SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – It's Tournament Time. The Augustana women's basketball team hosts Bemidji State in the first round of the 2020 NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament. Tip-off from the Sanford Pentagon is slated for 5:30 p.m. Augustana enters as the south's three-seed while Bemidji State is the six-seed from the north.
 
The Game
Augustana earned the third seed with a 3-1 head to head against CSP and WSU; Concordia-St. Paul was tabbed the fourth seed going 2-2 versus Augie and WSU while Winona State went 1-3 versus Augie and CSP. The Vikings are hosting a first round contest for the ninth-straight year.
 
Previously this year, Augustana fell to Bemidji State for just the third time in 21 meetings when the Beavers prevailed 74-57 on Dec. 14. In the game, Lauren Sees tallied 22 points while Danni Honner added 10. Four Beavers scored in double-figure points led by Taylor Bray with 14.
 
The Beavers
Bemidji State won two of its last three games to close out the regular season, which included a three-point victory against St. Cloud State this past Friday and an 11-point setback to NSIC Champion Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers concluded the regular season holding a 9-17 overall record and 6-16 mark in NSIC action. From the middle of January to Feb. 15, BSU dropped eight-straight games before closing the year with the two-out-of-three streak.
 
Trinity Myer leads Bemidji State with 13.7 points per game while Rachael Heittola tallies 11.2 points per outing. Brooklyn Bachmann is the team leader with 5.8 rebounds per game. In NSIC only games, Taylor Bray reaches double-figure scoring with 10.2 points per game.
 
The Vikings
Augustana split its weekend with a victory over No. 16 Sioux Falls, 79-56, before falling at Southwest Minnesota State the next day. The thumping of USF helped Augustana split the season series with its rival that is two blocks from the Augustana campus. The loss to SMSU gave the Mustangs the season sweep. Augustana concluded the regular season 16-10 overall and 12-10 in NSIC action.
 
The Vikings are led by Abby Hora at 12.3 points per game while Hannah Mitby tallied 11.3 points over the 22-game NSIC schedule. Aislinn Duffy, who should be in the running for freshman of the year, averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in NSIC action.
 
One Last Thing
Wednesday marks the second time in three years that the Vikings play host to Bemidji State in the NSIC Tournament opener. In 2018, the Vikings prevailed 94-57 over the Beavers, who are led by Augustana alumna Chelsea DeVille. Augustana won the NSIC Tournament that year and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.