth with a layup from Rust, but a 4-0 Mustang run cut the lead to four with less than seven minutes to play. Logan and Abby Hora scored on back-to-back possessions to end the SMSU run and regive the Vikings a 9-point advantage. The Vikings to their first double-digit lead of the night when Shelby Selland connected on two free throws to make it 65-66 with 1:35 left in the game. The Vikings only allowed SMSU to get within eight as the game before scoring the final 3-points of the game to defeat SMSU 68-57.

Viking of the Game
Logan O'Farrell led the Vikings in scoring with a team-high 18-points in 26 minutes of action. Logan grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while earning three blocks and picking up one steal on the night.

Viking Notables
• For the 12th time in the last 13 season, Augustana has won 20 or more games in a season
• After today's win, Augustana sits atop the NSIC South Standings. The Viking are tied for first with Winona State at 15-5 in the NSIC
• The Vikings improved  their all-time record against SMSU to 23-9 while earning their fifth straight win in the series
• Head Coach Dave Krauth picked up win number 574 in his career
• Prosser was second on the team in scoring with 13-points
• For the third time this season, Prosser tied her season-high with five steals in a game
• Syndey Rome scored 8-points while bringing down five boards
• Logan was a perfect 4-for-3 from behind the arc. Her four makes from long range ties a career-high from made three's in a game. The last time she accomplished this was against Minnesota State back on Jan. 9
• Nine different Vikings scored against SMSU

Up Next
Augustana will conclude the 2016-17 regular season next weekend at home. The Vikings will host Winona State on Friday and Upper Iowa on Saturday at the Sioux Falls Arena.