SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana University women's basketball team will open the NSIC Tournament as the No. 1 seed from the South Division and will play Minot State, the No. 8 seed from the North Division. The Vikings and Beavers will play their opening round game at the Sanford Pentagon. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
Tip-Off
• This will be the second straight season that Augustana and Minot State will meet in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. Last season the Vikings defeated the Beavers 96-75
• The Vikings earned the No. 1 seed in the South Division after picking up wins against Winona State and Upper Iowa
• This is the first time in program history that Augustana won the South Division
• Sydney Rome had a great senior day against Upper?Iowa with 16 points and four rebounds
 
About Augustana
• The Vikings and Beavers will play at a neutral site on Wednesday after the Vikings picked up two key wins over Winona State (73-67) and Upper Iowa (93-42). Last weekend's perfect record ran the Vikings wins streak to 6-games and earned them their first-ever South Division crown
• Augustana has been the best offensive team in the NSIC this season. The Vikings scoring offense is averaging a league-best 77.2 points per game during the conference season. The closest team to the Vikings in offensive production is MSU Moorhead who is averaging 72.9 ppg. The Vikings offense is also one of the best nationally. They are ranked 22nd out of 308 Division II teams in scoring average this season
•All season Augustana has done a great job protecting the basketball. The Vikings have not only been the best team in the NSIC in total assists, assist-turnover ratio and assists per game, but they rank in the top six of each category on the national level
• Two Vikings are ranked in the top 40 for scoring in the NSIC. Logan has the 26th best scoring average at 11.9 and Naomi Rust ranks 36th with an average of 11.1 ppg in conference play. In rebounding average in the NSIC, Logan ranks 10th in conference play at 7.6 boards per game. Sydney Rome is averaging 1.8 three's pre-game which is the ninth most in NSIC play. Augustana has three players ranked in the top 20 for assists per game average this season. Rome ranks 13th (3.4 ast), Lynsey Prosser ranks 15th (3.0 ast) and Logan ranks 19th (2.6 ast)

Probable Starters

Augustana	Pos.	Ht.	Class	Per Game
Sydney Rome	G	5-10	Senior	9.8 pts / 3.4 reb /3.2 ast
Logan O'Farrell	G	5-11	Junior	12.3 pts / 7.6 reb / 2.8 ast
Lynsey Prosser	G	5-7	Sophomore	8.9 pts / 2.8 reb / 3.4 ast
Naomi Rust	F	6-0	Junior	10.5 pts / 3.9 reb / 0.6 blk
Shelby Selland	F	6-2	Sophomore	9.7 pts / 5.5 reb / 1.0 blk
Minot State	Pos.	Ht.	Class	Per Game
Kari Clements	G	5-7	Sophomore	10.6 pts / 3.0 reb / 2.3 ast
Kori Eurich	G	5-7	Senior	8.3 pts / 3.5 reb / 1.3 ast
Kristal Flowers	F	6-1	Junior	8.9 pts / 6.7 reb / 0.4 blk
Diondra Denton	G	5-10	Junior	7.8 pts / 5.9 reb / 1.3 ast
Madison Wald	G	5-6	Sophomore	10.6 pts / 2.5 reb / 1.3 ast

Series History
vs Minot State
• Augustana is 7-1 all-time against Minot State
• Augustana has won the last four meetings
• When the game is played in Sioux Falls, Augustana is 4-0
• This will be their first meeting at the Sanford Pentagon
• Augustana's lone loss in the series came on Jan. 4, 2014 in Minot, N.D. the Vikings fell to the Beavers 88-71
 
The Last Time They Played
• Augustana at Minot State: Dec. 9, 2016, in Minot, N.D.; Augustana defeated Minot State 85-64 in front of a crowd of 785
 
A look at Minot State
• Minot State enters the NSIC Tournament with a 4-24 overall record and finished their NSIC schedule with a record of 2-20
• They enter the conference tournament on a three-game losing streak
• Their last win came against Minnesota Duluth and snapped their 11-game losing streak that started against Minnesota Duluth
• Head Coach Sheila Green Gerding is in her 22nd season as head coach of the Beavers. She has a 361-279 all-time record at MSU
• Five Beavers are averaging 8.5 points per game or better
• MSU is shooting 73.2 percent from the free throw line
• MSU has scored 488 points in the fourth quarter this season
• Kari Clements and Madison Wald are averaging a team-high 10.6 points per game
• Kristal Flowers is averaging a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game
• As a team, MSU is shooting 38 percent from the field and 32 percent from behind the arc
• The Beavers are averaging 11.1 assists per game this season